Are you looking for an efficient and scalable way to deploy your Qwik.js applications? Look no further! In this article, we'll guide you through the process of deploying a Qwik.js app using Docker, a powerful containerization platform. By leveraging Docker's container technology, you can ensure consistency, portability, and ease of deployment for your Qwik.js projects.

Before we dive into the deployment process, let's take a quick look at what Qwik.js is all about. Qwik.js is a modern JavaScript framework that enables developers to build fast, SEO-friendly web applications with ease. With its intuitive structure and focus on performance, Qwik.js empowers you to create delightful user experiences and streamline your development workflow.

Docker has revolutionized the way applications are deployed and managed. By encapsulating your application and its dependencies within a container, Docker provides a consistent environment that can be easily reproduced across different platforms. This eliminates the common "it works on my machine" problem and ensures that your Qwik.js app runs smoothly in any environment.

Before we jump into the deployment process, make sure you have the following prerequisites in place:

• Docker installed on your machine. If you haven't installed Docker yet, you can find detailed instructions in the official Docker documentation.

To begin, let's assume you already have a Qwik.js app ready for deployment. If you need assistance with setting up a Qwik.js app, refer to the Qwik.js documentation or consider reaching out to our services for expert guidance.

npm create qwik@latest
pnpm create qwik@latest
yarn create qwik

For this step the best solution is to Follow the instatalation guide of Node in the Qwik documentation. Once your Qwik.js app is set up and running locally and has a Node server, it's time to prepare it for deployment using Docker.

npm run qwik add express
pnpm run qwik add express
yarn run qwik add express

Dockerizing your Qwik.js app involves creating a Docker image that encapsulates your application and its dependencies. This image can then be used to run your app in any environment that has Docker installed.

To dockerize your Qwik.js app, follow these steps:

1. Create a file named Dockerfile in the root directory of your Qwik.js app.

2. Open the Dockerfile and add the following code:

# Intermediate docker image to build the bundle in and install dependencies
FROM node:19.2-alpine3.15 as build

# Set the working directory to /app
WORKDIR /app

# Copy the package.json over in the intermedate "build" image
COPY ./package.json ./

# Install the dependencies
# Clean install because we want to install the exact versions
RUN npm install

# Copy the source code into the build image
COPY ./ ./

# Build the project
RUN npm run build

# Pull the same Node image and use it as the final (production image)
FROM node:19.2-alpine3.15 as production

# Set the working directory to /app
WORKDIR /app

# Only copy the results from the build over to the final image
# We do this to keep the final image as small as possible
COPY --from=build /app/node_modules ./node_modules
COPY --from=build /app/server ./server
COPY --from=build /app/dist ./dist
COPY --from=build /app/package.json ./package.json

RUN ls -l

# Expose port 3000 (default port)
EXPOSE 3000

# Start the application
CMD [ "npm", "run", "deploy"]

Here is the code for the deploy command that you have to add to your package.json :

  "scripts": {
    "deploy": "ORIGIN=your-domain node server/entry.express",
  },

Do not forget to change the ORIGIN domain to your websites Domain.

The Dockerfile above starts with an official Node.js image, sets the working directory, copies the necessary files, installs the dependencies, exposes the port your Qwik.js app is listening on (in this case, port 3000), and defines the command to start your app.

With the Dockerfile in place, it's time to build the Docker image for your Qwik.js app. Open your terminal or command prompt, navigate to the root directory of your app, and run the following command:

docker build -t my-qwik-app .

The docker build command builds an image based on the Dockerfile and assigns it the tag my-qwik-app. Make sure to include the . at the end of the command, indicating that the build context is the current directory.

Once the Docker image is built, you can run your Qwik.js app in a Docker container. Use the following command to start a container based on your newly created image:

docker run -p 3000:3000 my-qwik-app

The docker run command creates and runs a container based on the specified image (my-qwik-app) and maps port 3000 of the container to port 3000 of your local machine. This allows you to access your Qwik.js app at http://localhost:3000.

Congratulations! You've successfully deployed your Qwik.js app using Docker. By containerizing your application, you've achieved a portable and reproducible deployment that can be easily scaled and managed. Docker provides an excellent solution for deploying Qwik.js apps, ensuring consistency and efficiency throughout the development process.

If you have any questions or need further assistance, feel free to contact our team of experts. Happy coding with Qwik.js and Docker!

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