Docker Deployment - Social Analyzer

Docker deployment provides an isolated, reproducible environment for running Social Analyzer. The docker-compose setup includes Selenium Grid integration for advanced detection modes and parallel processing.

Prerequisites

Install Docker

Install Docker Engine on your system:

# Ubuntu/Debian
curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com -o get-docker.sh
sudo sh get-docker.sh

Install Docker Compose

Install Docker Compose:

sudo apt-get install docker-compose

Clone repository

git clone https://github.com/qeeqbox/social-analyzer.git
cd social-analyzer

Quick Start

Simple Docker Run

Run Social Analyzer as a single container:

docker build -t social-analyzer .
docker run -p 9005:9005 social-analyzer

Access the web interface at:

http://localhost:9005/app.html

Docker Compose (Recommended)

Use docker-compose for the complete setup with Selenium Grid:

docker-compose up

This starts:

Social Analyzer web application
Selenium Hub (port 4444)
Firefox node for browser automation

Docker Compose Configuration

The docker-compose.yml file defines a multi-container setup:

version: "3" 
services:
  social-analyzer:
    build: .
    ports:
      - "9005:9005"
    depends_on:
      - hub
    links:
      - hub
    entrypoint: npm start -- --docker --grid "http://hub:4444/wd/hub"
    
  hub:
    image: selenium/hub
    ports:
      - "4444:4444"
    environment:
      GRID_MAX_SESSION: 16
      GRID_BROWSER_TIMEOUT: 6000
      GRID_TIMEOUT: 6000
      
  firefox:
    image: selenium/node-firefox
    container_name: web-automation_firefox
    depends_on:
      - hub
    environment:
      SE_EVENT_BUS_HOST: hub
      SE_EVENT_BUS_PUBLISH_PORT: 4442
      SE_EVENT_BUS_SUBSCRIBE_PORT: 4443
      SE_NODE_MAX_SESSIONS: ${CPU_CORES:-2}
    volumes:
      - /dev/shm:/dev/shm
    ports:
      - "9002:5900"
    links:
      - hub

Architecture Overview

The Docker Compose setup consists of three services:

Starting the Services

Start in foreground

docker-compose up

Watch logs in real-time and stop with Ctrl+C.

Start in background

docker-compose up -d

Runs containers in detached mode.

Build and start

docker-compose up --build

Rebuilds images before starting (use after code changes).

Managing Containers

View running containers

docker-compose ps

Shows status of all services:

              Name                            Command               State           Ports         
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
social-analyzer_hub_1              /opt/bin/entry_point.sh          Up      0.0.0.0:4444->4444/tcp
social-analyzer_social-analyzer_1  docker-entrypoint.sh npm ...    Up      0.0.0.0:9005->9005/tcp
web-automation_firefox             /opt/bin/entry_point.sh          Up      0.0.0.0:9002->5900/tcp

View logs

docker-compose logs -f

Stop services

docker-compose stop

Stops containers without removing them.

Stop and remove

docker-compose down

Stops and removes all containers, networks, and volumes.

Restart services

docker-compose restart

Restarts all services.

Configuration Options

Environment Variables

Customize behavior with environment variables:

CPU_CORES=4 docker-compose up

Available Variables

Variable	Description	Default
`CPU_CORES`	Firefox node max sessions	`2`
`PORT`	Social Analyzer web port	`9005`
`GRID_MAX_SESSION`	Hub max sessions	`16`
`GRID_BROWSER_TIMEOUT`	Browser timeout (ms)	`6000`
`GRID_TIMEOUT`	Grid timeout (ms)	`6000`

