Procfile: run nginx via docker

[alxndrsn]

Work done to get this project working on a new system.

This should help:

• standardise the nginx version running on different dev machines
• simplify dev environment setup
• standardise behaviour between central's deployed docker, and dev machines
• streamline testing frontend-related changes to nginx config

What has been done to verify that this works as intended?

Tested locally - this is just for dev.

Why is this the best possible solution? Were any other approaches considered?

This subject was discussed previously at #1035.

The final suggestion there was to maintain the default behaviour of requiring devs to install and maintain their own nginx installations.

How does this change affect users? Describe intentional changes to behavior and behavior that could have accidentally been affected by code changes. In other words, what are the regression risks?

No change - this is dev-only.

Does this change require updates to user documentation? If so, please file an issue here and include the link below.

No. But dev documentation has been updated.

Before submitting this PR, please make sure you have:

• run npm run test and npm run lint and confirmed all checks still pass OR confirm CircleCI build passes
• verified that any code or assets from external sources are properly credited in comments or that everything is internally sourced

[brontolosone]

I want the option to continue running my own nginx / postgres etc...

Probably the easiest way to go about it is to simply add an nginx-in-docker target line in the Procfile rather than replacing the existing nginx line, and adjust the package.json/scripts ?

[alxndrsn]

I want the option to continue running my own nginx / postgres etc...

👍 if you still have an option to achieve this, would you object to nginx-in-docker being the default?

If so, what would your preference be for choosing non-docker nginx?

Some approaches I can think of:

• different npm script, e.g. npm run dev-no-docker
• env var, e.g. NO_DOCKER=1 npm run dev
• Procfile first tries to start with local nginx, and then tries via docker

[brontolosone]

I want the option to continue running my own nginx / postgres etc...

👍 if you still have an option to achieve this, would you object to nginx-in-docker being the default?

I will sigh in resignation for the fact that "run some software on a computer", which I take for a solved problem, nowadays is hardly ever mentioned without the word "docker" somewhere.

If so, what would your preference be for choosing non-docker nginx?

Some approaches I can think of:

* different `npm` script, e.g. `npm run dev-no-docker`

* env var, e.g. `NO_DOCKER=1 npm run dev`

* `Procfile` first tries to start with local nginx, and then tries via docker

They're listed in order of descending desirability for me!

[matthew-white]

I don't think my thoughts have changed that much about this since #1035. I'd personally prefer just to run Frontend locally without Docker, but I can see how it'd be helpful to support Docker as well. 👍 If it's feasible to support both setups, that sounds great to me.

One question I have is whether the Docker setup plays well with Vite HMR. If you change Frontend code while using Docker, does it immediately update in the browser? If so, making Docker the default sounds reasonable to me. I think HMR should be on by default, so if the Docker setup doesn't play well with HMR, I think Docker should get its own command (npm run dev:docker?). Note that right now, there's a difference between npm run dev, which uses HMR, and npm run dev:build, which doesn't use HMR and is more similar to the development setup pre-Vite.

They're listed in order of descending desirability for me!

+1

Thanks for working on this, @alxndrsn!

[alxndrsn]

If you change Frontend code while using Docker, does it immediately update in the browser?

Yes 👍

[alxndrsn]

I've had another go at this, and got close to zero changes with the nginx config, and supporting both with/without docker via:

npm run dev
npm run dev-no-docker

I haven't tested npm run dev-no-docker. Hopefully the -g "daemon off;" switch works - when included in the config file it breaks nginx startup with:

nginx: [emerg] "daemon" directive is duplicate in /etc/nginx/nginx.conf:14

[matthew-white]

I've had another go at this, and got close to zero changes with the nginx config, and supporting both with/without docker

Excellent news, that sounds perfect to me.

I have a few small questions, but this approach is looking great to me.