Need help building and deploying monorepo on railway
materwelondhruv
PROOP

2 years ago

For some reason I can't connect the github repo. So I tried using the Railway CLI. But the problem with that is it needs me to link. I tried the railway.toml file but I don't think I have the syntax down. So for now, here's my project structure with monorepo, and some context.

Frontend depends on the API dir, for important methods to interact with the Backend. So I need to have the full project on there. But on Railway, I have two services.

├── API
│   ├── Types
│   ├── package.json
│   ├── source
│   │   ├── BaseMethods.ts
│   │   ├── GetMethods.ts
│   │   └── index.ts
│   └── tsconfig.json
├── Backend
│   ├── Dockerfile
│   ├── database
│   │   ├── Database.ts
│   │   ├── Middleware
│   │   └── Models
│   ├── index.ts
│   ├── library
│   │   ├── Decorators
│   │   │   ├── Catchable.ts
│   │   │   ├── Checkable.ts
│   │   │   └── DBCatchable.ts
│   │   ├── Errors
│   │   │   ├── Database.ts
│   │   │   ├── Email.ts
│   │   │   └── Params.ts
│   │   ├── Globals
│   │   │   ├── Assets.ts
│   │   │   └── Globals.ts
│   │   ├── Interfaces
│   │   │   ├── Errors.ts
│   │   │   ├── HandlerController.ts
│   │   │   └── RequestRouter.ts
│   │   ├── Types.ts
│   │   └── Utilities
│   │       ├── ErrorUtils.ts
│   │       ├── LoggerUtils.ts
│   │       ├── MiscUtils.ts
│   │       ├── NumberUtils.ts
│   │       └── StringUtils.ts
│   ├── nodemon.json
│   ├── package.json
│   ├── pnpm-lock.yaml
│   ├── server
│   │   ├── Routes
│   │   │   ├── Get.ts
│   │   │   ├── Post.ts
│   │   │   └── Put.ts
│   │   ├── Server.ts
│   │   └── ValidRoutes.ts
│   ├── source
│   │   ├── Controllers
│   │   │   ├── GetController.ts
│   │   │   ├── PostController.ts
│   │   │   └── PutController.ts
│   │   ├── Handlers
│   │   │   ├── GetHandlers
│   │   │   │   └── HelloWorld.ts
│   │   │   ├── PostHandlers
│   │   │   └── PutHandlers
│   │   └── Middleware
│   │       └── Email.ts
│   ├── start-watch.ts
│   └── tsconfig.json
├── Frontend
│   ├── Dockerfile
│   ├── README.md
│   ├── entrypoint.sh
│   ├── eslint.config.js
│   ├── index.html
│   ├── nginx.conf.template
│   ├── package.json
│   ├── pnpm-lock.yaml
│   ├── postcss.config.js
│   ├── public
│   │   └── vite.svg
│   ├── src
│   │   ├── App.tsx
│   │   ├── assets
│   │   │   └── react.svg
│   │   ├── index.css
│   │   ├── main.tsx
│   │   └── vite-env.d.ts
│   ├── tailwind.config.js
│   ├── tsconfig.app.json
│   ├── tsconfig.json
│   ├── tsconfig.node.json
│   └── vite.config.ts
├── LICENSE
├── README.md
├── package.json
├── pnpm-lock.yaml
├── pnpm-workspace.yaml
└── tsconfig.json
Closed

109 Replies

materwelondhruv
PROOP

2 years ago

Project ID: 6895348a-16e1-4f9a-b3ad-f8846dc4a9db


materwelondhruv
PROOP

2 years ago

Backend/Dockerfile

# Stage 1: Build the Backend
FROM node:22-alpine AS builder

# Set working directory
WORKDIR /app

# Install pnpm globally
RUN npm install -g pnpm

# Copy root package.json, pnpm-workspace.yaml, and pnpm-lock.yaml
COPY package.json pnpm-workspace.yaml pnpm-lock.yaml ./

