This Dev Container template enables you to effortlessly explore Node.js and Azure SQL. In just a few simple steps, you can dive into the capabilities of these powerful technologies.
A development container (Dev Container for short) is a running Docker container with a well-defined tool/runtime stack and its prerequisites. You can try out Dev Containers with GitHub Codespaces or Visual Studio Code Dev Containers.
To learn more details about all the Azure SQL Database templates, you can explore the template repository at aka.ms/azuresql-devcontainers. This repository includes comprehensive information for each Azure SQL template. To learn more about Dev Containers, visit containers.dev website, where you find a diverse range of templates.
Note: If you already have a Codespace or Dev Container, you can jump to the About this template section.
Follow these steps to open this sample in a Codespaces:
- Select the Code drop-down menu and select the Codespaces tab.
- Select on Create codespaces on main at the bottom of the pane.
For more info, check out the GitHub documentation.
Follow these steps to open this sample in a container using the VS Code Dev Containers extension:
- If you're using a Dev Container for the first time, ensure your system meets the prerequisites in the getting started steps.
- To use this repository, you can either open the repository in an isolated Docker volume:
- Press
F1orCtrl+Shift+Pto open the command palette. - Select the Dev Containers: New Dev Container command.
- Select the desired dev container template for Azure SQL Database, typing
*Azure SQL*. - Select the Node.js and Azure SQL (javascript-node) template
- Wait for the container to build.
- Visual Studio Code builds the container based on the selected configuration.
- The build process might take a few minutes the first time.
- Subsequent builds are faster.
- Once the container is built, the repository opens in the Dev Container.
- Press
Note: Under the hood, this will use the Dev Containers: Clone Repository in Container Volume... command to clone the source code in a Docker volume instead of the local filesystem. Volumes are the preferred mechanism for persisting container data.
This dev container includes a preconfigured database, specifically tailored for use with Node.js. This database serves as a foundation for demonstrating how the Node.js component interacts with Azure SQL.
This template creates two containers, one for the dev container that includes Node.js, and one for Microsoft SQL Server. You will be connected to the Ubuntu container, and from within that container, the MS SQL container will be available on localhost port 1433. The dev container also includes supporting scripts in the .devcontainer/sql folder used to configure the Library sample database.
The SQL container is deployed from the latest developer edition of Microsoft SQL 2022. The database(s) are made available directly in the Codespace/VS Code through the MSSQL extension with a connection labeled LocalDev. The default sa user password is set using the .devcontainer/.env file. The default SQL port is mapped to port 1433 in .devcontainer/docker-compose.yml.
Node.js is a powerful platform for building fast, scalable network applications. With its event-driven, non-blocking I/O model, Node.js is ideal for data-intensive real-time applications that run across distributed devices. The combination of Node.js and Azure SQL Database enables developers to create high-performance applications with ease.
Note: While the SQL Server container employs a standard version of SQL Server, all database development within this dev container can be validated for Azure SQL Database using the SQL Database Project. The SQL Database project is preconfigured with the target platform set as Azure SQL Database.
This dev container template includes multiple tasks that can help with common actions. You can access these tasks by opening the Command Palette in VS Code. Here's how:
- To open the Command Palette, press F1 or Ctrl+Shift+P.
- Type "Run Task" and select "Tasks: Run Task".
- Choose the task you want to run from the list.
This task opens the verifyDatabase.sql file in your workspace and executes the SQL query using the ms-mssql.mssql extension. This task is optional however it can help you to become familiar with the sample Library database tables and data included in this dev container template.
This task builds the SQL Database project. It runs the command dotnet build in the database/Library directory of your workspace.
This task is optional, but it's useful to verify the database schema. You can use this SQL Database project to make changes to the database schema and deploy it to the SQL Server container.
This task involves deploying the SQL Database project to your SQL Server container. It executes the postCreateCommand.sh script found in the .devcontainer/sql directory of your workspace.
The postCreateCommand.sh script requires one argument: the path to the directory containing the .dacpac file for the SQL Database project. In this scenario, that directory is database/Library/bin/Debug.
It utilizes the sqlpackage command-line utility to update the database schema using the .dacpac file, employing authentication credentials from the .env file situated in the .devcontainer directory.
To adjust the sa password, you need to modify the .env file located within the .devcontainer directory. This password is crucial for the creation of the SQL Server container and the deployment of the Library database using the database/Library/bin/Debug/Library.dacpac file.
The password must comply with the following rules:
- It should have a minimum length of eight characters.
- It should include characters from at least three of the following categories: uppercase letters, lowercase letters, numbers, and nonalphanumeric symbols.
By default, a demo database titled Library is created using a DAC package. The deployment process is automated through the postCreateCommand.sh script, which is specified in the devcontainer.json configuration:
"postCreateCommand": "bash .devcontainer/sql/postCreateCommand.sh 'database/Library/bin/Debug'"The postCreateCommand.sh script handles the database deployment by performing the following steps:
- Loads the
SA_PASSWORDfrom the.envfile. - Waits for the SQL Server to be ready by attempting to connect multiple times.
- Checks for .dacpac files in the specified directory (
database/Library/bin/Debug). - Deploys each .dacpac file found to the SQL Server.
You can use the SQL Database Projects extension to deploy the database schema. The Library.sqlproj project is located in the database/Library folder and can be built using the Build SQL Database project task. The output .dacpac files should be placed in the ./bin/Debug folder for deployment.
You can add other services to your .devcontainer/docker-compose.yml file as described in Docker's documentation. However, if you want anything running in this service to be available in the container on localhost, or want to forward the service locally, be sure to add this line to the service config:
# Runs the service on the same network as the database container, allows "forwardPorts" in devcontainer.json function.
network_mode: service:dbBy default, web frameworks and tools often only listen to localhost inside the container. As a result, we recommend using the forwardPorts property to make these ports available locally.
This project uses the 3000 port for Node.js (JavaScript), and the port 1433 for SQL Server:
"forwardPorts": [3000, 1433]Note: You can add additional ports to this list as needed.
The ports property in docker-compose.yml publishes rather than forwards the port. This configuration couldn't work in a cloud environment like Codespaces and applications need to listen to * or 0.0.0.0 for the application to be accessible externally. Fortunately the forwardPorts property doesn't have this limitation.