Use Docker Multi-Stage Builds for Node.js on Elastic Beanstalk¶

This recipe shows how to build a smaller runtime image for a Node.js application by using Docker multi-stage builds. It keeps build tooling in an earlier stage while shipping only the compiled app and production dependencies to Elastic Beanstalk.

Prerequisites¶

• Docker-based Elastic Beanstalk environment.
• Node.js application with a production start command.
• Docker installed locally.

What You'll Build¶

You will build a multi-stage Docker image for Elastic Beanstalk that separates dependency installation and application build from runtime execution.

flowchart LR
    A[Build Stage] --> B[Install and Build Node.js App]
    B --> C[Runtime Stage]
    C --> D[Elastic Beanstalk Docker Environment]

Steps¶

Step 1: Create a multi-stage Dockerfile¶

FROM public.ecr.aws/docker/library/node:20-alpine AS build

WORKDIR /app
COPY package*.json ./
RUN npm ci
COPY . .
RUN npm run build --if-present && npm prune --omit=dev

FROM public.ecr.aws/docker/library/node:20-alpine

WORKDIR /app
ENV NODE_ENV=production
COPY --from=build /app /app
CMD ["npm", "start"]

Step 2: Add a .dockerignore file¶

.git
node_modules
npm-debug.log
docs

Step 3: Build the image locally¶

docker build --tag "$APP_NAME-node:local" .

Step 4: Run the image with the expected port¶

docker run --rm --publish 8080:8080 --env PORT=8080 "$APP_NAME-node:local"

Step 5: Deploy to Elastic Beanstalk¶

eb deploy --staged

Verification¶

docker images "$APP_NAME-node:local"
curl --verbose "http://127.0.0.1:8080/"
eb health --refresh

Expected result: the container starts locally and the Elastic Beanstalk Docker environment reports healthy after deployment.

Clean Up¶

Remove the local test image and any temporary Docker platform environment created only for validation.

See Also¶

• Node.js Recipes Index
• Docker Deploy Recipe
• Node.js Runtime Reference

Sources¶

• Elastic Beanstalk Docker Platform
• Dockerfile Reference
• Deploying a Node.js Application with Elastic Beanstalk