Deploy Node.js to Serverize

TL;DR

Use serverzie setup to auto configure your project.

npx serverize setup nodejs

Continue if you’d like to understand the steps in more detail and customize the setup further.

Project Structure

Once you’ve finished adding the required files, your project should look like this:

.
├─── .dockerignore
├─── Dockerfile
├─── src/index.js
└─── package.json

Prerequisites

You need Docker installed on your machine to follow this guide, if it isn’t installed yet, follow the Docker installation guide to set it up for your computer.

Adding a Dockerfile

To put your Node.js project in a container, you need to create a Dockerfile in your project’s main folder. This file tells Docker how to build and run your app.

In the root of your project, create a file named Dockerfile and add the following content:

# Stage 1: Install dependencies
FROM node:alpine AS install

WORKDIR /app
COPY package*.json ./
RUN npm ci --omit=dev --no-audit

# Stage 2: Run the app
FROM install AS run

WORKDIR /app
COPY --from=install /app/node_modules ./node_modules
COPY . .

ENV NODE_ENV=production
ENV PORT=3000

# Expose the port your app runs on
USER node
EXPOSE 3000
# Start the application
CMD ["node", "src/index.js"]

It consists of two stages:

1. install: Install dependencies using npm ci and omit the dev dependencies presuming there is no build step.

2. run: Copy the dependencies from the install stage and the source code from the current directory into the image.

   • The USER node command sets the user to node to ensure the app runs as a non-root user for better security.

   • The EXPOSE 3000 command exposes port 3000 for the application to listen on.

   • The CMD ["node", "src/index.js"] command starts the application by running the src/index.js script.

Dockerignore

To make your Docker build faster, create a .dockerignore file to tell Docker which files to ignore in order to reduce the size of the image and speeds up the build process and deployment process.

Create a .dockerignore file in the root of your project and add the following content:

**/node_modules/
**/.git
**/README.md
**/LICENSE
**/.vscode
**/npm-debug.log
**/coverage
**/.env
**/.editorconfig
**/.aws
**/dist

This list excludes directories like node_modules, which can be quite large, as well as other files like .git, .env, and configuration files that aren’t needed within the Docker container or might contain sensitive information.

Note

The smaller the image size, the quicker the deployment; only transfer the bare minimum of files to the final stage.

Deploy Your Node.js Project

After completing all the previous steps, you are now ready to deploy your application to Serverize.

npx serverize deploy -p <project-name>

Replace <project-name> with the actual name of your project. This command will package and deploy your Bun application, leveraging Serverize to handle the setup and deployment seamlessly.

Automating Deployments with CI/CD

You can automate the deployment of your application to Serverize by using Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) tools like GitHub Actions. This setup ensures that your application is deployed whenever new code is pushed to the main branch.

For detailed instructions on configuring CI/CD with Serverize and GitHub Actions, refer to our CI/CD guide.

Takeaways

• Make sure to expose the correct port in your Dockerfile.
• The CMD command in your Dockerfile should start your application.
• The setup presume that you’re not using a bundler like webpack or esbuild.