I want to run my Node.js, Postgres and Ngnix in the same docker container but I am reaching the below error

2025-04-02 20:07:11 Connection error Error: connect ECONNREFUSED 127.0.0.1:5432 2025-04-02 20:07:11 at TCPConnectWrap.afterConnect [as oncomplete] (node:net:1555:16)

Why can't the node.js app connect to the database?

docker-compose.yml

services:
  nginx:
    image: nginx:latest
    volumes:
      - ./nginx/nginx.conf:/etc/nginx/nginx.conf:ro
    ports:
      - "80:80"
    depends_on:
      - node-api

  node-api:
    build: .
    environment:
      - DB_HOST=postgres
      - DB_PORT=5432
      - DB_NAME=database
      - DB_USER=postgres
      - DB_PASSWORD=password
    ports:
      - "3000:3000"
    depends_on:
      postgres:
        condition: service_healthy

  postgres:
    image: postgis/postgis:latest
    environment:
      POSTGRES_USER: postgres
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: password
      POSTGRES_DB: database
    ports:
      - "5432:5432"
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD", "pg_isready", "-U", "postgres", "-h", "localhost"]
      interval: 10s
      retries: 5
      start_period: 30s
      timeout: 10s


volumes:
  postgres-data:

Dockerfile

# Use an official Node.js runtime as a parent image
FROM node:18

# Set the working directory
WORKDIR /app

# Copy package.json and install dependencies
COPY package.json package-lock.json ./
RUN npm install

# Copy the rest of the application
COPY . .

# Expose the port the app runs on
EXPOSE 3000

# Start the application
CMD ["node", "api/apis.js"]

EDITED: --------------

api.js

import express from 'express'
import cors from 'cors'
import client from './postgres_connection.js'


const app = express();

app.use(cors());

app.use(express.json());



app.get('/getMarkers', async (req, res) => {
    try {

        const result = await client.query('SELECT * FROM public.topo_markers');
        res.json(result.rows);

    }
    catch (errr) {
        console.error(errr.message);
        res.status(500).send('Internal server error');
    }
});


app.post('/addMarker', async (req, res) => {
    const { title, description, latitude, longitude } = req.body;

    const isBodyEmpty = !title || !description || !latitude || !longitude;

    if (isBodyEmpty) {
        return res.status(400).send('Missing required properties');
    }

    try {
        const query = `
        INSERT INTO public.topo_markers (title, description, geom)
        VALUES ($1, $2, ST_SetSRID(ST_MakePoint($3, $4), 4326)) RETURNING *;
    `;

        const result = await client.query(query, [title, description, longitude, latitude]);

        res.status(201).json(result.rows[0]);

    } catch (errr) {
        console.error(errr.message);
        res.status(500).send('Internal server error');
    }
});

app.listen(3000)

postgres_connection.js

import pg from 'pg';


const client = new pg.Client({
  user: 'postgres',  // Default is usually 'postgres'
  host: 'localhost',           // Use the container's IP if needed
  database: 'test_database',   // Change to your database name
  password: 'password',   // Set this properly
  port: 5432,                  // Default PostgreSQL port
});

client.connect()
  .then(() => console.log('Connected to PostGIS!'))
  .catch(err => console.error('Connection error', err.stack));


export default client;

I want to run my Node.js, Postgres and Ngnix in the same docker container but I am reaching the below error

2025-04-02 20:07:11 Connection error Error: connect ECONNREFUSED 127.0.0.1:5432 2025-04-02 20:07:11 at TCPConnectWrap.afterConnect [as oncomplete] (node:net:1555:16)

Why can't the node.js app connect to the database?

docker-compose.yml

services:
  nginx:
    image: nginx:latest
    volumes:
      - ./nginx/nginx.conf:/etc/nginx/nginx.conf:ro
    ports:
      - "80:80"
    depends_on:
      - node-api

  node-api:
    build: .
    environment:
      - DB_HOST=postgres
      - DB_PORT=5432
      - DB_NAME=database
      - DB_USER=postgres
      - DB_PASSWORD=password
    ports:
      - "3000:3000"
    depends_on:
      postgres:
        condition: service_healthy

  postgres:
    image: postgis/postgis:latest
    environment:
      POSTGRES_USER: postgres
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: password
      POSTGRES_DB: database
    ports:
      - "5432:5432"
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD", "pg_isready", "-U", "postgres", "-h", "localhost"]
      interval: 10s
      retries: 5
      start_period: 30s
      timeout: 10s


volumes:
  postgres-data:

Dockerfile

# Use an official Node.js runtime as a parent image
FROM node:18

# Set the working directory
WORKDIR /app

# Copy package.json and install dependencies
COPY package.json package-lock.json ./
RUN npm install

# Copy the rest of the application
COPY . .

# Expose the port the app runs on
EXPOSE 3000

# Start the application
CMD ["node", "api/apis.js"]

EDITED: --------------

api.js

import express from 'express'
import cors from 'cors'
import client from './postgres_connection.js'


const app = express();

app.use(cors());

app.use(express.json());



app.get('/getMarkers', async (req, res) => {
    try {

        const result = await client.query('SELECT * FROM public.topo_markers');
        res.json(result.rows);

    }
    catch (errr) {
        console.error(errr.message);
        res.status(500).send('Internal server error');
    }
});


app.post('/addMarker', async (req, res) => {
    const { title, description, latitude, longitude } = req.body;

    const isBodyEmpty = !title || !description || !latitude || !longitude;

    if (isBodyEmpty) {
        return res.status(400).send('Missing required properties');
    }

    try {
        const query = `
        INSERT INTO public.topo_markers (title, description, geom)
        VALUES ($1, $2, ST_SetSRID(ST_MakePoint($3, $4), 4326)) RETURNING *;
    `;

        const result = await client.query(query, [title, description, longitude, latitude]);

        res.status(201).json(result.rows[0]);

    } catch (errr) {
        console.error(errr.message);
        res.status(500).send('Internal server error');
    }
});

app.listen(3000)

postgres_connection.js

import pg from 'pg';


const client = new pg.Client({
  user: 'postgres',  // Default is usually 'postgres'
  host: 'localhost',           // Use the container's IP if needed
  database: 'test_database',   // Change to your database name
  password: 'password',   // Set this properly
  port: 5432,                  // Default PostgreSQL port
});

client.connect()
  .then(() => console.log('Connected to PostGIS!'))
  .catch(err => console.error('Connection error', err.stack));


export default client;

• node.js
• docker
• nginx

• research localhost inside docker container – jsotola Commented 2 days ago

1 Answer 1

According to the error message, you're trying to connect to Postgres on 127.0.0.1:5432. So you're using localhost or 127.0.0.1 as the postgres hostname in your Node application.

In a container, localhost is the container itself. You need to use the postgres compose service name as the hostname.

It looks like you're trying to do that by passing postgres as the DB_HOST environment variable to the Node application, but for some reason, it's not using it.

Try looking at your Node code to see why it isn't picking up the DB_HOST variable. If you need help, edit your post and add the relevant node code to your post. If you edit your post, you can remove the Nginx config file. That's not relevant to your issue.

EDIT AFTER NODE CODE ADDED TO POST:

In your postgres_connection.js, you're using hardcoded values rather than using the environment variables.

Try changing the client config to

const client = new pg.Client({
  user: process.env.DB_USER,
  host: process.env.DB_HOST,
  database: process.env.DB_NAME,
  password: process.env.DB_PASSWORD,
  port: process.env.DB_PORT,
});

Then it'll use the environment variable values instead. Your environment variables look correct, so it should work.