.NET Core Docker Image for SPA Applications

Question

What is the correct Docker image to use when creating a new ASP.NET Core MVC app, specifically with the React/Redux (or other Node.js required) template? If not a specific i

Answer 1

Based on @Daniels answer above, running Visual Studio 2017 v15.4 and ASP.NET Core 2.0 on Docker, here are the changes you need to make to allow correct Production and Development behavior for SPA applications (in my case I'm using Angular):

• Add a new Dockerfile to your project which is a copy of the original. Lets call it Dockerfile.Development. Modify as follows:

  FROM microsoft/aspnetcore:2.0
  ARG source
  
  # BEGIN MODIFICATION - Node is needed for development (but not production)
  RUN curl -sL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_6.x | bash -
  RUN apt-get install --assume-yes nodejs
  # END MODIFICATION
  
  WORKDIR /app
  EXPOSE 80
  COPY ${source:-obj/Docker/publish} .
  ENTRYPOINT ["dotnet", "MyService.dll"]
  

• Modify the docker-compose.override.yml file in your solution to use this new dockerfile in development. It'll look something like this:

  version: '3'
  
  services:
    myservice:
      environment:
        - ASPNETCORE_ENVIRONMENT=Development
      ports:
        - "80"
      build:
        dockerfile: Dockerfile.Development
  

• Modify the webpack.config.js file in your project to enable watching for changes, as follows:

  const clientBundleConfig = merge(sharedConfig, {
    entry: { 'main-client': './ClientApp/boot.browser.ts' },
    output: { path: path.join(__dirname, clientBundleOutputDir) },
    // BEGIN MODIFICATION
    watch: isDevBuild,
    watchOptions: {
      poll: isDevBuild ? 1000 : false
    },
    // END MODIFICATION
    plugins: [
      new webpack.DllReferencePlugin({
          context: __dirname,
          manifest: require('./wwwroot/dist/vendor-manifest.json')
      })
    ].concat(isDevBuild ? [