Lesson 27 / 34

Docker Integration

Containerize NestJS with a multi-stage Dockerfile and run it with a database using Docker Compose.

Dockerfile

Multi-stage build: compile in one stage, run in a lightweight stage.

FROM node:22-alpine AS builder
WORKDIR /app
COPY package*.json ./
RUN npm ci
COPY . .
RUN npm run build

FROM node:22-alpine
WORKDIR /app
COPY package*.json ./
RUN npm ci --omit=dev
COPY --from=builder /app/dist ./dist
EXPOSE 3000
CMD ["node", "dist/main.js"]

docker-compose

Spin up NestJS + database with a single command.

services:
  app:
    build: .
    ports:
      - "3000:3000"
    environment:
      - DATABASE_URL=postgres://user:password@db:5432/mydb
    depends_on:
      - db
  db:
    image: postgres:16
    environment:
      - POSTGRES_DB=mydb
      - POSTGRES_PASSWORD=password

Quick check

Quick check: Why use a multi-stage Dockerfile for a Nest app?

To run two servers
To compile TypeScript in one stage and ship only dist and prod dependencies
To avoid needing Node

Answer

To compile TypeScript in one stage and ship only dist and prod dependencies — The final image skips devDependencies and sources, so it is smaller.