Deploying a RESTful API with C#, Docker & AWS ECS

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A step-by-step guide to building a RESTful API from scratch using C#, EF Core, SQL Server, Docker, and AWS ECS.

C# and DotNet

Basic install

  1. Set up development environment

  2. Install dotnet sdk 8.0

    Download .NET 8.0 SDK(v8.0.402)-macOs x64 Installer

Create ASP.Net Web API Project

There are two ways to create a Web API project:

  1. Create in Visual Studio Code.

    1. Start Visual Studio Code.
    2. Command+Shift+P
    3. Select Create .NET Project
    4. Select ASP.Net Core Web API
    5. Select the location where you would like the new project to be created.
    6. Give your new project a name, like “TrilloBackend”.
    7. Select Create Project, the project template creates a WeatherForecast API with support for Swagger.

  2. Create with terminal

    Tutorial: Create a web API with ASP.NET Core

    1. Open terminal, change directories (cd) to the folder that will contain the project folder. The project template creates a WeatherForecast API with support for Swagger.

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      dotnet new webapi --use-controllers -o TrilloBackend
      cd TrilloBackend
      dotnet add package Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.InMemory
      code -r ../TrilloBackend

    2. Trust the HTTPS development certificate

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      dotnet dev-certs https --trust

  3. Run the project, check the result with: https://localhost:PORT/swagger/index.html

    • Control + F5
    • write in terminal: dotnet run
    • Run → Run without Debugging

Add Ef Core

There are two common ORM options: EF Core and Dapper, here is the main differences:

  1. Open terminal, run the following commands to install EF Core and Sql Server driver.

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    dotnet add package Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore --version 8.0.8
    dotnet add package Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.SqlServer

  2. Create the model. In the project directory, create Models folder, and create Model.cs and other model files with the following code. (In this Project, I use Booking.cs, Hotel.cs, Order.cs, Review.cs, TrilloContext.cs instead of Model.cs)

    • Models Code
      Models/Booking.cs 
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      public class Booking
      {
        public int BookingId { get; set; }
        // FK
        public int? HotelId { get; set; }
        public int? OrderId { get; set; }
        // Properties
        public DateTime Date { get; set; }
        public double? Price { get; set; }
        public bool? isAvailable { get; set; }
        // Internal
        public DateTime CreatedAt { get; set; }
        public DateTime UpdatedAt { get; set; }
        // Relation
        public Order Order { get; set; } = new();
        public Hotel Hotel { get; set; } = new();
      }
      Models/Hotel.cs 
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      public class Hotel
      {
        public int HotelId { get; set; }
        // Properties
        public string? Name { get; set; }
        public List<string> Gallery { get; set; } = [];
        public string? Description { get; set; }
        public string? Address { get; set; }
        public int? TotalVote { get; set; }
        // Internal
        public DateTime CreatedAt { get; set; }
        public DateTime UpdatedAt { get; set; }
        // Relation
        public List<Review> Reviews { get; set; } = new();
        public List<Booking> Bookings { get; set; } = new();
      }
      Models/Order.cs 
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      public class Order
      {
        public int OrderId { get; set; }
        // FK
        public int? UserId { get; set; }
        // Properties
        public double? Amount { get; set; }
        public string? GuestName { get; set; }
        // Internal
        public DateTime CreatedAt { get; set; }
        public DateTime UpdatedAt { get; set; }
        // Relation
        public List<Booking> Bookings { get; set; } = new();
      }
      Models/Review.cs 
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      public class Review
      {
        public int ReviewId { get; set; }
        // FK
        public int? UserId { get; set; }
        public int? HotelId { get; set; }
        // Properties
        public string? Body { get; set; }
        public double? Rating { get; set; }
        // Internal
        public DateTime CreatedAt { get; set; }
        public DateTime UpdatedAt { get; set; }
        // Relation
        public Hotel Hotel { get; set; } = new();
      }

