Docker Compose in Production

This document explains how to run the Reshma‑Core backend using docker-compose.prod.yml on a production server.

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File Overview

docker-compose.prod.yml defines five services:

Service	Image / Build	Purpose
reshma-api	Builds from Dockerfile	Express API (Node.js)
reshma-worker	Same build, overridden command	BullMQ email/export worker
reshma-db	mongo:7.0	MongoDB database
reshma-redis	redis:7-alpine	Redis (caching, queues, rate limiting)
reshma-typesense	typesense/typesense:0.25.2	Search engine (RAM‑based)

Networking: All services communicate on an internal bridge network. Only the reshma-api port 5000 is exposed to the host.

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Prerequisites

• A server with Docker and Docker Compose (≥20.10, ≥2.0)
• At least 2GB RAM (4GB recommended)
• Domain name (optional but recommended for SSL)

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Step‑by‑Step Setup

1. Prepare the Server

# Update system
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

# Install Docker
curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com | sh
sudo usermod -aG docker $USER
newgrp docker

# Install Docker Compose (if not bundled)
sudo apt install docker-compose-plugin

2. Clone and Configure

git clone https://github.com/your-org/reshma-core.git
cd reshma-core

cp .env.example .env
nano .env

Required variables for production (must be set):

NODE_ENV=production
CLIENT_URL=https://shop.yourdomain.com
ADMIN_URL=https://admin.yourdomain.com

MONGO_URI=mongodb://${MONGO_INITDB_ROOT_USERNAME}:${MONGO_INITDB_ROOT_PASSWORD}@reshma-db:27017/reshmabangles?authSource=admin

JWT_ACCESS_SECRET=...
JWT_REFRESH_SECRET=...

TYPESENSE_API_KEY=your_super_secret_key   # must match the one in docker-compose.prod.yml

REDIS_PASSWORD=strong_redis_password

# SMTP, Razorpay, Shiprocket – fill with live credentials

The compose file uses variable substitution for MONGO_INITDB_ROOT_USERNAME, MONGO_INITDB_ROOT_PASSWORD, REDIS_PASSWORD, and TYPESENSE_API_KEY. Ensure these are defined in .env.

3. Start the Stack

docker-compose -f docker-compose.prod.yml up -d

Check containers:

Check containers:

All should show Up (healthy) after ~30 seconds.

4. Seed the Database (First Run Only)

docker exec -it reshma-api npm run seed

5. Verify Operation

curl http://localhost:5000/health   # should return 200 OK
docker-compose -f docker-compose.prod.yml logs --tail=50 reshma-api

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Environment Variables Override

The compose file passes the following environment variables to containers:

Container	Variables (excerpt)
reshma-api	NODE_ENV, PORT, MONGO_URI, REDIS_URL, TYPESENSE_*, all JWT variables, SMTP, Razorpay, etc.
reshma-worker	MONGO_URI, REDIS_URL (no API‑related vars)
reshma-db	MONGO_INITDB_ROOT_USERNAME, MONGO_INITDB_ROOT_PASSWORD
reshma-redis	REDIS_PASSWORD (via command)
reshma-typesense	TYPESENSE_API_KEY (via command)

Note: REDIS_URL inside reshma-api becomes redis://default:${REDIS_PASSWORD}@reshma-redis:6379. Do NOT set REDIS_URL in .env – it is constructed by Compose.

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Health Checks & Resilience

Each service has a health check:

Service	Health Check	Interval	Retries
reshma-db	mongosh --eval 'db.runCommand("ping").ok'	10s	5
reshma-redis	redis-cli -a $REDIS_PASSWORD ping	10s	5
reshma-typesense	wget -qO- http://localhost:8108/health	10s	5
reshma-api	Depends on the above via depends_on	–	–

The API will not start until DB, Redis, and Typesense are healthy.

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Persistent Storage (Volumes)

Volume	Mounted on	Purpose
mongodb_data	/data/db	MongoDB data files
redis_data	/data	Redis persistence (RDB/AOF)
typesense_data	/data	Typesense index snapshots

These volumes are named and persist across container restarts. To reset all data:

docker-compose -f docker-compose.prod.yml down -v

⚠️ This deletes all databases, caches, and search indexes. Use only during disaster recovery.

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Reverse Proxy & SSL (Recommended)

Do not expose port 5000 directly to the internet. Instead, place Nginx in front.

Example nginx.conf snippet

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name api.yourdomain.com;
    return 301 https://$server_name$request_uri;
}

server {
    listen 443 ssl http2;
    server_name api.yourdomain.com;

    ssl_certificate     /etc/letsencrypt/live/api.yourdomain.com/fullchain.pem;
    ssl_certificate_key /etc/letsencrypt/live/api.yourdomain.com/privkey.pem;

    location / {
        proxy_pass http://localhost:5000;
        proxy_http_version 1.1;
        proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
        proxy_set_header Connection 'upgrade';
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_cache_bypass $http_upgrade;
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
    }
}

Use Certbot to obtain SSL certificates:

sudo apt install certbot python3-certbot-nginx
sudo certbot --nginx -d api.yourdomain.com

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Updating the Application

To deploy a new version:

# Pull latest code
git pull origin main

# Rebuild and restart
docker-compose -f docker-compose.prod.yml up -d --build

# Check logs
docker-compose -f docker-compose.prod.yml logs --tail=50 reshma-api

The old containers are replaced one by one (no downtime if you have multiple replicas – but this single‑node setup has a brief interruption).

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Monitoring & Logs

Basic Monitoring

# Container resource usage
docker stats

# Health status
docker-compose -f docker-compose.prod.yml ps

Log Aggregation

Winston writes logs to files (if configured) and console. To persist logs outside containers, mount a volume:

volumes:
  - ./logs:/app/logs

Then set Winston file transport to write to /app/logs.

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Troubleshooting

Problem	Likely Fix
reshma-api exits with code 1	Check logs: docker-compose logs reshma-api. Usually an env validation error.
MongoDB refuses connection	Verify MONGO_INITDB_ROOT_USERNAME and PASSWORD are set in .env.
Typesense fails to start	Ensure TYPESENSE_API_KEY is strong (no special characters causing shell issues).
Redis connection error	Redis password mismatch – check REDIS_PASSWORD in .env matches the command.
API returns 503 (Service Unavailable)	Dependency health check failed – wait longer or check DB/Redis logs.

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Next Steps

• Set up CI/CD for automated builds and deployments.
• Implement backup scripts for MongoDB volumes.
• Add a second API replica + load balancer for high availability (optional).

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The Reshma-Core Team