🐳 Containerizing a Node.js Application with Docker and AWS

This project documents the process of containerizing a Node.js application using Docker, running multiple services with Docker Compose, hosting the image in a private AWS repository, and deploying it — while ensuring data persistence using Docker volumes.

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🚀 Steps Overview

1. Containerizing the Application

• Built a Docker image for the Node.js application using a Dockerfile.
• Defined the app’s environment, dependencies, and exposed ports.
• Ensured that the image can run consistently across environments.

2. Running Multiple Services with Docker Compose

• Used Docker Compose to manage both the application and its dependencies (like databases or APIs) as separate containers.
• This simplifies setup and ensures that all services start together with a single command.

3. Configuring Volumes for Data Persistence

• Added Docker volumes to keep data (e.g., logs, database files) even when containers are stopped or rebuilt.
• This ensures that no critical information is lost during container restarts or updates.

4. Hosting in AWS Private Repository (ECR)

• Configured AWS CLI and created a private Elastic Container Registry (ECR).
• Tagged and pushed the Docker image to AWS ECR for secure private hosting.
• This allows easy deployment and version control of containerized builds.

5. Deploying the Containerized Application

• Deployed the container image to AWS ECS (Elastic Container Service).
• Configured ECS tasks and services to automatically pull the image from ECR.
• Set up networking and scaling parameters for production readiness.

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🧠 Key Takeaways

• Docker ensures consistent, reproducible environments.
• Docker Compose simplifies multi-container orchestration.
• Volumes handle data persistence effectively.
• AWS ECR provides secure private image storage.
• ECS makes deployment, scaling, and management seamless.

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✍️ Author

Cynthia Nwankwo
Software Developer | Cloud & DevOps Enthusiast