Skip to content

TROUBLESHOOTING.md

Latest commit

 

History

History
320 lines (236 loc) · 5.55 KB

TROUBLESHOOTING.md

File metadata and controls

320 lines (236 loc) · 5.55 KB
Raw

Troubleshooting Guide - Net Control by K4HEF

Can't Connect to http://localhost

Quick Fixes to Try (in order):

1. Check if Docker Desktop is Running

  • macOS: Look for the Docker icon in the menu bar (top right)
  • Windows: Look for the Docker icon in the system tray
  • If Docker is not running, start Docker Desktop and wait for it to fully start (whale icon should be still, not animated)

2. Run the Diagnostic Script

cd "/Volumes/1 TB SSD/Net/NetControlApp"
chmod +x diagnose.sh
./diagnose.sh

This will tell you exactly what's wrong.

3. Check Container Status

docker ps

You should see three containers running:

  • netcontrol-frontend
  • netcontrol-backend
  • netcontrol-mongodb

If you don't see them, check all containers:

docker ps -a

4. View Container Logs

# Frontend logs
docker logs netcontrol-frontend

# Backend logs
docker logs netcontrol-backend

# MongoDB logs
docker logs netcontrol-mongodb

Common Issues and Solutions

Issue 1: Port 80 Already in Use

Symptoms:

  • Error: "port is already allocated"
  • "bind: address already in use"

Solution A - Use Different Port:

Edit docker-compose.yml and change the frontend ports from:

frontend:
  ports:
    - "80:80"

To:

frontend:
  ports:
    - "8080:80"

Then restart:

docker-compose down
docker-compose up -d

Access the app at: http://localhost:8080

Solution B - Stop Service Using Port 80:

# Find what's using port 80
sudo lsof -i :80

# Stop Apache (if that's what's running)
sudo apachectl stop

# Or stop nginx
sudo nginx -s stop

Issue 2: Containers Keep Restarting

Check the logs:

docker-compose logs

Common causes:

  1. Missing .env file:
cd "/Volumes/1 TB SSD/Net/NetControlApp"
cat > .env << 'EOF'
JWT_SECRET=NetControl2024SecureKeyForYorkCountyAmateurRadioSociety
EOF
  1. MongoDB not starting:
# Remove and recreate
docker-compose down -v
docker-compose up -d

Issue 3: Frontend Container Starts but Backend Doesn't

Check backend logs:

docker logs netcontrol-backend

Common fixes:

  1. Rebuild backend:
docker-compose down
docker-compose up -d --build backend
  1. Check if MongoDB is accessible:
docker exec -it netcontrol-backend ping mongodb

Issue 4: "502 Bad Gateway" Error

This means the frontend is running but can't reach the backend.

Solution:

# Restart backend
docker-compose restart backend

# Wait 10 seconds, then check
docker logs netcontrol-backend

Issue 5: Frontend Shows Blank Page

Solution:

# Rebuild frontend
docker-compose down
docker-compose up -d --build frontend

# Clear browser cache
# Then refresh the page (Cmd+Shift+R on Mac, Ctrl+Shift+R on Windows)

Issue 6: Need to Start Fresh

Complete reset (WARNING: This deletes all data!):

cd "/Volumes/1 TB SSD/Net/NetControlApp"

# Stop and remove everything including data
docker-compose down -v

# Remove images
docker-compose down --rmi all

# Start fresh
docker-compose up -d --build

Step-by-Step Startup Process

Clean Startup:

  1. Stop everything:
cd "/Volumes/1 TB SSD/Net/NetControlApp"
docker-compose down

  1. Ensure Docker Desktop is running:

    • Wait until the whale icon is steady (not animated)

  2. Start the services:

docker-compose up -d
  1. Watch the logs:
docker-compose logs -f

  1. Wait for services to be ready:

    • MongoDB: Look for "Waiting for connections"
    • Backend: Look for "Server running on port 5000"
    • Frontend: Should start nginx

  2. Test the application:

    • Open http://localhost
    • Wait 30-60 seconds on first start (Docker needs to download images)

Verification Commands

Check All Services Are Up:

docker-compose ps

All three should show "Up" status.

Check Network:

docker network ls | grep netcontrol

Check Volumes:

docker volume ls | grep netcontrol

Test Backend API:

curl http://localhost:5000/api/health

Should return: {"status":"OK","message":"Net Control by K4HEF API is running"}

Test Frontend:

curl -I http://localhost

Should return HTTP 200.

Still Having Issues?

Get Full System Info:

cd "/Volumes/1 TB SSD/Net/NetControlApp"

# Save diagnostic info to file
./diagnose.sh > diagnostic-output.txt 2>&1

# View the file
cat diagnostic-output.txt

Manual Container Inspection:

# Enter backend container
docker exec -it netcontrol-backend sh

# Check if node is running
ps aux

# Check environment variables
env | grep MONGODB_URI

# Exit container
exit

Check Container Resource Usage:

docker stats

Alternative: Development Mode

If Docker is giving you trouble, you can run in development mode:

Terminal 1 - MongoDB:

docker run -d -p 27017:27017 --name netcontrol-mongodb mongo:7

Terminal 2 - Backend:

cd "/Volumes/1 TB SSD/Net/NetControlApp/backend"
npm install

# Create .env
cat > .env << 'EOF'
PORT=5000
MONGODB_URI=mongodb://localhost:27017/netcontrol
JWT_SECRET=your_secret_key_here
NODE_ENV=development
EOF

npm run dev

Terminal 3 - Frontend:

cd "/Volumes/1 TB SSD/Net/NetControlApp/frontend"
npm install
npm run dev

Access at: http://localhost:3000

Contact Support

If you've tried everything and it's still not working, gather:

  1. Output of ./diagnose.sh
  2. Output of docker-compose logs
  3. Your operating system version
  4. Docker Desktop version

73! 📻