Node-RED docker image for Raspberry Pi

This is yet another Node-RED image for use in our makerspace. It includes Node-RED Dashboard on top. For a detailed discussion, check our knowledge-base page Node-RED on Docker

Docker Image

Our Docker images are based on one or another Balena base image with Node. They are targeting Raspberry Pi 3, you can check all other available Balena images here (search for the 'Raspberry Pi 3' section).

The images contain also the following extras:

Node-RED Dashboard (on all containers)
- Other selected nodes we use very often in our makerspace (see our node-RED article)
MQTT Aedes Node (only on the pc version)
Python 3 (nodered-python versions only)

Please note that we provide our base images on the nodered-python versions, which are currently the branch under development. An older, yet still very useful version called simply nodered:rpi is kept for our current users and is not developed anymore. We also keep a PC development version nodered:pc, just in case.

Please also note, that due to build errors on bcrypt, we have commented out node-red-contrib-web-worldmap. It's OK though to install it from the palette once the container is running.

Getting the Node-RED Image

You can pull the image from our Raspberry Valley Docker Hub. Simply type the following:

docker pull raspberryvalley/nodered-python:1.0.0

Or for the older version

docker pull raspberryvalley/nodered:rpi

Or, for a development image for Windows:

docker pull raspberryvalley/nodered:pc

Note: This is an optional step which fits our workflow. If you don't pull the image, the run scripts below will do it for you.

Running the image

First time, you need to create the container.

docker run -d -p 1880:1880 --name mynodered <name-of-chosen-image>

This launches your server in the background, exposing the appropriate port. Note that after a restart you need to start the container which was just created above. To see other options (opening MQTT ports for example), visit our knowledge-base page Node-RED on Docker.

Building your own

If you don't want to use our pre-made image, simply build your own. This is a sign of sanity: be careful about using 3rd party images: a bit of paranoia helps.

To build your own image, follow the steps below:

clone this repository
Open up PowerShell (or the command prompt) and navigate to the repository build folder (where the Dockerfile is located)
Update/modify the Dockerfile to your liking, then invoke the build command:

docker build -t "<name-of-chosen-image>" .

Development image for Windows

We have bundled a dockerfile to this repository, which allows you to create a quick and dirty Windows image, for development of concepts. This image is based on the official node-RED image (latest) and bundles in Node-RED Dashboard and the Aedes MQTT broker. Use as you would on a Raspberry Pi, just substitute the rpi tag with pc.

About

Raspberry Valley is a maker community in Karlskrona, Sweden, sponsored by Dynapac. We run makerspaces every week, working with Raspberry Pis, Arduinos and other interesting hardware.

This repository is here to support our community of makers. A lot of our achievements are based and inspired by the community at large. We wish to pay back and share our experiences and lessons learned. Join us!

You can find our pages here: Raspberry Valley. You can also join us on Twitter or check Docker Hub for images of interest.

raspberryvalley/docker-nodered