Prerequisites

Read the Get Started with Docker tutorial to get an understanding of Docker and to install the necessary packages on your operating system.

You should only need to install Git, Docker and docker-compose for your operating system.

If your operating system is a...

• Mac: Install “Docker Desktop for Mac”. This comes with Docker Compose pre-installed.
• Windows 10: Install “Docker Desktop for Windows”. This comes with Docker Compose pre-installed.
• Older Mac and Windows Systems: Install “Docker Toolbox”. This comes with Docker Compose pre-installed.
• Linux:
  • Install “Docker Community Edition (CE)”. Go to this link: About Docker CE. Look for the “Linux” link in the left navigation panel. Find your Linux distro and follow the installation instructions for Docker CE.
  • Install Docker Compose.

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How to run the app

After cloning the repo to your computer, navigate to the project root folder (where the Makefile is located) and run the following make commands to work within a Docker development environment:

DEVELOPMENT

Run the app in a development environment

The make dev command will start the containers in development mode. If no containers exist, then this command will create new containers. Development mode means that the app will run and show all errors and messages in the terminal.

make dev

You can access the development app in a browser at http://localhost:8080/.

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TROUBLESHOOTING

ERROR: Pool overlaps with other one on this address space

After running make dev, if you get the following error: ERROR: Pool overlaps with other one on this address space, then it means that some existing networks are conflicting with the network that you are trying to create. To remove those networks, run docker network prune. At this point, if make dev still does not work, then it might be because you still have existing containers that are still using the network. So you need to remove the containers first, then you can run docker network prune. Once the networks are removed, the make dev command should work.

Source: maxking/docker-mailman#85 (comment)

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Access Neo4j Browser

Once the Neo4j container is running, you can access Neo4j Browser:

• URL: http://172.28.1.2:7474/browser/
• USER: neo4j
• PASSWORD: bitnami

NOTES:

• The IP address in the URL (172.28.1.2) is the one that is configured in the docker-compose.dev.yml file.
• The USER is the default username provided by the Bitnami Neo4j image.
• The PASSWORD is the default password provided by the Bitnami Neo4j image.

Stop the development app

You can stop the containers with Ctrl + C. You will be put back in your host terminal where you can run Git commands or any other command.

Rebuild the development images without cache

If you want to rebuild the images without using the cache, then run this command first, then run make dev to start the newly built development containers.

make dev-rebuild

Run the development containers in daemon mode

To run the containers in the background (i.e., no terminal messages by default), run:

make dev-daemon

Stop and delete the development containers

make dev-down will stop and delete any running containers. It deletes containers and networks, but not volumes and images.

make dev-down

Using Vue CLI During Development

The development image installs Vue CLI, so you can access Vue CLI commands by accessing a running container's terminal. While the development containers are running, open a new terminal window or tab and execute the following command:

docker container exec -it <container_name> bash

NOTES:

• To get the container_name, run docker container ls and replace <container_name> with the name of the running container you are trying to access.
• If you are using VSCode, you can also click on the Docker tab in the left column, right-click the container whose terminal you want to access and then select "Attach Shell" in the context menu. That will open an interactive terminal for that container in the VSCode terminal window.
• FYI: Since the development image installs Vue CLI, you can use this image for new projects. Simply run the app container, then run docker container exec -it <container name> bash to access the container's terminal, then vue create <app-name>. Follow the prompts to create a new Vue app.

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PRODUCTION

NOTE: If you want to test your build configs and scripts, then keep this in mind: When you create a project inside of a Docker environment, your node_modules packages should only be accessible inside of Docker. So you need to run the app in one terminal with the make dev command and then open a separate terminal that has access to your Docker environment (e.g., in VS Code's Docker plugin under the "Containers" section, right click your app container and select "Attach Shell"). Once you are inside a shell terminal with acces to your Docker container, run npm run build to build your project.

Run the app in a production environment

Navigate to the root folder and run

make prod

You can access the production app in a browser at one of the following URLs:

• http://localhost/: This is obviously the easiest method to acces the production app.
• http://172.28.1.1:4000/: This uses the network IP address that is configured in the docker-compose.prod.yml file. Port 4000 is the port that the Node server is running on and you have to specify port 4000 in the URL if you use this method to access the app.
• http://<docker host IP address>/: If you use this URL on your computer, then the Docker host is your computer and you would use your computer's IP address.

Rebuild the production images without cache

If you want to rebuild the images without using the cache, then run this command first, then run make prod to start the newly built production containers.

make prod-rebuild

Run the production containers in daemon mode

To run the containers in the background (i.e., no terminal messages by default), run:

make prod-daemon

Stop and delete the production containers

make prod-down will stop and delete any running containers. It deletes containers and networks, but not volumes and images.

make prod-down

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Where are the Neo4j data stored on the host machine?

As an example, the docker-compose.dev.yml file is configured to mount the neo4j_dev_data volume in neo4j_dev_data. What does that mean? Where is neo4j_dev_data located?

Volumes are stored in a part of the host filesystem which is managed by Docker (/var/lib/docker/volumes on Linux). Non-Docker processes should not modify this part of the filesystem. Volumes are the best way to persist data in Docker.

To learn more, see How docker volumes work.