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In this guide we are going to show you how to deploy your ShipThing application as a Docker container, so you can deploy it to any platform or server that supports docker images.

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Why deploy your SaaS as a Docker container?

Deploying your SaaS as a Docker container allows you to have complete control over your server environment. It ensures better privacy, contributes to cost savings if managed correctly, and offers you the flexibility to customize your server setup to suit your specific needs. It can also give your application a performance boost compared to hosting on a serverless platform like Vercel, as it removes cold starts.

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Setup Next.js app for docker deployment

To get started we first need to configure our Next.js app to be built as a standalone app, so we can later run the application in a docker container. To do so, add the following next.config.ts file to your project:
next.config.ts
nextConfig.output = 'standalone';

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Setup docker configuration for the Next.js app

Next, create a Dockerfile in the root of your Next.js app (apps/web/Dockerfile) with the following content:
Dockerfile
FROM node:22-alpine AS base
ENV PNPM_HOME="/pnpm"
ENV PATH="$PNPM_HOME:$PATH"
RUN corepack enable
 
FROM base AS builder
RUN apk add --no-cache libc6-compat
RUN apk update
WORKDIR /app
RUN pnpm add -g turbo
COPY . .
RUN turbo prune @repo/web --docker
 
FROM base AS installer
RUN apk add --no-cache libc6-compat
RUN apk update
WORKDIR /app
 
COPY .gitignore .gitignore
COPY --from=builder /app/out/json/ .
COPY --from=builder /app/out/pnpm-lock.yaml ./pnpm-lock.yaml
ENV CYPRESS_INSTALL_BINARY=0
RUN pnpm install
 
COPY --from=builder /app/out/full/ .
COPY turbo.json turbo.json
 
RUN pnpm --filter web build
 
FROM base AS runner
WORKDIR /app
 
RUN addgroup --system --gid 1001 nodejs
RUN adduser --system --uid 1001 nextjs
USER nextjs
 
COPY --from=installer /apps/web/next.config.ts .
COPY --from=installer /apps/web/package.json .
 
COPY --from=installer --chown=nextjs:nodejs /apps/web/.next/standalone ./
COPY --from=installer --chown=nextjs:nodejs /apps/web/.next/static ./apps/web/.next/static
COPY --from=installer --chown=nextjs:nodejs /apps/web/public ./apps/web/public
 
USER nextjs
 
EXPOSE 3000
 
ENV PORT 3000
ENV HOSTNAME "0.0.0.0"
 
CMD ["node", "apps/web/server.js"]
In the root of the ShipThing project, also add a .dockerignore file with the following content:
.dockerignore
Dockerfile
.dockerignore
node_modules
**/node_modules
npm-debug.log
README.md
.next
.git
And that’s all the changes necessary! Now you can build your app as a docker image and deploy it anywhere you can run docker images.

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Running your app locally with Docker

If you have Docker installed on your local machine and want to run your Next.js app there for testing the docker image, simply run the following commands from your project’s root:
Terminal
docker build -f apps/web/Dockerfile . --no-cache -t superstarter-docker
docker run -p 3000:3000 superstarter-docker
To fully use the application, you need to pass the necessary environment variables you have defined in your .env.local file to the container. Now you can deploy your app to any server that supports docker images.
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