# Install all dependencies
RUN pnpm install

# Copy all workspace packages (includes API, Backend, Frontend)
COPY . .

# Build the Backend
RUN pnpm --filter backend run build

# Stage 2: Create the Production Image
FROM node:22-alpine

# Set working directory
WORKDIR /app

# Install pnpm globally
RUN npm install -g pnpm

# Copy root package.json and pnpm-lock.yaml
COPY package.json pnpm-lock.yaml ./

# Install production dependencies for Backend
RUN pnpm install --prod --filter backend

# Copy the built Backend code from the builder stage
COPY --from=builder /app/Backend/dist ./Backend/dist

# Expose the port that the app runs on
EXPOSE 4000

# Start the application
CMD ["pnpm", "--filter", "backend", "start"]

Frontend/Dockerfile

# Stage 1: Build the Frontend
FROM node:22-alpine AS builder

# Set working directory
WORKDIR /app

# Install pnpm globally
RUN npm install -g pnpm

# Copy root package.json, pnpm-workspace.yaml, and pnpm-lock.yaml
COPY package.json pnpm-workspace.yaml pnpm-lock.yaml ./

# Install all dependencies
RUN pnpm install

# Copy all workspace packages (includes API, Backend, Frontend)
COPY . .

# Build the Frontend
RUN pnpm --filter frontend run build

# Stage 2: Serve with Nginx
FROM nginx:alpine

# Install gettext for envsubst (environment variable substitution)
RUN apk add --no-cache gettext

# Copy custom Nginx configuration template
COPY Frontend/nginx.conf.template /etc/nginx/nginx.conf.template

# Copy entrypoint script
COPY Frontend/entrypoint.sh /entrypoint.sh
RUN chmod +x /entrypoint.sh

# Remove default Nginx static assets
RUN rm -rf /usr/share/nginx/html/*

# Copy built Frontend code from builder
COPY --from=builder /app/Frontend/dist /usr/share/nginx/html

# Expose port 80
EXPOSE 80

# Set entrypoint to handle dynamic configuration and start Nginx
ENTRYPOINT ["/entrypoint.sh"]

2 years ago

send me the nginx config please


materwelondhruv
PROOP

2 years ago

user  nginx;
worker_processes  auto;

error_log  /var/log/nginx/error.log warn;
pid        /var/run/nginx.pid;

events {
    worker_connections  1024;
}

http {
    include       /etc/nginx/mime.types;
    default_type  application/octet-stream;

    sendfile        on;
    keepalive_timeout  65;

    server {
        listen       80;
        server_name  localhost;

        root /usr/share/nginx/html;
        index index.html;

        location / {
            try_files $uri $uri/ /index.html;
        }

        # Cache control for static assets
        location ~* \.(js|css|png|jpg|jpeg|gif|ico)$ {
            expires 1y;
            add_header Cache-Control "public, max-age=31536000";
        }

        # Proxy API requests to Backend
        location /api/ {
            proxy_pass $API_URL;
            proxy_set_header Host $host;
            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;
        }
    }
}

2 years ago

any reason you are proxying requests? vs just having the frontend call the backends domain?


materwelondhruv
PROOP

2 years ago

it can't find the Dockerfile most of the times. And I'm reluctant to specify a path because then it'll ignore the API folder? I'm not sure.


materwelondhruv
PROOP

2 years ago

I don't understand nginx, unfortunately. This nginx code was written by someone else in the team, and I don't think they understand it either. We're new to complex full stack deployments. Would love to get some guidance (we're in a hackathon <:sodead:854174387556450314> time's running out)


2 years ago

what's the frontend written in?


materwelondhruv
PROOP

2 years ago

frontend vite+react, typescript

backend typescript express


2 years ago

let's fix the lower hanging issues first, remove the proxy stuff and change your frontend code to use an environment variable for the backend host that it will make fetch requests to


materwelondhruv
PROOP

2 years ago

the url for the backend is $API_URL. I'll remove all proxy? but where to I set the API_URL then? It's the one that railway provides, in our case, backend-newrr.railway.app or smth


2 years ago

please see this message for guidance


materwelondhruv
PROOP

2 years ago

okay, let me update it and send it over <:thumbsup:1054061652967956490>


materwelondhruv
PROOP

2 years ago

user  nginx;
worker_processes  auto;

error_log  /var/log/nginx/error.log warn;
pid        /var/run/nginx.pid;

events {
    worker_connections  1024;
}

http {
    include       /etc/nginx/mime.types;
    default_type  application/octet-stream;

    sendfile        on;
    keepalive_timeout  65;

    server {
        listen       80;
        server_name  localhost;

        root /usr/share/nginx/html;
        index index.html;

        location / {
            try_files $uri $uri/ /index.html;
        }

        location ~* \.(js|css|png|jpg|jpeg|gif|ico)$ {
            expires 1y;
            add_header Cache-Control "public, max-age=31536000";
        }

    }
}

Also, do lmk if you prefer that I don't ping you in replies


materwelondhruv
PROOP

2 years ago

I didn't really understand using the API url in nginx in the first place. I'm already using that in the frontend via a static class that loads the env and added that in CORS as well.


