🚀 MERN Microservices Deployment on Kubernetes (GCP-ready)

📌 Project Overview

This project demonstrates the deployment of a MERN (MongoDB, Express, React, Node.js) microservices-based application using:

• Containerization with Docker
• Orchestration using Kubernetes
• Deployment tested on local Kubernetes (GKE-compatible)

The application consists of:

• Frontend (React)
• Backend microservices:
  • hello-service
  • profile-service
• MongoDB database

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🧩 Architecture Diagram

graph TD
    User --> Frontend
    Frontend --> HelloService
    Frontend --> ProfileService
    ProfileService --> MongoDB

    subgraph Kubernetes Cluster
        Frontend
        HelloService
        ProfileService
        MongoDB
    end

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🛠️ Tech Stack

• Docker
• Kubernetes
• Node.js
• React.js
• MongoDB
• kubectl
• Git & GitHub

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📁 Project Structure

SampleMERNwithMicroservices/
├── frontend/
├── backend/
│   ├── helloService/
│   └── profileService/
├── k8s/
│   ├── frontend.yaml
│   ├── hello-service.yaml
│   ├── profile-service.yaml
│   └── mongodb.yaml
├── README.md
└── .gitignore

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⚙️ Setup Instructions

1️⃣ Clone Repository

git clone https://github.com/<your-username>/mern-k8s-deployment.git
cd mern-k8s-deployment

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2️⃣ Build Docker Images

docker build -t gcr.io/<project-id>/frontend ./frontend
docker build -t gcr.io/<project-id>/hello-service ./backend/helloService
docker build -t gcr.io/<project-id>/profile-service ./backend/profileService

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3️⃣ Push Images

docker push gcr.io/<project-id>/frontend
docker push gcr.io/<project-id>/hello-service
docker push gcr.io/<project-id>/profile-service

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4️⃣ Deploy to Kubernetes

kubectl apply -f k8s/

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5️⃣ Verify Deployment

kubectl get pods
kubectl get svc

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🌐 Access Application

Option 1: Port Forward (Recommended)

kubectl port-forward service/frontend-service 8080:80
kubectl port-forward service/hello-service 3001:3001
kubectl port-forward service/profile-service 3002:3002

Open:

http://localhost:8080

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Option 2: NodePort

http://localhost:30007

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🔍 API Endpoints

Hello Service

GET /health
http://localhost:3001/health

Profile Service

GET /health
http://localhost:3002/health

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⚠️ Challenges Faced

• Missing Dockerfiles in initial project
• Multi-service backend required separate containerization
• Kubernetes CrashLoopBackOff debugging
• Environment variable mismatch (MONGO_URL)
• MongoDB connection configuration
• NodePort vs ClusterIP access issues

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✅ Solutions Implemented

• Created Dockerfiles for each microservice
• Used Kubernetes Deployments & Services
• Injected environment variables via YAML
• Deployed MongoDB inside cluster
• Used port-forward for local access
• Fixed service communication issues

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🎯 Key Learnings

• Microservices architecture in Kubernetes
• Docker image lifecycle
• Kubernetes networking (ClusterIP vs NodePort)
• Debugging real-world deployment issues
• Environment variable management in containers

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👩‍💻 Author

DEEPIKA NARENDRAN *DevOps Technical Lead | *

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🚀 Conclusion

This project successfully demonstrates deploying a scalable MERN microservices application using Kubernetes. It highlights real-world DevOps practices including containerization, orchestration, service communication, and troubleshooting.

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