Multi-stage build Dockerfile for a Node.js application that uses the NX workspace and Nginx as a web server for the runtime environment.

Dockerfile

# Use a specific version of the official Node.js image based on the slim variant
FROM node:18.16.0-bullseye-slim AS build

# Set the working directory
WORKDIR /usr/src/app

# Copy required files for installing dependencies
COPY package.json package-lock.json nx.json tsconfig.base.json decorate-angular-cli.js ./
COPY apps/<app-name>/ ./apps/<app-name>/
COPY apps/<app-name>-e2e/ ./apps/<app-name>-e2e/

# Install npm dependencies using a secret .npmrc file
RUN --mount=type=secret,id=secret_npmrc,target=/root/.npmrc npm ci

# Set NX_DAEMON environment variable to false to prevent nx from running in daemon mode
ENV NX_DAEMON=false

# Build the application using the locally installed Nx
RUN npx nx run <app-name>:build

# Create a new stage for the runtime image
FROM nginx:1.25.3-alpine AS runtime

# Set the working directory
WORKDIR /usr/share/nginx/html

# USER root: Copy build artifacts from the build stage
COPY --from=build /usr/src/app/dist/apps/<app-name> .

# USER root: Copy the nginx configuration file
COPY apps/<app-name>/nginx.conf /etc/nginx/conf.d/default.conf

# Expose ports
EXPOSE 8100 8090 8080

# Start the application using Nginx
CMD ["nginx", "-g", "daemon off;"]

Thanks a lot for this @ikosta . Very valuable feedback indeed! Especially about putting your not-so-frequently-used dependencies into their own image. I've heard some people doing it and it's definitely something that could speed up the process significantly.