2 years ago

show me some sample code from your frontend that would make an API request to the backend


materwelondhruv
PROOP

2 years ago

import { BaseMethods } from './BaseMethods';
import axios from 'axios';

export class GetMethods extends BaseMethods {
  constructor(baseUrl: string) {
    super(baseUrl);
  }

  public async checkHealth(): Promise {
    const response = await axios.get(`${this.baseUrl}/health`);
    return response.data;
  }
}

So frontend would create an instance of this class like so

const GetApi = new GetMethods(Globals.API_URL);

then use the methods

await GetApi.checkHealth();

2 years ago

show me how API_URL is defined please


materwelondhruv
PROOP

2 years ago

This works, tested locally. Endpoint also works, tested via Postman.

import dotenv from 'dotenv';

export class Globals {
  public static ENV = process.env.NODE_ENV || 'development';

  private constructor() {}

  static {
    Globals.initialize();
  }

  private static initialize() {
    dotenv.config({ path: `.env.${Globals.ENV}` });
  }
  // CONSTANTS

  // PRIVATE CONSTANTS | VARIABLES
  public static readonly DB_NAME = process.env.DB_NAME || '';
  public static readonly MONGO_URI = process.env.MONGODB_URI || '';
  public static readonly V_EMAIL = process.env.V_EMAIL || '';
  public static readonly V_PASSWORD = process.env.V_PASSWORD || '';
  public static readonly PORT = process.env.PORT || 3000;
  public static readonly API_URL = process.env.API_URL || '';

  // VARIABLE ACCESSORS BASED ON ENVIRONMENT
}

2 years ago

is this frontend code?


materwelondhruv
PROOP

2 years ago

yeah, it's a file in the Frontend.


2 years ago

why is a file in the frontend referencing the mongo uri?


materwelondhruv
PROOP

2 years ago

i'm supposed to delete that line <:D_lol:801460675276046357>

frontend will only have API_URL


materwelondhruv
PROOP

2 years ago

and maybe port, depends on the person writing the frontend


materwelondhruv
PROOP

2 years ago

i only work on the backend


2 years ago

lol why was it ever there?


materwelondhruv
PROOP

2 years ago

cuz copied this file from the Backend


2 years ago

fair enough


2 years ago

you are missing the needed variables in your Dockerfiles


materwelondhruv
PROOP

2 years ago

but Railway isn't detecting the dockerfile at all.

And since we can't connect via github (because we don't own the project, it's part of the hackathon group), we don't know how to get it up and running


2 years ago

we'll get to that, remember, low hanging issues first


materwelondhruv
PROOP

2 years ago

hm. ye


2 years ago


materwelondhruv
PROOP

2 years ago

i made the nginx changes as you suggested


materwelondhruv
PROOP

2 years ago

oh wait. ooo.

So instead of having the Dockerfiles inside the dirs of Frontend and Backend, I keep it in root dir and add these build time variables in the Dockerfile?

so Dockerfile.frontend

Dockerfile.backend in the root dir?

This is because I need it to use the full monorepo each time, because of that API directory (which is a package, using pnpm workspace)

If so, I know I can refernce the correct Dockerfile via railway env variables. But what about the service? I can't connect to github so I have to use the CLI. But with the CLI, it needs me to link a service, either backend or frontend. Soooo, yeah.

I'm not sure what Dockerfile you need me to update. Best to first get the Backend to work. So I add both Dockerfile and service? But what's the point of adding a Dockerfile env in the Dockerfile itself?


materwelondhruv
PROOP

2 years ago

you see how confused I am lmao


materwelondhruv
PROOP

2 years ago

and thank you for bearing with me


2 years ago

you dont need to move anything, please dont go jumping to conclusions here, remember low hanging issues first


2 years ago

me dumping everything you need to do at once is not helpful, so its going to be one thing at a time


materwelondhruv
PROOP

2 years ago

so for now, what do you need me to add to the Backend's Dockerfile?

env for the service?


