Backend

Table of contents

• Getting started
  • Prerequisites
  • Installation
  • Configuration
  • Running the Application
  • Basic Usage
• Technologies

Getting started

The backend of the Junqo-platform is a NestJs application.
Its main goal is to provide a GraphQL API that enables efficient and flexible database interactions.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have the following software installed:

• Node.js (version 14.x or higher)
• npm (comes with Node.js)
• PostgreSQL

Installation

1. Clone the repository:

    git clone https://github.com/Junqo-org/junqo-platform.git
    cd junqo-platform
   

2. Navigate to the backend directory:

    cd junqo_back
   

3. Install the dependencies:

    npm install
   

Configuration

To configure the backend, you can use environment variables, .env files in the junqo_back directory or configuration files. If an environment variable is not found, the default value will be used.

Here is the list of environment variables used by the backend:

• GRAPHQL_SCHEMAS_PATH: The path to the GraphQL schemas. Default value is ./../schemas.
• DATABASE_HOST: The host of the database. Default value is localhost.
• DATABASE_PORT: The port of the database. Default value is 5432.
• DATABASE_USER: The user of the database. Default value is junqo.
• DATABASE_NAME: The name of the database. Default value is junqo.
• DATABASE_PASSWORD: The password of the database. Optional, if set, used in priority to DATABASE_PASSWORD_FILE.
• DATABASE_PASSWORD_FILE: The path to the file containing the password of the database user. Default value is ./../db_password.conf.
• JWT_SECRET: The secret used to sign the JWT tokens. Required.
• CORS_ORIGINS: The URL of the frontend used for CORS. If not set accept requests from every origin.
• NODE_ENV: The environment of the backend. Either development or production.

1. Create a .env file in the backend directory and add the following environment variables:

    # Database Configuration
    # DATABASE_HOST=localhost
    # DATABASE_PORT=5432
    # DATABASE_NAME=your_db_name
    # DATABASE_USER=your_db_user
    # DATABASE_PASSWORD=your_db_password
    DATABASE_PASSWORD_FILE=/run/secrets/db_password
   
    # Security Configuration
    JWT_SECRET=not_for_production  # Use a strong, unique value in production
    # Minimum 32 characters, randomly generated
    # Example: openssl rand -base64 32
    # CORS Configuration (authorized source url). Default accept requests from every origin.
    # CORS_ORIGINS="http://localhost:80"
   

2. Ensure PostgreSQL is running and the database is set up with the provided credentials.

Running the Application

• To start the application in development mode:

  npm run start:dev
  

• To start the application in production mode:

  npm run start:prod
  

Basic Usage

Once the application is running, you can access the API at http://localhost:3000/graphql. For detailed API documentation, refer to the API documentation.

Technologies

• NestJs
  • It is a progressive Node.js framework for building efficient, reliable, and scalable server-side applications.
• PostgreSQL
  • It is a powerful, open-source object-relational database system.
• Sequelize
  • It is a promise-based Node.js ORM for Postgres, MySQL, MariaDB, SQLite, and Microsoft SQL Server.
• Apollo Server
  • It is a community-maintained open-source GraphQL server that works with many Node.js HTTP server frameworks.