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Cover image for Quick tip 2 - Completely ignore node_modules for Docker in Monorepo
Denis Sirashev
Denis Sirashev

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Quick tip 2 - Completely ignore node_modules for Docker in Monorepo

#docker #javascript #node #webdev

The problem

While working on my NodeJS project, I encountered issues with large Docker images while building them from the source code. The problem was that Docker copied all files, including the node_modules folder, despite having a line in .dockerignore that excluded' node_modules'.

node_modules
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The solution

Why didn't it work properly? It was a monorepo PNPM project, and ignoring the node_modules folder with a simple node_modules was not enough. The key was that the context of building images was rooted in the project's foundation. I didn't have node_modules in the project's root, but had it inside each application and package. To solve that, I've added another line in my .dockerignore file:

**/node_modules
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So now, it doesn't copy any of the node_modules folders inside applications, packages, and services. Each image has its own node_modules folder during the installation process. Simple and clean.

Photo by Favour Usifo on Unsplash

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