2 years ago

as the docs say, you need to add ARG lines


materwelondhruv
PROOP

2 years ago

# Stage 1: Build the Backend
FROM node:22-alpine AS builder

ARG RAILWAY_ENVIRONMENT=staging
ARG RAILWAY_SERVICE_NAME=backend
RUN echo $RAILWAY_SERVICE_NAME

2 years ago

you dont need to ping reply me btw


materwelondhruv
PROOP

2 years ago

will keep that in mind for future messages <:thumbsup:1054061652967956490>


2 years ago

  1. dont specify the value
  2. you dont need to echo it, that was purely for demonstration
  3. i'm sure your backend needs more than those two variables
  4. set the variables in the service variables

materwelondhruv
PROOP

2 years ago

ah wait nvm. got it. I'm supposed to set them on the dashboard. brb


2 years ago

that too


materwelondhruv
PROOP

2 years ago

that too ah <:sodead:854174387556450314> what am I missing. okay lemmi do this first then will show u


2 years ago

updated


materwelondhruv
PROOP

2 years ago

I think I understand what the args are now.

and railway already has the environment name and service name. So I don't need to create them again on the dash.

And no, I don't need any more args during build for the backend. For the other variables, I already created them on the backend.

1294776223427330188


2 years ago

lets see the backend Dockerfile


materwelondhruv
PROOP

2 years ago

sec


materwelondhruv
PROOP

2 years ago

# Stage 1: Build the Backend
FROM node:22-alpine AS builder

ARG RAILWAY_ENVIRONMENT
ARG RAILWAY_SERVICE_NAME

# Set working directory
WORKDIR /app

# Install pnpm globally
RUN npm install -g pnpm

# Copy root package.json, pnpm-workspace.yaml, and pnpm-lock.yaml
COPY package.json pnpm-workspace.yaml pnpm-lock.yaml ./

# Install all dependencies
RUN pnpm install

# Copy all workspace packages (includes API, Backend, Frontend)
COPY . .

# Build the Backend
RUN pnpm --filter backend run build

# Stage 2: Create the Production Image
FROM node:22-alpine

# Set working directory
WORKDIR /app

# Install pnpm globally
RUN npm install -g pnpm

# Copy root package.json and pnpm-lock.yaml
COPY package.json pnpm-lock.yaml ./

# Install production dependencies for Backend
RUN pnpm install --prod --filter backend

# Copy the built Backend code from the builder stage
COPY --from=builder /app/Backend/dist ./Backend/dist

# Expose the port that the app runs on
EXPOSE 4000

# Start the application
CMD ["pnpm", "--filter", "backend", "start"]

materwelondhruv
PROOP

2 years ago

I assume I have to update the Backend stuff I'm using below? instead of hardcoding it?


2 years ago

are you sure you dont need to use some other variables during build?


materwelondhruv
PROOP

2 years ago

nop


materwelondhruv
PROOP

2 years ago

nothing that relates to my backend atleast


2 years ago

how do you know you dont need environment variables during build


materwelondhruv
PROOP

2 years ago

because I've made a similar backend for a separate project before (was less complex), but I didn't need those other variables during build time. I'm not "setting up" anything during build time, except building the Backend code. the start command does everything else and my ENVs are only ever referenced by the code on requests


2 years ago

sounds good, just making sure


2 years ago

show me the frontend service variables in railway please


materwelondhruv
PROOP

2 years ago

sec


materwelondhruv
PROOP

2 years ago

1294778819869278238


2 years ago

cool, show me the dockerfile please


materwelondhruv
PROOP

2 years ago

it's here

apologies late response


2 years ago

i know, but it needed to be updated so i asked to see it after you have made the changes


materwelondhruv
PROOP

2 years ago


2 years ago

please read this docs section


materwelondhruv
PROOP

2 years ago

updated Frontend/Dockerfile and added

RAILWAY_DOCKERFILE_PATH=/Frontend/Dockerfile

updated Backend/Dockerfile and added

RAILWAY_DOCKERFILE_PATH=/Backend/Dockerfile

materwelondhruv
PROOP

2 years ago

ENV*


materwelondhruv
PROOP

2 years ago

ENV before both


2 years ago

again, please do not try to skip ahead


materwelondhruv
PROOP

2 years ago

wait but this is part of the variables at build time guide


materwelondhruv
PROOP

2 years ago

the first instruction


2 years ago

I linked a specific header, not the entire page


materwelondhruv
PROOP

2 years ago

I already completed that stuff. I only need service and environment at build time


