DPKG Viewer

This application is used to parse & visualize relevant information out of a Debian package (DPKG) status file commonly found in a Debian-based linux distro. The application is publicly available right here, where the user can not only view the visually pleasing version of example dpkg status file provided in the challenge, but also upload their own dpkg status file. I also validated the solution with my own test DPKG status file from my local Ubuntu installation.

My goal was to provide a simple user experience with a minimal amount of external dependencies. I also considered my personal interests while selecting the tech stack, i.e. Next.js framework was something I had just heard about a few weeks before the start of this project and I was eager to give it a shot.

Features & Specification

Backend - Node.js

• Fields, which are parsed or created:
  • Name
  • Description
  • Dependencies, and their existence in package list
  • Reverse dependencies for each package
• Express is used as a web server with endpoints:
  • POST /api/upload, to receive the file uploaded by the user from frontend
  • GET /api/packages, to provide initial example data at build time of frontend
• Multer used as a middleware for file upload
  • 2 Mb size limitation
  • .txt file ending supported
  • File uploaded by the user is removed after parsing the data

Frontend - React

• UI designed to have most of the content visible on a single view, but scrollbars are visible when needed.
• Next.js
  • Static Generated example page, which also pre-fetches data at build time
  • Client side data fetching used to get user uploaded package data from backend
• tailwindcss
  • CSS framework with short and simple syntax for custom components

Deployment

• Frontend and backend hosted at Azure Kubernetes Service
• External load balancer for user traffic to frontend
• Scalable design; Requests are load balanced across 3 replicas of both backend & frontend
• Ingress configured to route external /* path requests to frontend and internal /api/* requests to backend
• TLS configured for safe file uploads

Usage

Publicly available version

1. Visit http://dpkgviewer.westeurope.cloudapp.azure.com
2. Select "Upload a file" from the top center
3. Select the wanted DPKG status file
4. Upload & processing may take couple of seconds, as the cluster has relatively weak hardware
5. The UI updates and the Debian package information is shown! 🌅
6. Dependency buttons in blue are clickable, which takes user to that package. Dependencies not found in the package list are gray.

Run in a local environment with Docker

1. Run docker-compose up from the project root folder
2. The application frontend now runs at: http://localhost:3000, and backend at http://localhost:5000
3. Select "Upload a file" from the top center
4. Select the wanted DPKG status file
5. Upload & processing should be almost instant (For me it takes ~120 ms for tested files)
6. The UI updates and the Debian package information is shown! 🌅
7. Dependency buttons in blue are clickable, which takes user to that package. Dependencies not found in the package list are gray.
8. Close the application with docker-compose down