      Models/TrilloContext.cs 
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      using Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore;

      public class TrilloContext : DbContext
      {
        public DbSet<Hotel> Hotels { get; set; }
        public DbSet<Review> Reviews { get; set; }
        public DbSet<Order> Orders { get; set; }
        public DbSet<Booking> Bookings { get; set; }

        protected override void OnConfiguring(DbContextOptionsBuilder options)
        {
          var builder = WebApplication.CreateBuilder();
          var configuration = new ConfigurationBuilder()
            .AddJsonFile("appsettings.json")
            // Load configuration for current environment.
            .AddJsonFile($"appsettings.{builder.Environment.EnvironmentName}.json", true)
            .AddEnvironmentVariables()
            .Build();
          // Connect to the database.
          options.UseSqlServer(configuration.GetConnectionString("TrilloDatabase"));
        }

        // Generate Date/time.
        protected override void OnModelCreating(ModelBuilder modelBuilder)
        {
          modelBuilder.Entity<Booking>(e => {
            e.Property(b => b.CreatedAt).HasDefaultValueSql("getdate()");
            e.Property(b => b.UpdatedAt).HasDefaultValueSql("getdate()");
          });

          modelBuilder.Entity<Hotel>(e => {
            e.Property(b => b.CreatedAt).HasDefaultValueSql("getdate()");
            e.Property(b => b.UpdatedAt).HasDefaultValueSql("getdate()");
          });

          modelBuilder.Entity<Order>(e => {
            e.Property(b => b.CreatedAt).HasDefaultValueSql("getdate()");
            e.Property(b => b.UpdatedAt).HasDefaultValueSql("getdate()");
          });

          modelBuilder.Entity<Review>(e => {
            e.Property(b => b.CreatedAt).HasDefaultValueSql("getdate()");
            e.Property(b => b.UpdatedAt).HasDefaultValueSql("getdate()");
          });
        }
      }

  3. Add Database ConnectionStrings to appsettings.json

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    "ConnectionStrings": {
        "TrilloDatabase": "Data Source=localhost,1433\\Catalog=trillo;Database=trillo;Trusted_Connection=false;User Id=SA;password=YOUR_PASSWORD;TrustServerCertificate=True;"}
    • Data Source: replace ‘1433’ with your database port;
    • Database: replace ‘trillo’ with your database name;
    • Attention User Id need a space;

  4. Add appsettings.Production.json for production environement.

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    {
      "Logging": {
        "LogLevel": {
          "Default": "Information",
          "Microsoft.AspNetCore": "Warning"
        }
      },
      "AllowedHosts": "*",
      "ConnectionStrings": {
        "TrilloDatabase": "Data Source=localhost,1433\\Catalog=trillo;Database=trillo;Trusted_Connection=false;User Id=SA;password=YOUR_PASSWORD;TrustServerCertificate=True;"
      }
    }

  5. If your database is up and running, you can run the following commands to create migrations and apply to database.

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    # install tool and package
    dotnet tool install --global dotnet-ef
    dotnet add package Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.Design

    # The first time, you need to execute this command to create the Migrations folder
    dotnet ef migrations add InitialCreate
    # this command will be replaced as migration() in the section:
    dotnet ef database update

  6. Links:

    How YOU can use an ORM in .NET Core and C# to type less SQL

    Getting started with EF core: A beginner’s guide

Add Controller

Tutorial: Create a web API with ASP.NET Core

  1. Create Controller, run the following code to create Controllers folder with file HotelsController.cs.

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    dotnet add package Microsoft.VisualStudio.Web.CodeGeneration.Design
    dotnet add package Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.Design
    dotnet add package Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.SqlServer
    dotnet add package Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.Tools
    dotnet tool uninstall -g dotnet-aspnet-codegenerator
    dotnet tool install -g dotnet-aspnet-codegenerator
    dotnet tool update -g dotnet-aspnet-codegenerator

    dotnet aspnet-codegenerator controller -name HotelsController -async -api -m Hotel -dc TrilloContext -outDir Controllers

  2. Update HotelsController.cs to add nameof in POST return, to avoid hardcode the action name in CreatedAtAction function.

