Docker Deployment

Vania compiles to a native executable, making Docker deployments lightweight and fast.

Dockerfile

# Stage 1: Build
FROM dart:stable AS build

WORKDIR /app
COPY pubspec.* ./
RUN dart pub get

COPY . .
RUN dart pub get --offline

# Run migrations (optional - can also be done separately)
# RUN dart run lib/database/migrations/migrate.dart

# Compile to native executable
RUN dart compile exe bin/server.dart -o bin/server

# Stage 2: Runtime
FROM scratch

COPY --from=build /runtime/ /
COPY --from=build /app/bin/server /app/bin/server
COPY --from=build /app/.env /app/.env
COPY --from=build /app/public/ /app/public/
COPY --from=build /app/storage/ /app/storage/

WORKDIR /app
EXPOSE 8000

CMD ["bin/server"]

The scratch base image contains only your binary and its runtime dependencies — no OS, no Dart SDK, no package manager. The result is a minimal container (typically 10–30 MB).

docker-compose.yml

version: '3.8'

services:
  app:
    build: .
    ports:
      - "8000:8000"
    environment:
      - APP_HOST=0.0.0.0
      - APP_PORT=8000
      - DB_HOST=db
      - DB_PORT=3306
      - DB_DATABASE=my_app
      - DB_USERNAME=root
      - DB_PASSWORD=secret
      - REDIS_HOST=redis
    depends_on:
      db:
        condition: service_healthy
      redis:
        condition: service_started
    volumes:
      - app-storage:/app/storage

  db:
    image: mysql:8
    environment:
      MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: secret
      MYSQL_DATABASE: my_app
    ports:
      - "3306:3306"
    volumes:
      - db-data:/var/lib/mysql
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD", "mysqladmin", "ping", "-h", "localhost"]
      interval: 5s
      timeout: 3s
      retries: 10

  redis:
    image: redis:7-alpine
    ports:
      - "6379:6379"

volumes:
  db-data:
  app-storage:

Build and Run

docker compose up --build

Your application is available at http://localhost:8000.

Running Migrations

Run migrations as a one-off command:

docker compose exec app dart run lib/database/migrations/migrate.dart --force

--force is required here because the container sets APP_ENV=production, where the runner refuses to migrate by default — see Migrations.

Or include migration in the Dockerfile build stage (uncomment the migration line).

Environment Variables

In production, pass environment variables through Docker rather than relying on the .env file:

environment:
  - APP_KEY=your-production-key-here
  - APP_ENV=production
  - APP_DEBUG=false
  - DB_HOST=your-rds-endpoint.amazonaws.com
  - DB_PASSWORD=${DB_PASSWORD}  # from host environment

Production Considerations

• Set APP_DEBUG=false in production to hide error details.
• Use a strong, unique APP_KEY (at least 32 characters).
• Put the app behind a reverse proxy (nginx, Caddy) for TLS termination.
• Use connection pooling (DB_POOL=true) under load.
• Mount storage/ as a persistent volume so file uploads and sessions survive container restarts.
• Set APP_HOST=0.0.0.0 to listen on all interfaces inside the container.