Node-Red
Stack
Low-code programming for event-driven applications
Image details
Configuration
TypeComposelinuxnodered/node-red:latest1880:1880/data : node-red-dataTZ=${TZ}Notes
Standalone Install
Select an install method, to see config/commands for deploying Node-Red
Install on Portainer
Import all app templates into your Portainer instance, for easy 1-click deploys
- Ensure both Docker and Portainer are installed, and up-to-date
- Log into your Portainer web UI
- Under Settings → App Templates, paste the below URL
- Head to Home → App Templates, and the list of apps will show up
- Select Node-Red, fill in any config options, and hit Deploy
Template Import URL
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Lissy93/portainer-templates/main/templates.json
Show Me
Original stackfile
The compose file this template deploys, straight from its repo:
version: "3.7"
services:
node-red:
image: nodered/node-red:latest
environment:
- TZ=${TZ}
ports:
- "1880:1880"
networks:
- node-red-net
volumes:
- node-red-data:/data
volumes:
node-red-data:
networks:
node-red-net:
Or deploy it directly from the source:
git clone https://github.com/portainer/templates
cd templates
docker compose -f edge/node-red/docker-compose.yml up -dMore install options in our documentation.
Node-RED
Low-code programming for event-driven applications
To run Node-RED in Docker in its simplest form just run:docker run -it -p 1880:1880 -v myNodeREDdata:/data --name mynodered nodered/node-red
or for the minimal version
docker run -it -p 1880:1880 -v myNodeREDdata:/data --name mynodered nodered/node-red:latest-minimal
The minimal version does not contain build tools or support for projects.Note: RaspberryPI Zero and 1 users (Arm6 cpu) will need to use the specific tag name to install due to an upstream docker bug in the architecture detection. For example :
docker run -it -p 1880:1880 -v myNodeREDdata:/data --name mynodered nodered/node-red:1.0.1-10-minimal-arm32v6
for the minimal node 10 version.For more detailed information see our docker guide.
For any questions please use the public Node-RED discourse forum.
For general information about Node-RED please visit the website.
This project is available on github.
Serve Node-Red on your own domain behind Caddy, Nginx or Traefik. Fill in your domain and copy the result. It's a starting point, some apps need their own base URL or extra headers set too.
Proxying node-red.example.com to http://node-red:1880
Add this to your Caddyfile
node-red.example.com {
reverse_proxy http://node-red:1880
}Check the logs first
Nine times out of ten the logs tell you exactly what went wrong.
- In Portainer, go to Containers, click the container, then Logs. Or run
docker logs <container> - Exit codes help too:
137means killed, usually out of memory.126or127means the command inside the image is broken.
Port already in use
If deployment fails with "Bind for 0.0.0.0:1880 failed: port is already allocated", something else on your server is using that port.
- Find what's using it:
sudo ss -tlnp | grep :1880 - Stop the other service, or pick a different host port. In
1880:1880only the left number is yours to change, the right one belongs to the app.
Running but the page won't load
The container is up but nothing appears in your browser.
- Use your server's real IP:
http://your-server-ip:1880. The 0.0.0.0 link Portainer shows isn't a real address. - Give it a minute after first deploy, node-red can take a while to initialise.
- Make sure your firewall allows the port, e.g.
sudo ufw allow 1880
Image won't pull
Test the pull directly on the host: docker pull nodered/node-red:latest
- "manifest unknown" means the tag no longer exists. This template uses
latest, so try pinning a specific version instead. - "toomanyrequests" is the Docker Hub rate limit. Log in with
docker loginto raise it. - "no space left on device" means a full disk. Reclaim space with
docker system prune
"exec format error"
This means the image was built for a different CPU architecture than your server.
- This image supports:
amd64, arm64, arm/v7 - Check yours with
uname -m: x86_64 is amd64, aarch64 is arm64. Raspberry Pi and other ARM boards are the usual culprits.
Stack won't deploy
Compose stacks fail fast on small mistakes, and Portainer shows the reason just above the editor.
- YAML only accepts spaces for indentation, a single tab breaks the whole file.
Raise an issue
Found something which isn't working as it should? Here's how to report it.
- Bug within the app: Open an issue within node-red's repo
- Template not working: Open an issue on portainer/templates
- This website not working: Open an issue on lissy93/portainer-templates
A Compose stack
Node-Red is a Compose stack, a set of containers defined in one file and brought up together by Portainer, then started and stopped as a single app.
The app image
An image is the app packed up ready to go, everything Node-Red needs bundled into one download. This template pulls nodered/node-red:latest, which Docker fetches once (about 221 MB) and then starts your own copy from.
Where the image comes from
Docker pulls its images from registries, public libraries of ready-built apps. Node-Red's comes from Docker Hub, published by nodered.
Version tags
The bit after the colon in the image name is the version tag. Here it's latest, which always points at the newest build, so a redeploy can bump you to a newer release without you asking. Newest right now is 4.1.15-22. Pin a specific tag if you would rather stay on one version.
Which machines it runs on
Every image is built for particular CPU types. This one ships for amd64, arm64, arm/v7, so it runs on both regular x86 servers and ARM boards like a Raspberry Pi.
Ports
A port is the door the app answers on. A mapping like 1880:1880 means it's reachable on port 1880 of your server, where the left number is yours to change and the right one belongs to the app. It opens:
1880:1880
Volumes
A volume is where Node-Red keeps its files so they survive an update or a restart. Without one, anything it saves would sit inside the container and vanish the moment it's recreated. This template mounts:
/datakept in thenode-red-datavolume Docker manages
Environment variables
Environment variables are the settings you hand over when you deploy, things like a password or a timezone. Node-Red takes 1 of them, all with defaults you can leave alone or tweak:
TZ, pulled from your own environment. Time Zone
Networking
Nothing custom is set, so Node-Red sits on Docker's default bridge network: its own private space that reaches the outside world only through the ports it publishes.
Container name
Once it's deployed, Portainer names the container node-red. That's what you'll spot in the containers list and use in commands like docker logs node-red.
Platform
The platform is linux, the kind of system the container is built to run on. Docker and Portainer handle this on a normal Linux server.
Portainer app templates
Zooming out, this whole page comes from a Portainer app template: a short recipe telling Portainer how to set Node-Red up. Add the template list to Portainer once, then deploying Node-Red is a click rather than a wall of config.
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