imagehotelcontroller

  1. Add Controller service to program.cs

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    using Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore;

    builder.Services.AddControllers();
    builder.Services.AddDbContext<TrilloContext>();

    app.MapControllers();
  • Code
    HotelsController.cs
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    using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc;
    using Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore;

    namespace TrilloBackend.Controllers
    {

        [Route("api/hotels")]
        [ApiController]
        public class HotelsController : ControllerBase
        {
            private readonly TrilloContext _context;

            public HotelsController(TrilloContext context)
            {
                _context = context;
            }

            // GET: api/hotels
            [HttpGet]
            public async Task<ActionResult<IEnumerable<Hotel>>> GetHotels()
            {
                return await _context.Hotels
                    .Include(e => e.Reviews)
                    .Include(e => e.Bookings)
                    .ToListAsync();
            }

            // GET: api/hotels/5
            [HttpGet("{id}")]
            public async Task<ActionResult<Hotel>> GetHotel(long id)
            {
                var hotel = await _context.Hotels
                    .Include(e => e.Reviews)
                    .Include(e => e.Bookings)
                    .FirstOrDefaultAsync(e => e.HotelId == id)
                   ;

                if (hotel == null)
                {
                    return NotFound();
                }

                return hotel;
            }

            // PUT: api/hotels/5
            // To protect from overposting attacks, see https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=2123754
            [HttpPut("{id}")]
            public async Task<IActionResult> PutHotel(int id, Hotel hotel)
            {
                if (id != hotel.HotelId)
                {
                    return BadRequest();
                }

                _context.Entry(hotel).State = EntityState.Modified;

                try
                {
                    await _context.SaveChangesAsync();
                }
                catch (DbUpdateConcurrencyException)
                {
                    if (!HotelExists(id))
                    {
                        return NotFound();
                    }
                    else
                    {
                        throw;
                    }
                }

                return NoContent();
            }

            // POST: api/hotels
            // To protect from overposting attacks, see https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=2123754
            [HttpPost]
            public async Task<ActionResult<Hotel>> PostHotel(Hotel hotel)
            {
                _context.Hotels.Add(hotel);
                await _context.SaveChangesAsync();

                return CreatedAtAction(nameof(GetHotel), new { id = hotel.HotelId }, hotel);
            }

            // PostGET: api/hotels/search
            [HttpPost("search")]
            public async Task<ActionResult<IEnumerable<Hotel>>> PostGetHotel(string? name, string? address)
            {
                // check Name and Address record
                var hotelQuery = _context.Hotels
                    .Include(e => e.Reviews)
                    .Include(e => e.Bookings)
                    .AsQueryable();

                // name && address
                if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(name) && !string.IsNullOrEmpty(address))
                {
                    var result = await hotelQuery
                        .Where(e => EF.Functions.Like(e.Name, $"%{name}%") && EF.Functions.Like(e.Address, $"%{address}%"))
                        .ToListAsync();
                    return result;
                }

                // check name without address
                if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(name))
                {
                    var result = await hotelQuery
                        .Where(e => EF.Functions.Like(e.Name, $"%{name}%"))
                        .ToListAsync();
                    if (result.Any())
                        return result;
                }

                // chenck address without name
                if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(address))
                {
                    var result = await hotelQuery
                        .Where(e => EF.Functions.Like(e.Address, $"%{address}%"))
                        .ToListAsync();
                    if (result.Any())
                        return result;
                }

                // return []
                return new List<Hotel>();
            }

            // DELETE: api/hotels/5
            [HttpDelete("{id}")]
            public async Task<IActionResult> DeleteHotel(int id)
            {
                var hotel = await _context.Hotels.FindAsync(id);
                if (hotel == null)
                {
                    return NotFound();
                }

                _context.Hotels.Remove(hotel);
                await _context.SaveChangesAsync();

                return NoContent();
            }

            private bool HotelExists(int id)
            {
                return _context.Hotels.Any(e => e.HotelId == id);
            }
        }
    }
    Program.cs
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    using System.Text.Json.Serialization;
    using Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore;
    var builder = WebApplication.CreateBuilder(args);

    // Add services to the container.
    builder.Services.AddControllers();
    // Fixing the error “A possible object cycle was detected”.
    builder.Services.AddControllers().AddJsonOptions(x =>
        x.JsonSerializerOptions.ReferenceHandler = ReferenceHandler.IgnoreCycles);
    builder.Services.AddDbContext<TrilloContext>();
    builder.Services.AddEndpointsApiExplorer();
    builder.Services.AddSwaggerGen();

    var app = builder.Build();

    // Prepare database.
    using (var scope = app.Services.CreateScope())
    {
        var services = scope.ServiceProvider;
        var context = services.GetRequiredService<TrilloContext>();
        if (app.Environment.IsDevelopment())
        {
            Console.WriteLine($"DbConnectionString: {context.Database.GetConnectionString()}");
        }
        // Create Database and apply migrations.
        context.Database.Migrate();
        // Seed data to tables.
        DbInitializer.Initialize(context);
    }

    // Configure the HTTP request pipeline.
    if (app.Environment.IsDevelopment())
    {
        app.UseSwagger();
        app.UseSwaggerUI();
    }

    // Test api.
    app.MapGet("/Ping", () =>
    {
        return "Pong";
    })
    .WithName("Ping")
    .WithOpenApi();

    app.UseHttpsRedirection();
    app.MapControllers();
    app.Run();

Automatically Initialise Database

How and where to call Database.EnsureCreated and Database.Migrate?

Create the database

  1. Change program.cs, add Migrate() to create database, apply migration and seed data.
migrate
  1. Add code that populates the database with data. Create Data/DbInitializer.cs with the following code:
    • Data/DbInitializer.cs 
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      public static class DbInitializer {
        public static void Initialize(TrilloContext context) {

          // Check if any data exist.
          if (context.Hotels.Any()) {
            return;
          }

          var hotels = new Hotel[] {
            new Hotel{Name="The Venetian Macao",Gallery=["https://image-tc.galaxy.tf/wijpeg-9vualzt3dbue0hi00ba4q49ub/chatwalhotelnyc-c-004-build-crop.jpg?width=1920"],Description="This is a Hotel located in Macao",Address="Marco China",TotalVote=99, Bookings=[]},
            new Hotel{Name="The Parisian Macao",Gallery=["https://dynamic-media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/01/ea/d8/2d/grand-canal-shoppes.jpg?w=600&h=-1&s=1"],Description="This is a Hotel located in China",Address="China",TotalVote=96},
            new Hotel{Name="Nina Hotel Tsuen Wan West",Gallery=["https://dynamic-media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/daodao/photo-s/0c/7b/d9/f2/exterior-night.jpg?w=600&h=-1&s=1"],Description="This is a Hotel located in Auckland",Address="Auckland",TotalVote=79},
            new Hotel{Name="Nina Hotel Causeway Bay",Gallery=["https://cf.bstatic.com/xdata/images/hotel/max1024x768/118479281.jpg?k=d5090d90ae7919b4637f2d7d08d0ae0df7517e4185eaebed5a5907e53cd3801d&o=&hp=1"],Description="This is a Hotel located in NZ",Address="NZ",TotalVote=39},
            new Hotel{Name="Conrad Macao",Gallery=["test1"],Description="This is a Hotel located in Beijing",Address="Beijing",TotalVote=27},
            new Hotel{Name="Legend Palace Hotel",Gallery=["test2"],Description="This is a Hotel located in Shanghai",Address="Shanghai",TotalVote=30},
            new Hotel{Name="Royal Plaza Hotel",Gallery=["test3"],Description="This is a Hotel located in Shenzhen",Address="Shenzhen",TotalVote=15},
          };
          context.Hotels.AddRange(hotels);
          context.SaveChanges();

          var reviews = new Review[] {
            new Review{UserId=101,HotelId=hotels[0].HotelId,Body="The environment is very nice.",Rating=8.8},
            new Review{UserId=102,HotelId=hotels[1].HotelId,Body="The food is very nice.",Rating=7.8},
            new Review{UserId=103,HotelId=hotels[2].HotelId,Body="The price is very nice.",Rating=6.8},
            new Review{UserId=104,HotelId=hotels[3].HotelId,Body="The bed is very nice.",Rating=3.8},
            new Review{UserId=105,HotelId=hotels[4].HotelId,Body="The location is very nice.",Rating=8.5},
            new Review{UserId=106,HotelId=hotels[5].HotelId,Body="The transport is very nice.",Rating=1.8},
            new Review{UserId=107,HotelId=hotels[6].HotelId,Body="The people is very nice.",Rating=8.2},
          };
          context.Reviews.AddRange(reviews);
          context.SaveChanges();

