My Docker Project

This project contains a Docker Compose configuration for setting up a Node-RED based project in a container, backed by a PostgreSQL database managed by Liquibase. In production, the stack runs Node-RED, PostgreSQL, and the Liquibase db-manager. In development, a Mosquitto MQTT broker is additionally started via the override file.

Getting Started

To get started with this project, follow the steps below:

1. Install Docker on your machine if you haven't already.
2. Clone this repository to your local machine.
3. Navigate to the project directory.

Usage

Once the container is started, you can access the Node-RED environment on localhost:1880/. If in development mode, you can access the MQTT broker on localhost:1883.

Starting the Node-RED Container

Development

To start the environment in development mode run the following command:

docker compose up -d --build

This command will start the Node-RED, PostgreSQL, db-manager, and Mosquitto containers in detached mode, allowing them to run in the background.

Production

To start the environment in production mode run the following command, where XXXX is the desired port to access Node-RED (this assumes it is being run in a Linux environment):

Linux

NODE_RED_PORT=XXXX docker compose up -d --build

Windows

$env:NODE_RED_PORT="XXXX"; docker compose up -d --build

This command will start the Node-RED, PostgreSQL, and db-manager containers in detached mode.

A note on ports

We want to avoid ports for common protocols (0-1023) and stay in the user ports section (1024-49151), however, many of the "user ports" have been attached to common services (node-red: 1880, mqtt: 1883). According to this stackoverflow, the range 29170-29998 has the most open ports in sequence.

Accessing Node-RED

Once the container is running, you can access the Node-RED interface by opening a web browser and navigating to http://localhost:1880.

Stopping the Node-RED Container

To stop the Node-RED container, run the following command:

docker compose down

This command will stop and remove the containers.

Configuration

The Docker Compose configuration file docker-compose.yml defines the services, networks, and volumes for the Docker project. Here is an overview of the configuration:

name: my-project

services:
  db:
    build: ./db
    env_file:
      - .env
    volumes:
      - ./db_data:/var/lib/postgresql/data

  db-manager:
    build: ./db-manager
    env_file:
      - .env
    depends_on:
      db:
        condition: service_healthy

  node-red:
    build: ./node-red
    ports:
      - "${NODE_RED_PORT:-1880}:1880"
    volumes:
      - node-red-data:/data
      - ./node-red/settings.js:/data/settings.js

volumes:
  node-red-data:

The node-red service builds from the local ./node-red directory and exposes port 1880 (configurable via the NODE_RED_PORT environment variable). Node-RED data is persisted in a named Docker volume. The settings.js file is bind-mounted so it can be version-controlled separately from the flow data.

The db service runs PostgreSQL and persists data to ./db_data. The db-manager service runs Liquibase to apply schema migrations on startup.

License

This project is currently unlicensed.