Install node_modules inside Docker container and synchronize them with host

Question

I have the problem with installing node_modules inside the Docker container and synchronize them with the host. My Docker's version is 18.03.1-ce, build 9ee9f40 and Docker Compose's version is 1.21.2, build a133471.

My docker-compose.yml looks like:

# Frontend Container.
frontend:
  build: ./app/frontend
  volumes:
    - ./app/frontend:/usr/src/app
    - frontend-node-modules:/usr/src/app/node_modules
  ports:
    - 3000:3000
  environment:
    NODE_ENV: ${ENV}
  command: npm start

# Define all the external volumes.
volumes:
  frontend-node-modules: ~

My Dockerfile:

# Set the base image.
FROM node:10

# Create and define the working directory.
RUN mkdir /usr/src/app
WORKDIR /usr/src/app

# Install the application's dependencies.
COPY package.json ./
COPY package-lock.json ./
RUN npm install

The trick with the external volume is described in a lot of blog posts and Stack Overflow answers. For example, this one.

The application works great. The source code is synchronized. The hot reloading works great too.

The only problem that I have is that node_modules folder is empty on the host. Is it possible to synchronize the node_modules folder that is inside Docker container with the host?

I've already read these answers:

1. docker-compose volume on node_modules but is empty
2. Accessing node_modules after npm install inside Docker

Unfortunately, they didn't help me a lot. I don't like the first one, because I don't want to run npm install on my host because of the possible cross-platform issues (e.g. the host is Windows or Mac and the Docker container is Debian 8 or Ubuntu 16.04). The second one is not good for me too, because I'd like to run npm install in my Dockerfile instead of running it after the Docker container is started.

Also, I've found this blog post. The author tries to solve the same problem I am faced with. The problem is that node_modules won't be synchronized because we're just copying them from the Docker container to the host.

I'd like my node_modules inside the Docker container to be synchronized with the host. Please, take into account that I want:

• to install node_modules automatically instead of manually
• to install node_modules inside the Docker container instead of the host
• to have node_modules synchronized with the host (if I install some new package inside the Docker container, it should be synchronized with the host automatically without any manual actions)

I need to have node_modules on the host, because:

• possibility to read the source code when I need
• the IDE needs node_modules to be installed locally so that it could have access to the devDependencies such as eslint or prettier. I don't want to install these devDependencies globally.

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

At first, I would like to thank David Maze and trust512 for posting their answers. Unfortunately, they didn't help me to solve my problem.

I would like to post my answer to this question.

My docker-compose.yml:

---
# Define Docker Compose version.
version: "3"

# Define all the containers.
services:
  # Frontend Container.
  frontend:
    build: ./app/frontend
    volumes:
      - ./app/frontend:/usr/src/app
    ports:
     - 3000:3000
    environment:
      NODE_ENV: development
    command: /usr/src/app/entrypoint.sh

My Dockerfile:

# Set the base image.
FROM node:10

# Create and define the node_modules's cache directory.
RUN mkdir /usr/src/cache
WORKDIR /usr/src/cache

# Install the application's dependencies into the node_modules's cache directory.
COPY package.json ./
COPY package-lock.json ./
RUN npm install

# Create and define the application's working directory.
RUN mkdir /usr/src/app
WORKDIR /usr/src/app

And last but not least entrypoint.sh:

#!/bin/bash

cp -r /usr/src/cache/node_modules/. /usr/src/app/node_modules/
exec npm start

The trickiest part here is to install the node_modules into the node_module's cache directory (/usr/src/cache) which is defined in our Dockerfile. After that, entrypoint.sh will move the node_modules from the cache directory (/usr/src/cache) to our application directory (/usr/src/app). Thanks to this the entire node_modules directory will appear on our host machine.

Looking at my question above I wanted:

• to install node_modules automatically instead of manually
• to install node_modules inside the Docker container instead of the host
• to have node_modules synchronized with the host (if I install some new package inside the Docker container, it should be synchronized with the host automatically without any manual actions

The first thing is done: node_modules are installed automatically. The second thing is done too: node_modules are installed inside the Docker container (so, there will be no cross-platform issues). And the third thing is done too: node_modules that were installed inside the Docker container will be visible on our host machine and they will be synchronized! If we install some new package inside the Docker container, it will be synchronized with our host machine at once.

The important thing to note: truly speaking, the new package installed inside the Docker container, will appear in /usr/src/app/node_modules. As this directory is synchronized with our host machine, this new package will appear on our host machine's node_modules directory too. But the /usr/src/cache/node_modules will have the old build at this point (without this new package). Anyway, it is not a problem for us. During next docker-compose up --build (--build is required) the Docker will re-install the node_modules (because package.json was changed) and the entrypoint.sh file will move them to our /usr/src/app/node_modules.

You should take into account one more important thing. If you git pull the code from the remote repository or git checkout your-teammate-branch when Docker is running, there may be some new packages added to the package.json file. In this case, you should stop the Docker with CTRL + C and up it again with docker-compose up --build (--build is required). If your containers are running as a daemon, you should just execute docker-compose stop to stop the containers and up it again with docker-compose up --build (--build is required).

If you have any questions, please let me know in the comments.

Hope this helps.