CRUD API using NestJS, MongoDB and Docker

Francesco Ciulla - Nov 26 '21 - - Dev Community

In this article, we will set some CRUD API using:

  • NestJS (NodeJS Framework)
  • Mongoose (ODM that helps you to create a Schema based on the Model)
  • MongoDB (NoSQL Database)
  • Docker (Platform to deploy applications using containers)

GitHub Repository: https://github.com/FrancescoXX/nest-docker

Prerequisite: NodeJs installed, Docker (Docker desktop on windows/Mac Machines, Docker installed natively on Linux)

But you can follow way better if you:

  • Know how to run a "hello world" application using NestJS
  • Know what MongoDB Atlas is and how it works
  • Have an idea of what Mongoose is
  • Know what a Dockerfile and a Dockerfile is

NestJS

image.png

NestJs is a Node.js framework for building efficient and scalable applications, with full support to Typescript. It has a CLI you can use to generate projects and block easily and It uses express under the hood but has many interesting features like the building blocks:

  • Modules
  • Providers
  • Controllers
  • Services

Mongoose

image.png

Mongoose is an ODM (Object Data Modeling) javascript library for MongoDB and Node.

It is used to manage data relationships, uses Schemas and helps you to connect to a mongo db using mongo DRIVER

MongoDB

image.png

MongoDB is a NoSQL database. It stores documents and by using a Json-like object structure it's very easy to use with a Node application

In this example, we will use MongoDB Atlas, which is a cloud solution and it's perfect for an example. But of course, we could use it locally, even better if inside a docker container.

DOCKER

image.png

Docker is a platform to build run and share application using the idea of containers. If you want a brief introduction, here is a short video

IMAGE ALT TEXT HERE

https://youtu.be/eN_O4zd4D9o

Project Setup

Install NestJS CLI

NestJS comes with an easy to use CLI, that you can install globally (or locally) and it helps you to get started and use NestJS

npm install -g @nestjs/cli
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Create a new nest project (a new folder will be created)

nest new nest-mongo-docker
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Open the project with your favorite IDE.
If you have VS Code, you can type

code nest-mongo-docker
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Install dependencies

npm install mongoose  @nestjs/mongoose
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

To check if it's running, just type

nest start
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

And check localhost:3000

image.png

If you see something like that, you can keep going :)

From the '/nest-mongo-docker' folder, using the nest CLI, we can generate files for the resource we want to create:

  • a controller
  • a service
  • a module 
nest generate controller users
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode 
nest generate service users
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode 
nest generate module users
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

in the src/users folder and let's create a user.module.ts file. From the command line, you can type:

touch src/users/user.model.ts
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Our project structure should look like this:

image.png

Model

in the users.model.ts, we can create a model for the resource we want to use.
We will use a 'user' resource, with name, surname, and points, of the type string, string, and number respectively. Please note that here we are not using Typescript types, but plain JavaScript ones.

We don't need to add the "id" primary key in the schema, because it will be generated by Mongoose

import * as mongoose from 'mongoose';

export const UserSchema = new mongoose.Schema({
  name: { type: String, required: true },
  surname: { type: String, required: true },
  points: { type: Number, required: true },
});

export interface User extends mongoose.Document {
  id: string;
  name: string;
  surname: string;
  points: number;
}
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Service

We will use a Nest Service, which will be called by the controller functions.

Using the Mongoose library, we can easily work with objects in the Mongo Database

We can also import "NotFoundException" to have better error Handling in our application.

users.service.ts

import { Injectable } from '@nestjs/common';
import { InjectModel } from '@nestjs/mongoose';
import { Model } from 'mongoose';
import { User } from './user.model';

@Injectable()
export class UsersService {
  constructor(@InjectModel('User') private readonly userModel: Model<User>) {}

  /**
   * Create a new user
   * @param name
   * @param email
   * @param password
   */
  async create(name: string, email: string, password: string): Promise<User> {
    const createdUser = new this.userModel({ name, email, password });
    return createdUser.save();
  }

  /**
   * Find all users
   */
  async findAll(): Promise<User[]> {
    return this.userModel.find().exec();
  }

}
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Controller

Let's work on the Controller. NestJs forces us to create a solid structure for our HTTP requests, and it uses decorators for HTTP verbs.

We will create 2 endpoints

  • Get All Users
  • Create a new User (a Post request passing the new users value in the body)

in the users.controller.ts

import {
  Controller,
  Post,
  Body,
  Get,
  Param,
} from '@nestjs/common';
import { UsersService } from './users.service';

@Controller('users')
export class UsersController {
  constructor(private readonly usersService: UsersService) {}

  @Post()
  async createOneUser(
    @Body('name') name: string,
    @Body('email') email: string,
    @Body('password') password: string,
  ) {
    const generatedId = await this.usersService.createOneUser(
      name,
      email,
      password,
    );
    return { id: generatedId };
  }

  @Get()
  getAllUsers() {
    return this.usersService.getAllUsers();
  }
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Module

The UsersController and UsersService can be imported as a Module, and in this Module we can define some environment variables, to define the connection with the Mongo DB:

  • MONGO_ATLAS_USER
  • MONGO_ATLAS_PASSWORD
  • MONGO_ATLAS_DB

You can change this, and they must match the user and password you have on The MongoDB ATLAS

in the users.module.ts

import { Module } from '@nestjs/common';
import { MongooseModule } from '@nestjs/mongoose';
import { UserSchema } from './user.model';
import { UsersController } from './users.controller';
import { UsersService } from './users.service';

@Module({
  imports: [
    MongooseModule.forFeature([{ name: 'User', schema: UserSchema }]),
  ],
  controllers: [UsersController],
  providers: [UsersService],
})
export class UsersModule {}
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

in the app.module.ts

import { Module } from '@nestjs/common';
import { AppController } from './app.controller';
import { AppService } from './app.service';
import { UsersModule } from './users/users.module';
import { MongooseModule } from '@nestjs/mongoose';

@Module({
  imports: [
    UsersModule,
    MongooseModule.forRoot(
      //Replace this line with the one Cluster > Connect > Connect your Application
      `mongodb+srv://${process.env.MONGO_ATLAS_USER}:${process.env.MONGO_ATLAS_PASSWORD}@cluster0.suflu.mongodb.net/${process.env.MONGO_ATLAS_DB}?retryWrites=true&w=majority`,
    ),
  ],
  controllers: [AppController],
  providers: [AppService],
})
export class AppModule {}
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Remember to replace the line inside the forRoot method accordingly to your application.

To check that, go to Atlas DB site, Cluster > Connect > Connect your application, and copy the line below.

replace username, password and database using JavaScript Template literal. This is useful to pass the values from env variable instead of hardcoding them here.

image.png

ATLAS DB Setup

https://www.mongodb.com/cloud/atlas/lp/try2?utm_source=google&utm_campaign=gs_emea_italy_search_brand_atlas_desktop&utm_term=mongodbatlas&utm_medium=cpc_paid_search&utm_ad=e&utm_ad_campaign_id=1718986540&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI7-GGl6mq7gIVFbd3Ch2hogE3EAAYASAAEgKNVPD_BwE

DOCKER

let's create 3 files to containerize our nest js application

Dockerfile

FROM node:14

RUN npm i -g @nestjs/cli

COPY package.json .

RUN npm install

COPY . .

EXPOSE 3000

CMD ["nest", "start"]
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Please note the 3rd line:

This is specific to NestJs, and we need to add this one in order to operate with the Nest CLI inside the container

the .dockerignore

node_modules
dist
.git
.vscode
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

The docker-compose.yml

#docker-compose file
version: '3'

services:
  nestapp:
    container_name: nestapp
    image: nestapp:1.0.0
    build:
      context: .
      dockerfile: Dockerfile
    ports:
      - "3000:3000"
    env_file:
      - .env
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

the .env file:

Replace the XXXXX with your MongoDB Atlas User and Password

MONGO_ATLAS_USER=XXXX
MONGO_ATLAS_PASSWORD=XXXXXX
MONGO_ATLAS_DB=nest-mongo-docker-db
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Replace with your password in MongoDB ATLAS.

You can find it on Atlas Site, under "Database Access"

image.png

Also replace the "image" value with something like:

docklerhubuser/nest-mongo:0.0.1

time to run our application

docker-compose up -d --build nest_mongo_backend
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

check if the app is up and running using

docker ps
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

image.png

POSTMAN / MONGODB ATLAS

image.png

We will use Postman, but you can use a whenever tool you want

let's make a GET request like this

image.png

our users are empty.

We can confirm this by checking on Mongo Atlas

image.png

Click on "Collections"

image.png

As you can see, the users list is empty

Let's create 3 users with a POST request, using POSTMAN.
Here is an example of one of the 3

image.png

Let's check again if we have new users

image.png

Let's check on Atlas

image.png

GitHub Repository: https://github.com/FrancescoXX/nest-docker

Image
5 Laws Anybody Working In Small Mobility Scooter For Sale Should Be Aware Of
Image
First Aid Course Near Me Adelaide
Image
Why Asbestos Mesothelioma Is Still Relevant In 2023
Image
Instalar PNPM en Linux, macOS y Windows

linux, node, tutorial, spanish
Image
Functional vs. Non-Functional Testing: Navigating the Landscape of Software Quality Assurance
Image
14 Questions You're Afraid To Ask About Accident Lawyer
Image
🚀 Your Daily Crypto Job Digest For 06 November!! 🚀

hiring, whoishiring, web3
Image
10 Of The Top Mobile Apps To Use For Accident Lawyers Baton Rouge
Image
Fitting Cat Flap in UPVC Door Panel
Image
Zeeve RaaS Partners with LayerEdge to Bring Cost-Efficient Settlement to Bitcoin with ZK Proof Aggregation
Image
Biggest Crypto Casino's History Of Biggest Crypto Casino In 10 Milestones
Image
7 Simple Secrets To Completely Rocking Your Crypto Live Casino
Image
ppbetlogin
Image
Why You Should Not Think About How To Improve Your Asbestos Payouts
Image
The Best Filter Coffee Machine Mistake That Every Beginning Best Filter Coffee Machine User Makes
Image
Finding Minimum and Maximum Values in an Array: Effective Approaches with Java Programming

java, programming, coding, oop
Image
What To Do To Determine If You're Set For Accident Lawyer
Image
A Proficient Rant Concerning Drip Coffee Brewer
Image
Web Development in Docker Containers Using Express.js

docker, express, javascript, webdev
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .