There's this tutorial which has a working chat app. You can find the chat app on GitHub.
I'm trying to deploy the git code to Heroku without success.
The GitHub is separated to client/server architecture so it requires to start node server and ng serve to client. Do I need 2 dynos for it? Do I need to edit the Procfile? The server is using process.env.PORT but the client one is hardcoded.
I'm very new to Heroku and Node.js so any help is meaningful to me.
The GitHub project that you ask about is pretty complex and it doesn't seem to have ane Heroku deployment instructions, without knowing the project it's hard to give you any concrete solution, but I'll try to answer in general how such applications are usually deployed and hopefully it will help you solve your problems.
For applications like this it is common to split the backend and the frontend part and have it deployed and hosted separately, either as two separate dynos if you want to host both on Heroku, or e.g. hosting the backend part on Heroku and the frontend part on Netlify or a similar service.
Another option could be to make the backend serve the frontend e.g. on the / path while having all of the backend endpoints available as /api/* or something similar (or on a different port but this is not possible on Heroku). Having it on the same host and port but with a prefix for the api has the advantage of simplifying the CORS related matters, as the origin is the same so no cross-origin issues arise.
If you're using WebSockets then it is slightly more complicated - make sure to read:
https://devcenter.heroku.com/articles/websockets
but either way you can still move your frontend to Netlify or something similar and keep the backend on Heroku if you want.
It's hard to give you any more specific answer to this question. I see that you are new here, so next time try to write a more specific question and narrow down the problem so that you can show a small code example that people could actually read and help you.
Related
Ok, so my question is actually a bit more complex.
I know how to develop Node.js apps using Express.js. I also know how to build React apps. The problem is putting it together. I've seen many tutorials do it, but they just use the Express backend as if it was an API.
I don't know if this is the best option, but I'd like to have my Node app, and then in the frontend add React. The main difference is that when it comes to handling the URLs, it will be Node who would do it. Therefore, if Node is on port 3000, you would have to go to localhost:3000 to access the website, opposite the guides I've found online.
I would really appreciate some help, as well as other resources as documentation or videos online.
NextJS seems to be a good approach for your situation.
It binds a Nodejs backend with a react frontend with an intuitive developer experience.
It has middleware, handles server-side rendering, code splitting, and routing for you. It also provides a development server that allows you to run your application on a specific port (e.g. 3000) and handle the routing on the server side.
You can serve the react build folder from your node server.
Check this link
This is my first post here, let me know if I do it wrong. I would like to start by mentioning that I'm kind of a beginner developer. I've had a bunch of classes, but it's also my first time working on something of my own, from beginning to end (emphasis on "end").
I'm working on a relatively simple app, for user management (CRUD, with different levels of authorizations) and shop management. I was given the choice of the tools, framework, language, etc, to use, with the only constraints that 1/ the main device to use it will be a tablet most of the times 2/ nothing should be hosted online. I wanted to get more familiar with Javascript so I went with creating a React app (front) with Express Nodejs (back) and a MySQL database I access via Sequelize.
Development is going fine (for the most part thanks to many great posts here on SO), but I just got hit by the reality that I have never tried to build the app and see if it runs the way I intend. And I do not know how to do it. I should have researched that earlier.
So far, in development I always tested everything on PC and phone by running npm start (front end) and node server.js (back end), and the client runs in a browser (when using a phone I access the IP adress and port, like 192.168.x.x:3000). Backend listens to the 8080 port no prob, access to the MySQL database works as intended thanks to Sequelize. Frontend listens to port 3000 to display the user interface on the browser, and React makes it easy to develop features in front, and quickly troubleshoot them. Everything works fine, and as expected, anyone in the same network (and with a web browser) can access and use the app that way.
This is the behavior I want to replicate with a production build : having a computer host the build, and run the "server" so that the app is available to any device in the local network. So I guess I need to somehow make my build in a way to make it possible to turn on and off the "server" at will, maybe via a .exe ? Or turn it on at the same time as the computer ?