Custom docker-compose.yml

Create a custom configuration:

version: "3"
services:
  social-analyzer:
    build: .
    ports:
      - "8080:9005"  # Custom external port
    environment:
      - NODE_ENV=production
    depends_on:
      - hub
    links:
      - hub
    entrypoint: npm start -- --docker --grid "http://hub:4444/wd/hub"
  
  hub:
    image: selenium/hub:latest
    ports:
      - "4444:4444"
    environment:
      GRID_MAX_SESSION: 32  # Increased capacity
      GRID_BROWSER_TIMEOUT: 10000
      GRID_TIMEOUT: 10000
  
  firefox:
    image: selenium/node-firefox:latest
    deploy:
      replicas: 3  # Multiple Firefox nodes
    environment:
      SE_EVENT_BUS_HOST: hub
      SE_EVENT_BUS_PUBLISH_PORT: 4442
      SE_EVENT_BUS_SUBSCRIBE_PORT: 4443
      SE_NODE_MAX_SESSIONS: 4
    volumes:
      - /dev/shm:/dev/shm
    shm_size: 2gb  # Increased shared memory

Selenium Grid Integration

Grid URL

The application automatically uses the grid when started with docker-compose:

http://hub:4444/wd/hub

Benefits of Grid Mode

Parallel Processing: Multiple browser instances run simultaneously
Better Performance: Faster execution for advanced detection modes
Isolation: Browser processes isolated from main application
Scalability: Add more browser nodes as needed

Accessing Grid Console

View the Selenium Grid status page:

http://localhost:4444/grid/console

Shows:

Available browser nodes
Active sessions
Browser versions
Node status

VNC Access to Browser

Connect to the Firefox container via VNC for debugging:

vnc://localhost:9002

Default VNC password: secret Watch the browser in real-time as Social Analyzer performs checks.

Scaling Browser Nodes

Add more Firefox nodes

docker-compose up --scale firefox=5

Starts 5 Firefox nodes for increased parallelism.

Add Chrome nodes

Modify docker-compose.yml to include Chrome:

chrome:
  image: selenium/node-chrome
  depends_on:
    - hub
  environment:
    SE_EVENT_BUS_HOST: hub
    SE_EVENT_BUS_PUBLISH_PORT: 4442
    SE_EVENT_BUS_SUBSCRIBE_PORT: 4443
    SE_NODE_MAX_SESSIONS: 2
  volumes:
    - /dev/shm:/dev/shm
  links:
    - hub

Then start:

docker-compose up

Using the Dockerized Application

Once running, access the web interface:

Web Interface

http://localhost:9005/app.html

Use normally - the grid option is automatically enabled.

CLI in Container

Execute CLI commands inside the container:

docker exec -it social-analyzer_social-analyzer_1 node app.js --username "johndoe"

Python CLI in Container

If you’ve built a container with Python support:

docker exec -it social-analyzer_social-analyzer_1 python3 app.py --username "johndoe"

Data Persistence

Volume Mounting

Mount a local directory to persist logs:

social-analyzer:
  build: .
  ports:
    - "9005:9005"
  volumes:
    - ./logs:/app/logs  # Persist logs
    - ./data:/app/data  # Persist data files

Then:

mkdir logs data
docker-compose up

Export Results

Copy results from container:

docker cp social-analyzer_social-analyzer_1:/app/logs ./local-logs

Performance Optimization

Increase Shared Memory

Browser containers need adequate shared memory:

firefox:
  image: selenium/node-firefox
  shm_size: 2gb  # Increase from default

Resource Limits

Set CPU and memory limits:

firefox:
  image: selenium/node-firefox
  deploy:
    resources:
      limits:
        cpus: '2'
        memory: 2G
      reservations:
        cpus: '1'
        memory: 1G

Network Optimization

Use a custom network for better isolation:

networks:
  social-analyzer-net:
    driver: bridge

services:
  social-analyzer:
    networks:
      - social-analyzer-net
  hub:
    networks:
      - social-analyzer-net
  firefox:
    networks:
      - social-analyzer-net

Troubleshooting

Containers won’t start

Check if ports are already in use:

sudo lsof -i :9005
sudo lsof -i :4444

Kill conflicting processes or change ports.