          var orders = new Order[] {
            new Order{UserId=101,Amount=200.3,GuestName="Ella"},
            new Order{UserId=102,Amount=229,GuestName="Hank"},
            new Order{UserId=103,Amount=93.4,GuestName="Mark"},
            new Order{UserId=104,Amount=3784.4,GuestName="Tala"},
            new Order{UserId=105,Amount=278743.4,GuestName="Ada"},
            new Order{UserId=106,Amount=3985,GuestName="Hui"},
            new Order{UserId=107,Amount=3875.6,GuestName="Kswi"},
            new Order{UserId=108,Amount=438273.5,GuestName="Edsa"},
          };
          context.Orders.AddRange(orders);
          context.SaveChanges();

          var bookings = new Booking[] {
            new Booking{HotelId=hotels[0].HotelId,OrderId=orders[0].OrderId,Price=83.3,isAvailable=true},
            new Booking{HotelId=hotels[1].HotelId,OrderId=orders[1].OrderId,Price=384.5,isAvailable=false},
            new Booking{HotelId=hotels[2].HotelId,OrderId=orders[2].OrderId,Price=22.3,isAvailable=true},
            new Booking{HotelId=hotels[3].HotelId,OrderId=orders[3].OrderId,Price=55.6,isAvailable=true},
            new Booking{HotelId=hotels[4].HotelId,OrderId=orders[4].OrderId,Price=394.5,isAvailable=false},
            new Booking{HotelId=hotels[5].HotelId,OrderId=orders[0].OrderId,Price=78,isAvailable=false},
            new Booking{HotelId=hotels[6].HotelId,OrderId=orders[6].OrderId,Price=92.4,isAvailable=true},
            new Booking{HotelId=hotels[2].HotelId,OrderId=orders[2].OrderId,Price=100,isAvailable=false},
          };
          context.Bookings.AddRange(bookings);
          context.SaveChanges();
        }
      }

Add .gitignore for C#

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## Ignore Visual Studio temporary files, build results, and
## files generated by popular Visual Studio add-ons.

# User-specific files
*.suo
*.user
*.sln.docstates

# Build results

[Dd]ebug/
[Rr]elease/
x64/
[Bb]in/
[Oo]bj/

# MSTest test Results
[Tt]est[Rr]esult*/
[Bb]uild[Ll]og.*

*_i.c
*_p.c
*_i.h
*.ilk
*.meta
*.obj
*.pch
*.pdb
*.pgc
*.pgd
*.rsp
*.sbr
*.tlb
*.tli
*.tlh
*.tmp
*.tmp_proj
*.log
*.vspscc
*.vssscc
.builds
*.pidb
*.log
*.svclog
*.scc

# Visual C++ cache files
ipch/
*.aps
*.ncb
*.opensdf
*.sdf
*.cachefile

# Visual Studio profiler
*.psess
*.vsp
*.vspx

# Guidance Automation Toolkit
*.gpState

# ReSharper is a .NET coding add-in
_ReSharper*/
*.[Rr]e[Ss]harper
*.DotSettings.user

# Click-Once directory
publish/

# Publish Web Output
*.Publish.xml
*.pubxml
*.azurePubxml

# NuGet Packages Directory
## TODO: If you have NuGet Package Restore enabled, uncomment the next line
packages/
## TODO: If the tool you use requires repositories.config, also uncomment the next line
!packages/repositories.config

# Windows Azure Build Output
csx/
*.build.csdef

# Windows Store app package directory
AppPackages/

# Others
sql/
*.Cache
ClientBin/
[Ss]tyle[Cc]op.*
![Ss]tyle[Cc]op.targets
~$*
*~
*.dbmdl
*.[Pp]ublish.xml

*.publishsettings

# RIA/Silverlight projects
Generated_Code/

# Backup & report files from converting an old project file to a newer
# Visual Studio version. Backup files are not needed, because we have git ;-)
_UpgradeReport_Files/
Backup*/
UpgradeLog*.XML
UpgradeLog*.htm