2 years ago

for your frontend you need more than that


materwelondhruv
PROOP

2 years ago

uhhhh.


materwelondhruv
PROOP

2 years ago

the API_URL? that's not needed at build time


2 years ago

yes it is, this is a static site


materwelondhruv
PROOP

2 years ago

API_URL is from the backend though


materwelondhruv
PROOP

2 years ago

and I'll only need that when someone interacts with the frontend


2 years ago

the frontend needs that variable to know what url to make requests to.

the frontend is a static site.

thus that variable is needed during build.


materwelondhruv
PROOP

2 years ago

# Stage 1: Build the Frontend
FROM node:22-alpine AS builder

ARG API_URL
ARG RAILWAY_ENVIRONMENT
ARG RAILWAY_SERVICE_NAME

# Set working directory
WORKDIR /app

materwelondhruv
PROOP

2 years ago

looks like this now


2 years ago

does your frontend even use those railway specific environment variables?


materwelondhruv
PROOP

2 years ago

it'll need it for the build


materwelondhruv
PROOP

2 years ago

because it's a monorepo


2 years ago

how so


materwelondhruv
PROOP

2 years ago

oh well, i shouldnt step ahead.


materwelondhruv
PROOP

2 years ago

It doesnt need it in the current state


2 years ago

how is vite going to access API_URL if you don't have the correct prefix?


materwelondhruv
PROOP

2 years ago

the website isn't fetching any data from the backend when it starts btw. atleast right now. So API_URL isn't needed either, really.


materwelondhruv
PROOP

2 years ago

yeah, it doesnt


materwelondhruv
PROOP

2 years ago

there are no backend enpoints that send anything to the website during build


materwelondhruv
PROOP

2 years ago

it's all frontend


2 years ago

it doesn't need to be during build


2 years ago

it's a static site done with vite, correct?


materwelondhruv
PROOP

2 years ago

yes it's static during build time


materwelondhruv
PROOP

2 years ago

oh btw, got perms for github and connected it to the railway project.


materwelondhruv
PROOP

2 years ago

well, service.


materwelondhruv
PROOP

2 years ago

have not deployed


materwelondhruv
PROOP

2 years ago

it needs fixing <:D_lol:801460675276046357>


materwelondhruv
PROOP

2 years ago

i should probs test locally with docker first


2 years ago

show me the frontend Dockerfile please


materwelondhruv
PROOP

2 years ago

back finally

# Stage 1: Build the Frontend
FROM node:22-alpine AS builder

ARG API_URL
ARG RAILWAY_ENVIRONMENT
ARG RAILWAY_SERVICE_NAME

# Set working directory
WORKDIR /app

# Install pnpm globally
RUN npm install -g pnpm

# Copy root package.json, pnpm-workspace.yaml, and pnpm-lock.yaml
COPY package.json pnpm-workspace.yaml pnpm-lock.yaml ./

# Install all dependencies
RUN pnpm install

# Copy all workspace packages (includes API, Backend, Frontend)
COPY . .

# Build the Frontend
RUN pnpm --filter frontend run build

# Stage 2: Serve with Nginx
FROM nginx:alpine

# Install gettext for envsubst (environment variable substitution)
RUN apk add --no-cache gettext

# Copy custom Nginx configuration template
COPY Frontend/nginx.conf.template /etc/nginx/nginx.conf.template

# Copy entrypoint script
COPY Frontend/entrypoint.sh /entrypoint.sh
RUN chmod +x /entrypoint.sh

# Remove default Nginx static assets
RUN rm -rf /usr/share/nginx/html/*

# Copy built Frontend code from builder
COPY --from=builder /app/Frontend/dist /usr/share/nginx/html

# Expose port 80
EXPOSE 80

# Set entrypoint to handle dynamic configuration and start Nginx
ENTRYPOINT ["/entrypoint.sh"]

2 years ago

vite will only load variables that are prefixed with VITE_


materwelondhruv
PROOP

2 years ago

decided to use two repos instead of one we won the hackathon tho!


materwelondhruv
PROOP

2 years ago

thanks for trying to help Brody <:smil:966279319787819018>


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