How to expose docker container over internet using windows - docker

Question

I have configured my router to expose http 80 on my local machine ip address:
ie '192.168.0.79', and exposed both inbound and outbound ip address, including allowing through firewall. For the purpose of this example lets say its "200.200.200.200"
I have a node server running locally on this same ip address which works and I can see 'hello world' when I visit my exposed ip address, eg: 200.200.200.200 on my web browser. This works.
import yargs from 'yargs';
import express from 'express';
const app = express();
const argv = yargs.argv;
const host = argv.host ;
const port = argv.port;
app.get('/', (req, res) => res.send('Hello World!'));
app.listen(port, host, function() {
console.log('listening on ', host, ':', port);
});
when I stop the node server and instead run a docker container on the same ip address as follows:
docker run -p 192.168.0.79:80:8080 -p 50000:50000 --name myjenkins -v %cd%/jenkins:/var/jenkins_home jenkins/jenkins
I can see this locally on my machine, but when trying to access it from external webbrowser, eg: "200.200.200.200" it simply returns - HTTP ERROR 504
Is there something else I need to expose via the docker container to make this visible online?
I'm having the same issue with an nginx image. So i'm convinced there is something missing in my docker arguments.
Dockerfile
FROM nginx:alpine
RUN rm /etc/nginx/conf.d/default.conf
COPY dist /usr/share/nginx/html/dist
COPY nginx/default.conf /etc/nginx/conf.d/
docker build -t nginx_image .
docker run -p 192.168.0.79:80:8080 nginx_image

Answer 1

Sounds like a return route issue. Log onto your docker container and see if you can ping 8.8.8.8. Also run netstat -r and see what the default route is. It should be the internal IP address of your firewall.

Answer 2

ok so on much exhaustive research it seems there might be a problem with windows exposing these containers. Or it might be something more advanced regarding proxying this container to the outside.
My solution. Create a node server that proxys to the localhost on my machine.
step 1 - get my ip address for this particular desktop computer on the ethernet
start > cmd
ipconfig
Ethernet adapter Ethernet 4 (Yours will be different. Which ever is connected to the internet):
...
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.79
step 2 - configure router, sky or other, to expose this ip to the internet
visit 192.168.0.2
user: admin
pass: sky
Advanced > Lan IP Setup > LAN TCP/IP Setup
LAN TCP/IP Setuphelp
IP Address:
192. 168. 0. 1
IP Subnet Mask:
255. 255. 255. 0
TICK - Use Router as DHCP Serverhelp
Starting IP Address:
192. 168. 0. 2
Ending IP Address:
192. 168. 0. 254
Address Reservation > Add
cmd
ip address: 192.168.0.79
Mac adress: (This number will look something like 4c:a2:e0 etc.... - can by got by going to a website and typing whats my ip)
Device Name: (Right click my computer > properties) MYCOMPUTERNAME
Security > Firewall Rules > Outbound services > Edit
Service: http: tcp 80
action: allow always
access from: any
0 0 0 0
Security > Firewall Rules > Inbound services > Edit
Service: http: tcp 80
action: allow always
Destination IPv4 LAN address: 192.168.0.79
access from: any
step 3 - create a docker container (ie jenkins), that will default to localhost, and expose the port on something other than 80, ie 81. (We need 80, to be exposed via our router)
Create docker container on localhost:81
docker run -p 81:8080 -p 50000:50000 --name myjenkins -v %cd%/jenkins:/var/jenkins_home jenkins/jenkins
step 4 - Create a node server or equivalent that will proxy the exposed ip address to this localhost
Create a proxy server that redirects 192.168.0.79 to localhost:81
import express from 'express';
import httpProxy from 'http-proxy';
const app = express();
const host = '192.168.0.79' ;
const port = '80';
const apiProxy = httpProxy.createProxyServer();
app.all('/*', (req, res) => {
console.log('redirecting to docker container - http://localhost:81');
apiProxy.web(req, res, {target: 'http://localhost:81'});
});
app.listen(port, host, function() {
console.log('listening on ', host, ':', port);
});
step 5 - type into a webbrowser - whats my ip
ipv4 will by something like 30.132.323.11
Now type this into a webbrowser and you should see your docker container exposed via the node server proxy.