I know I should have researched that earlier and not doing so was a mistake. All I know is I'll have to use npm run build, to get the build folder, but I don't know what to do from there. Could you help me figure it out ? Among many things I'm not sure of, is whether or not the host computer (not mine) needs to have node.js installed ? Does it also have to have MySQL installed ? Do I make a single build that incorporates the backend and the frontend, or do I build both separately ? If so, how ?
Let me know if you need to see part of the code. Thanks in advance and have a great day.
EDIT : App was created using create react app
There are options to deploy on cloud like Cloud Servers. But I think you're looking for hosting the application on the local machine. You need to create a service, bundle the application and serve whenever you want.
Following link might be helpful
https://www.section.io/engineering-education/compile-your-nodejs-application-into-a-exe-file/
I want to build a web app with React for frontend and Node.js for backend. The problem comes when choosing the type of hosting I need. I know that for static files(eg. html with css and js) it's enough to have a standard web hosting, but if I want to have a server running Node.js app, do I need a dedicated server or VPS? Why?
I believe you can have either. Are you trying to do this professionally for a client or for a side project?
Personally, I use services like Heroku or Netlify (others here: https://blog.bitsrc.io/8-react-application-deployment-and-hosting-options-for-2019-ab4d668309fd). They run builds of node for your app and are free initially.
You can host your app and publish it for no cost at the beginning. However, on something like Heroku, if you don't pay, it takes 5 seconds for your website to wake up. But, this is great for prototyping. It gives you a URL so others can see it. They are basically version control systems that publish what you currently have. So you can just live push your project at any time and it updates your site.
If your prototype is working and you want it to be a fully dedicated app, then you can either pay or find services that host it. I would recommend prototyping first regardless and wouldn't pay until you need to.
Folks, forgive me if this is a repeat question: I couldn't think of how to phrase it in the search engine. I'm developing an Intranet-based set of applications with the front end (individual apps) in React and the back-end using node.js and Express. I had been using Electron JS but like the Express solution since all web browsers on the Intranet can use the apps.
I'm running into a bit of a circular dependency when it comes to production, though. Since my REST back-end handles all local calls (like node fs) I use REST calls to load and save preferences files from the front end. However, I'd like to be able to set the REST URI from a config file or setting. Since the only way I can access this setting is a call to the REST back-end, I'm stuck. It's possible the client may want to change the host URL and the port for the server. This will affect all axios calls to the REST back end in every React application I have. Instead of calling http://localhost:5000/api-call/ I'd like the localhost and port number to be read from config.
I am transpiling the React apps and storing them in a static folder underneath the REST server. I would like to avoid something complex or additional like REDIS or another local database. My projects don't require any heavy database setups.
Am I simply implementing poor architecture here? I even thought of env variables but then will get into setting them on each client's system which takes away from the flexibility of using a web server in the first place. Any thoughts to move me in the right direction would be greatly appreciated!!!
I knew if I posted this, I might find an answer.
I'm not sure how elegant a solution this is but I could test the env for development vs. production. If in production, I can then use window.href (host and port) to get the information I need. I think this will work but would still love to hear some other thoughts from those with far more experience than I have!
I am new to node, so please excuse me if I am asking stupid questions.
Ghost has been released as NPM module recently. I am trying to integrate it with my application, so I could have custom home page and serve blog on a separate page. Once I do following in my app.js, it takes over all the traffic to my site. How do I configure ghost to serve only the blog?
var ghost = require('ghost');
ghost();
We're missing a few details here so I'll make some assumptions.
If you are hosting node using the default server than (as of this posting) you are out of luck since ghost is setup to run in it's own standalone server. One possible solution is to run both the standard node.js server for your page then another for ghost. That's obviously not ideal but until they fix their integration issues you don't have much choice.
I'm trying to solve the same problem, and currently imagine finding a hosting that allows me to run two node instances (I think that is quite possible with e.g. digital ocean). One - port 80 - will point to Ghost, while the other (on some other port) will host the REST API for the app.
I will then create a blank page linked to a custom template that loads the rest of my angular application - the files will be stored in the assets folder of my custom template, while ajax calls will simply be to the non-standard port.