Adding custom Docker containers to Appwrite
Tags: appwrite, docker, backend
Published: 2021-06-01 01:24:40

In my second post to dev.to, I'll describe how you can add your very own Docker containers to Appwrite!

## Intro

While exploring different backend infrastructure options at [Streamlux](https://streamlux.com), we decided it would be best to add our own containers to the Appwrite Traefik network. This way we could host completely custom web servers on the same machine as Appwrite. Allowing for extremely low latency between the server and Appwrite, and allowing us to have 100% flexibility in terms of API.

If you haven't heard of Appwrite, taken from [Appwrite.io](https://appwrite.io):
> Appwrite is a self-hosted solution that provides developers with a set of easy-to-use and integrate REST APIs to manage their core backend needs.

From one developer to another, check it out, it's awesome!

Now let's get back to the task at hand. Adding custom Docker containers to Appwrite is relatively straight forward. However, if you're new to Docker or Traefik it can be a bit daunting.

The majority of the changes we have to make will be to the `docker-compose.yml` file located in the folder where Appwrite has been installed. For me it was in a folder named `appwrite`.

Next, I'll go into a little more detail on the changes we will be making to the `docker-compose.yml` file, but feel free to skip the background section and get right into the changes.

## Background

The `docker-compose.yml` file handles the startup of all the Docker containers Appwrite consists of. Appwrite uses Traefik as a reverse proxy to route incoming network requests to the correct containers.

When adding our own container, we usually want to be able to handle incoming network requests. To tell Traefik we want requests that are pointed to a specific endpoint like `www.mydomain.com/customApi` to be routed to our container.

## Changes

The first change will be at the very top of your `docker-compose.yml` file.

Change `providers.docker.exposedByDefault` from `false` to `true` as shown below.

```yaml
version: '3'

services:
  traefik:
    image: traefik:2.3
    container_name: appwrite-traefik
    command:
      - --providers.file.directory=/storage/config
      - --providers.file.watch=true
      - --providers.docker=true
      - --providers.docker.exposedByDefault=true # default is false, change it to true
```

Next, your appwrite service labels section needs to be updated to include:

```yaml
- "traefik.enable=true"
- "traefik.constraint-label-stack=appwrite"
- "traefik.docker.network=appwrite"
- "traefik.http.services.appwrite-service.loadbalancer.server.port=80"
# http
- traefik.http.routers.appwrite-http.entrypoints=web
- traefik.http.routers.appwrite-http.rule=PathPrefix(`/`)
- traefik.http.routers.appwrite-http.service=appwrite-service
# https
- traefik.http.routers.appwrite-https.entrypoints=websecure
- traefik.http.routers.appwrite-https.rule=PathPrefix(`/`)
- traefik.http.routers.appwrite-https.service=appwrite-service
- traefik.http.routers.appwrite-https.tls=true
```

So the appwrite service will now look like this (leave everything after the labels section as it is).

```yaml
  appwrite:
    image: appwrite/appwrite:0.8.0
    container_name: appwrite
    restart: unless-stopped
    networks:
      - appwrite
    labels:
        - "traefik.enable=true"
        - "traefik.constraint-label-stack=appwrite"
        - "traefik.docker.network=appwrite"
        - "traefik.http.services.appwrite-service.loadbalancer.server.port=80"
        #http
        - traefik.http.routers.appwrite-http.entrypoints=web
        - traefik.http.routers.appwrite-http.rule=PathPrefix(`/`)
        - traefik.http.routers.appwrite-http.service=appwrite-service
        # https
        - traefik.http.routers.appwrite-https.entrypoints=websecure
        - traefik.http.routers.appwrite-https.rule=PathPrefix(`/`)
        - traefik.http.routers.appwrite-https.service=appwrite-service
        - traefik.http.routers.appwrite-https.tls=true
```

That's all the changes we have to make to the appwrite configuration. Now we can add our own service.

Here is an example Node.js service definition:

```yaml
  appwrite-customApi:
    image: "node:12-alpine"
    restart: unless-stopped
    labels:
        - "traefik.http.middlewares.portainerpathstrip.stripprefix.prefixes=/customApi/" # requests to this endpoint will be routed to our container 
        - "traefik.http.middlewares.portainerpathstrip.stripprefix.forceSlash=false"

        - "traefik.enable=true"
        - "traefik.constraint-label-stack=appwrite"
        - "traefik.docker.network=appwrite"
        - "traefik.http.services.appwrite-customApi.loadbalancer.server.port=8081"
        - "traefik.http.routers.appwrite-customApi-http.middlewares=portainerpathstrip"
        - traefik.http.middlewares.sslheader.headers.customrequestheaders.X-Forwarded-Proto = https
        - traefik.http.routers.appwrite-customApi-http.entrypoints=web
        - traefik.http.routers.appwrite-customApi-http.rule=PathPrefix(`/customApi`)
        - traefik.http.routers.appwrite-customApi-http.service=appwrite-customApi
        - "traefik.http.routers.appwrite-customApi-https.middlewares=portainerpathstrip"
        - traefik.http.routers.appwrite-customApi-https.entrypoints=websecure
        - traefik.http.routers.appwrite-customApi-https.rule=PathPrefix(`/customApi`)
        - traefik.http.routers.appwrite-customApi-https.service=appwrite-customApi
        - traefik.http.routers.appwrite-customApi-https.tls=true

    # customize the following properties based on your docker container

    user: "node"
    working_dir: /home/node/app
    environment:
        - NODE_ENV=production
        - PORT=8081
    volumes:
        - ../customApi/:/home/node/app
    command: "npm run prod"
    networks:
        - appwrite
```

You should be able to copy and paste this, and then change the properties to be able to start your container properly. One thing to note is the port. I have it running on port 8081, so when starting your web server in your container you should start it on port 8081. If you change the port, make sure you change it in all the places it's references in the `docker-compose.yml` file.

After you're done, you can run `docker-compose up -d` to restart the docker containers that have had configuration changes. 

You can run `docker ps` to view the containers and make sure your new container has started. 

Run `docker logs [CONTAINER NAME]` to view the logs from your container.

## Finishing notes

I would love to know if you have success adding your own container to the Appwrite Traefik proxy. It would be awesome to compile some example `docker-compose.yml` files to make it easier for other users.

Please reach out to me with any questions you have or things I missed!

## Credits

First and foremost I have to give credit to Appwrite. And specifically the absolutely amazing Appwrite team. Go check them out and show your support for their awesome work.
- [Appwrite on Dev](https://dev.to/appwrite)
- [Appwrite.io](https://appwrite.io)
- [Join the Appwrite discord](https://appwrite.io/discord)
- [Appwrite on GitHub](https://github.com/appwrite/appwrite)
- [VS Code extension](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=Streamlux.vscode-appwrite) - maintained with ❤️ by the Streamlux team!

## Streamlux

And finally, if you found this post helpful, I am posting today on behalf of my company [Streamlux](https://streamlux.com). After months of hard work we've recently released a public beta of our desktop app. If you are a Twitch streamer or viewer come check out what we have in store.