Set Up Prisma Server for GraphQL on Ubuntu 18.04 – Google Cloud

In this guide you are going to learn how to set up and install Prisma server on Ubuntu 18.04 using Docker and Docker Compose. We will also run a test GraphQL query in the GraphQL Playground which connects to external database Cloud SQL.

This tutorial is tested on Google Cloud Platform with Compute Engine VM Instance and Cloud SQL. It will work on all Ubuntu systems.

Prerequisites

1. Your Compute Engine Instance running.
2. For setting up Compute Engine, see the Setting up Compute Engine Instance.
3. Ubuntu server setup on Google Cloud.
4. Google Cloud SQL Setup, see Setup Cloud SQL and connect with Compute Engine.
5. How to install Docker on Ubuntu 18.04 LTS.
6. Install Docker Compose with Docker on Ubuntu 18.04.
7. Node.js and NPM installed in your local computer.

Install Prisma with Docker Compose

Docker Compose allows you to manage and run multi-container applications. YOu can use it to set up the infrastructure required for Prisma service.

SSH to your VM Instance and navigate to your project directory. In our case it will be my-project

Create a new docker-compose.yml file for Prisma server configuration. This will automatically spin up your Prisma and connect to Cloud SQL and configure it easily.

Make sure you replace the following contents in your docker-compose.yml file.

• managementApiSecret: YOUR_SECRET
• host: CLOUD_SQL_IP_ADDRESS
• user: USERNAME
• password: PASSWORD

Execute the following command to create the docker-compose.yml file.

sudo nano docker-compose.yml

Paste the following contents and hit CTRL + X followed by Y and Enter to save and exit the file.

version: "3"
 services:
   prisma:
     image: prismagraphql/prisma:1.23.4
     restart: always
     ports:
       - "4466:4466"
     environment:
       PRISMA_CONFIG: |
         port: 4466
         managementApiSecret: YOUR_SECRET
         databases:
           default:
             connector: mysql
             host: CLOUD_SQL_IP_ADDRESS
             port: 3306
             user: USERNAME
             password: PASSWORD
             migrations: true

This configuration pulls the latest version of Prisma and connect to port 4466. It also set the configurations to connect to Cloud SQL.

Now you can start the docker containers in detached mode.

sudo docker-compose up -d

Once the containers are created you can view the running containers using the following command.

You will get an output similar to the one below.

sudo docker ps

Output
CONTAINER ID        IMAGE                         COMMAND                  CREATED            STATUS              PORTS                    NAMES
645865e010bc        prismagraphql/prisma:1.23.4   "/bin/sh -c /app/sta…"   3 minutes ago      Up 3 minutes        0.0.0.0:4466->4466/tcp   my-project_prisma_1

Prisma server is setup and connected to Cloud SQL, you can now deploy your Prisma service from local system.

Setup Firewall

As Prisma server is listening on port 4466, you need to allow connections on this port.

So navigate to VPC Network >> Firewall rules and create a firewall rule.

Provide a name.

In Targets select All instances in the network

In Source IP ranges enter 0.0.0.0/0

In Protocols and ports check tcp and enter 4466

Click Create.

Install Prisma Local Environment

Create a new directory for your Prisma files and navigate into it.

npm install -g prisma

Create a new file structure for a new Prisma database API, which generates the files necessary to build your application.

prisma init hello-world

You will see an interactive prompt to select one of the servers. Choose Use other server and press ENTER

Output
  Set up a new Prisma server or deploy to an existing server?
  
  You can set up Prisma for local development (based on docker-compose)
  Use existing database      Connect to existing database
  Create new database        Set up a local database using Docker
 
   Or deploy to an existing Prisma server:
   Demo server                Hosted demo environment incl. database (requires login)
 ❯ Use other server           Manually provide endpoint of a running Prisma server

Then you need to provide the endpoint of your Prisma server. That will be your VM Instance External IP address with port 4466 (http://EXTERNAL_IP_ADDRESS:4466).

Output
Enter the endpoint of your Prisma server http://EXTERNAL_IP_ADDRESS:4466

Next you need to enter your management API secret.

Output
Enter the management API secret YOUR_SECRET

Next choose the default for service name and stage

Select the programming language as Prisma TypeScript Client for the Prisma Client.

Output
Select the programming language for the generated Prisma client (Use arrow keys)
❯ Prisma TypeScript Client
  Prisma Flow Client
  Prisma JavaScript Client
  Prisma Go Client
  Don't generate

Once this is completed 3 files has been created and your application is ready to deploy.

Output
Created 3 new files:
   prisma.yml           Prisma service definition
   datamodel.prisma    GraphQL SDL-based datamodel (foundation for database)
   .env                 Env file including PRISMA_API_MANAGEMENT_SECRET

Next steps:
   1. Open folder: cd hello-world
   2. Deploy your Prisma service: prisma deploy
   3. Read more about deploying services:
      http://bit.ly/prisma-deploy-services 

   Generating schema… 27ms

   Saving Prisma Client (TypeScript) at D:\prisma\hello-world\generated\prisma-client\

Deploy to Prisma Server

Move into directory.

cd hello-world

Deploy your Prisma service from local to the Prisma server.

prisma deploy

You will see an output similar to this.

Output
Creating stage dev for service hello-world √
Deploying service hello-world to stage dev to server default 2.0s

Changes:
 
  User (Type)
  + Created type User
  + Created field id of type GraphQLID!
  + Created field name of type String!
  + Created field updatedAt of type DateTime!
  + Created field createdAt of type DateTime!
 
Applying changes 2.4s
 
Your Prisma GraphQL database endpoint is live:
 
   HTTP:  http://EXTERNAL_IP_ADDRESS:4466/hello-world/dev
   WS:    ws://EXTERNAL_IP_ADDRESS:4466/hello-world/dev

Now you can connect to two different endpoints.

• The management Interface: http://EXTERNAL_IP_ADDRESS:4466/management, where you can manage and deploy Prisma services.
• The GraphQL API: http://EXTERNAL_IP_ADDRESS:4466/hello-world/dev

Run a GraphQL query

Go to your web browser and visit http://EXTERNAL_IP_ADDRESS:4466/hello-world/dev . You can experiment with the GraphQL playground.

Here you can test by sending a mutation to create a user. Run the following mutation on the left side of the GraphQL Playground.

mutation {
    createUser(data: { name: "Alice" }) {
        id
        name
    }
}

Once you hit the play button, you will see the results on the right side.

Now you have a Prisma server and service running on your server, and tested queries in GraphQL’s IDE.