DOCKER_COMPOSE_SETUP.md

Production Docker Compose Setup

This document describes the production Docker Compose configuration created for the reverse proxy deployment.

Files Created

Core Configuration

• docker-compose.prod.yml - Production Docker Compose configuration
• Dockerfile.frontend - Frontend service Dockerfile for static file generation
• backend/Dockerfile - Backend service Dockerfile

SSL/TLS Support

• nginx/ssl/README.md - SSL certificate setup instructions
• nginx/conf.d/ssl.conf.template - SSL configuration template

Environment Configuration

• .env.example - General environment variables template
• .env.prod.example - Production-specific environment variables

Architecture

The production setup consists of three services:

1. nginx - Reverse proxy and static file server

   • Listens on ports 80 and 443
   • Routes /api/* requests to backend service
   • Serves frontend static files directly
   • Handles WebSocket connections for Socket.io

2. frontend - Static file builder

   • Builds React application with production optimizations
   • Copies static files to shared volume for nginx
   • Uses relative URLs for API calls (same-domain)

3. backend - API server

   • Runs Node.js/TypeScript backend on port 6377
   • Handles API requests and WebSocket connections
   • Manages SQLite database and Redis connections

Key Features

Network Isolation

• Internal rediscover-network for service communication
• Only nginx service exposes ports to host
• Backend and frontend services are not directly accessible

Volume Management

• rediscover-data - Persistent data storage for backend
• frontend-dist - Shared volume for frontend static files

Health Checks

• All services include health check configurations
• Automatic service restart on health check failures
• Proper startup dependencies and timing

SSL/TLS Ready

• SSL certificate volume mounts configured
• SSL configuration template provided
• HTTP to HTTPS redirect support

Usage

Development

Use the development override configuration for local development:

# Start development services with reverse proxy
docker compose -f docker-compose.prod.yml -f docker-compose.dev.yml up -d

# Or use the original development setup (direct services)
docker compose -f docker-compose.dev.yml up -d

The development override (docker-compose.dev.yml) provides:

• Nginx on port 8080 - Test reverse proxy setup locally
• Direct service access - Frontend on 6378, Backend on 6377
• Hot-reloading support - Frontend changes reflected immediately
• Development environment variables - Configured for local testing

This allows developers to:

1. Test the reverse proxy configuration locally via http://localhost:8080
2. Access services directly for debugging (frontend: 6378, backend: 6377)
3. Maintain existing development workflows with hot-reloading

Production

# Copy and configure environment variables
cp .env.prod.example .env

# Edit .env with your production values
# Set APP_SECRET, FRONTEND_URL, etc.

# Start production services
docker compose -f docker-compose.prod.yml up -d

SSL Setup

1. Place SSL certificates in nginx/ssl/ directory
2. Copy nginx/conf.d/ssl.conf.template to nginx/conf.d/ssl.conf
3. Update domain name in SSL configuration
4. Uncomment SSL server blocks
5. Restart nginx service

Environment Variables

Required for Production

• APP_SECRET - 32-character hex secret for JWT signing
• FRONTEND_URL - Your production domain URL

Optional

• JWT_EXPIRES_IN - JWT token expiration (default: 24h)
• VITE_API_URL - Leave empty for relative URLs (recommended)

Security Features

• Security headers configured in nginx
• CORS properly configured for production domain
• SSL/TLS ready with modern cipher suites
• Health check endpoints for monitoring
• Proper file permissions and volume mounts

This setup provides a production-ready deployment architecture that eliminates localhost dependencies and enables deployment to custom domains.