Hub connection failed

Verify hub is running:

docker-compose ps hub

Test hub endpoint:

curl http://localhost:4444/status

Firefox node not connecting

Check Firefox logs:

docker-compose logs firefox

Restart the Firefox service:

docker-compose restart firefox

Out of memory errors

Increase Docker memory allocation in Docker Desktop settings or for Docker daemon:

sudo nano /etc/docker/daemon.json

{
  "default-shm-size": "2gb"
}

Slow performance

Reduce GRID_MAX_SESSION to lower concurrent load
Increase CPU_CORES if your system has capacity
Scale down Firefox nodes if over-subscribed
Check host system resources (CPU, memory, disk I/O)

Production Deployment

Do not expose Social Analyzer to the public internet without proper security measures. It lacks built-in authentication and access control.

Recommended Security

Reverse Proxy: Use nginx or Apache with authentication
VPN: Restrict access via VPN
Firewall: Only allow specific IP addresses
HTTPS: Use TLS/SSL certificates
Secrets: Use Docker secrets for API keys

Example nginx Configuration

server {
    listen 443 ssl;
    server_name social-analyzer.local;
    
    ssl_certificate /etc/ssl/certs/cert.pem;
    ssl_certificate_key /etc/ssl/private/key.pem;
    
    auth_basic "Restricted Access";
    auth_basic_user_file /etc/nginx/.htpasswd;
    
    location / {
        proxy_pass http://localhost:9005;
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
    }
}

Maintenance

Update Images

docker-compose pull
docker-compose up -d

Clean Up

# Remove stopped containers
docker-compose down

# Remove all data
docker-compose down -v

# Remove images
docker-compose down --rmi all

Health Checks

Add health checks to services:

social-analyzer:
  build: .
  healthcheck:
    test: ["CMD", "curl", "-f", "http://localhost:9005/app.html"]
    interval: 30s
    timeout: 10s
    retries: 3

Get Started

Usage

Features

Configuration

​Prerequisites

​Quick Start

​Simple Docker Run

​Docker Compose (Recommended)

​Docker Compose Configuration

​Architecture Overview

​Starting the Services

​Start in foreground

​Start in background

​Build and start

​Managing Containers

​View running containers

​View logs

​Stop services

​Stop and remove

​Restart services

​Configuration Options

​Environment Variables

​Available Variables

​Custom docker-compose.yml

​Selenium Grid Integration

​Grid URL

​Benefits of Grid Mode

​Accessing Grid Console

​VNC Access to Browser

​Scaling Browser Nodes

​Add more Firefox nodes

​Add Chrome nodes

​Using the Dockerized Application

​Web Interface

​CLI in Container

​Python CLI in Container

​Data Persistence

​Volume Mounting

​Export Results

​Performance Optimization

​Increase Shared Memory

​Resource Limits

​Network Optimization

​Troubleshooting

​Containers won’t start

​Hub connection failed

​Firefox node not connecting

​Out of memory errors

​Slow performance

​Production Deployment

​Recommended Security

​Example nginx Configuration

​Maintenance

​Update Images

​Clean Up

​Health Checks

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Prerequisites

Quick Start

Simple Docker Run

Docker Compose (Recommended)

Docker Compose Configuration

Architecture Overview

Starting the Services

Start in foreground

Start in background

Build and start

Managing Containers

View running containers

View logs

Stop services

Stop and remove

Restart services

Configuration Options

Environment Variables

Available Variables

Custom docker-compose.yml

Selenium Grid Integration

Grid URL

Benefits of Grid Mode

Accessing Grid Console

VNC Access to Browser

Scaling Browser Nodes

Add more Firefox nodes

Add Chrome nodes

Using the Dockerized Application

Web Interface

CLI in Container

Python CLI in Container

Data Persistence

Volume Mounting

Export Results

Performance Optimization

Increase Shared Memory

Resource Limits

Network Optimization

Troubleshooting

Containers won’t start

Hub connection failed

Firefox node not connecting

Out of memory errors

Slow performance

Production Deployment

Recommended Security

Example nginx Configuration

Maintenance

Update Images

Clean Up

Health Checks