# SQL Server files
App_Data/*.mdf
App_Data/*.ldf

# =========================
# Windows detritus
# =========================

# Windows image file caches
Thumbs.db
ehthumbs.db

# Folder config file
Desktop.ini

# Recycle Bin used on file shares
$RECYCLE.BIN/

# Mac desktop service store files
.DS_Store

_NCrunch*

Troubleshooting & Tips

We have already completed all the code, now we can start deploying our project!

Docker and SQL Server

Basic Install

Run SQL Server

run sqlserver in docker. open terminal, run following command: https://hub.docker.com/r/microsoft/mssql-server

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docker run -e "ACCEPT_EULA=Y" -e "MSSQL_SA_PASSWORD=YOUR_PASSWORD" -e "MSSQL_PID=Evaluation" -p 1433:1433  --name sqlpreview --hostname sqlpreview -d mcr.microsoft.com/mssql/server
  • Default User Name is ‘SA’
  • Set database password in MSSQL_SA_PASSWORD
  • set database port: 1433

Beekeeper connect database

  1. make sure database is running!
  2. create new connection, choose SQL Server
beekeeper1
  1. input User and Password, check ‘Trust Server Certificate’, click Connect.
beekeeper2
  1. Correct connection:
beekeeper3
  1. Create database
beekeeper4

Build Project Image and Docker Compose

Add Dockerfile and .dockerignore to Project

Run an ASP.NET Core app in Docker containers

Dockerfile: It uses dotnet publish the same way you will do in this section to build and deploy.

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FROM --platform=$BUILDPLATFORM mcr.microsoft.com/dotnet/sdk:8.0 AS build
ARG TARGETARCH
WORKDIR /source

# Copy project file and restore as distinct layers
COPY --link ./*.csproj .
RUN dotnet restore -a $TARGETARCH

# Copy source code and publish app
COPY --link . .
RUN dotnet publish -c Release -a $TARGETARCH --no-restore -o /app

# Runtime stage
FROM mcr.microsoft.com/dotnet/aspnet:8.0
EXPOSE 8080
WORKDIR /app
COPY --link --from=build /app .
USER $APP_UID
ENTRYPOINT ["./TrilloBackend"]

.dockerignore

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# directories
**/bin/
**/obj/
**/out/

# files
Dockerfile*
**/*.md

Build project image

  1. navigate to the project folder, run the dotnet publish command: (I have written this command in Dockerfile, we can ignore this step)

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    dotnet publish -c Release -o published
    dockerfile

  2. Build Project image

    Attention there is a point in the end! I advice to name image as dockercount/imagename:date.version so that you can easy to manage different versions.

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    docker build -t ella0110/trillobackend:20241005.1 .

  3. Run image. If your image doesn’t need database, then you can run it directly. If you need database, you should use docker compose which is in the next section.

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    docker run -it --rm -p 8080:8080 ella0110/trillobackend:20241005.1

Docker Compose

  1. Install docker compose, open terminal, run these command:

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    brew search docker compose
    brew install docker-compose

  2. Define services in a Compose file

    Docker Compose simplifies the control of your entire application stack, making it easy to manage services, networks, and volumes in a single, comprehensible YAML configuration file.

    Create a file called compose.yaml in your project directory and paste the following:

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    services:
        web:
            image: "ella0110/trillobackend:20241005.3"
            ports:
                - "8080:8080"
            environment:
                - ASPNETCORE_ENVIRONMENT=Production
            depends_on:
                sqlserver:
                    condition: service_healthy
        sqlserver:
            image: "mcr.microsoft.com/mssql/server:latest"
            environment:
                - ACCEPT_EULA=Y
                - MSSQL_SA_PASSWORD=@Aa12345678
            ports:
                - "1433:1433"
            healthcheck:
                test:
                    [
                        "CMD",
                        "/opt/mssql-tools18/bin/sqlcmd",
                        "-C",
                        "-S",
                        "localhost",
                        "-U",
                        "sa",
                        "-P",
                        "@Aa12345678",
                        "-Q",
                        "SELECT 1",
                        "-b",
                        "-o",
                        "/dev/null",
                    ]
                # test: /opt/mssql-tools18/bin/sqlcmd -C -S localhost -U sa -P ${MSSQL_SA_PASSWORD} -Q 'SELECT 1' -b -o /dev/null
                interval: 10s
                timeout: 3s
                retries: 10
                start_period: 10s

  3. Run docker compose

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    docker compose up

Upload Image to Docker Hub

  • open terminal, login to docker and run this command to push image to your docker hub account.
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docker push ella0110/trillobackend
  • if you want to change your image name, use this command:

Stack Overflow

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docker tag trillo-backend ella0110/trillobackend

Troubleshooting & Tips

  • Tips

    1. Check the health_check log

      trillobackend-sqlserver-1 is container name

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      docker inspect --format "{{json .State.Health}}" trillobackend-sqlserver-1

  • Troubleshooting

    1. Dependency issue: On first run, the database may not be ready when back end tries to initialise the database, and cause back end service failing to start.

      healthcheck

    2. When check health, it’s always failed

      • should be /opt/mssql-tools18/bin/sqlcmd rather than /opt/mssql-tools/bin/sqlcmd, can test it in Docker/Containers/sqlserver/Exec

    3. Error: [Microsoft][ODBC Driver 18 for SQL Server]SSL Provider: [error:1416F086:SSL routines:tls_process_server_certificate:certificate verify failed:self signed certificate]

Deploy Project Image and Database to ECS

Create Task definitions

  1. login your AWS account

  2. search ECS, choose Elastic Container Service

  3. choose Task definitions, click Create new task definition/ Create new task definition

  4. input Task definition family name

  5. you can change Task size if you want

  6. Container-1, you can input infomation about your database

    • Name: sqlserver;

    • Image URI: mcr.microsoft.com/mssql/server:latest

    • Environment varaiables: follow with the section: Run SQL Server

      <img width="380" alt="envvariable" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/2deba519-07d4-4e6c-8f3c-ba0fc59c9a8e">

    • HealthCheck: CMD-SHELL,/opt/mssql-tools18/bin/sqlcmd -C -S localhost -U sa -P ‘your password’ -Q ‘SELECT 1’ -b -o /dev/null

    • Interval: 10

    • Timeout: 3

    • Start period: 10

    • Retries: 10

  7. Container-2, you can input information about your project image

    • Name: your project

    • Image URI: eg. ella0110/trillobackend:20241005.4

    • Port mappings

      <img width="765" alt="port" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/3a5bc4dc-7a01-4413-9de9-351de303ea7b">

    • Startup dependency ordering

      <img width="755" alt="depend" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/7e5daeb9-5784-4673-8a6e-51fab3cbc76f">

  8. click Create

Create Clusters

Clusters → Create cluster: input Cluster name, click Create

cluster

Deploy your task to cluster

  1. Choose your task, click Deploy→ Create Service
deploytask
  1. Choose your Cluster, then click Create

Troubleshooting & Tips

  • Tips

    1. The public IP generated by ECS is inaccessible because a specific IP was used, not open IP range.

      Fix: VPC → Security Groups → click Security group ID → Inbound rules → Edit inbound rules → add a new rule

      ip

  • Troubleshooting

    1. Error: Unhandled **exception**. Microsoft.Data.SqlClient.SqlException (0x80131904): A network-related or instance-specific **error** occurred while establishing a connection to SQL Server. The server was not found or was not accessible. Verify that the instance name is correct and that SQL Server is configured to allow remote connections. (provider: TCP Provider, **error**: 35 - An internal **exception** was caught)

      host

    2. Healthcheck can not work

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      CMD-SHELL,/opt/mssql-tools18/bin/sqlcmd -C -S localhost -U sa -P '@Aa12345678' -Q 'SELECT 1' -b -o /dev/null

      healthcheckecs