docs/docs/rethinkdb-dev-database.md

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Creating a Local RethinkDB Database for Development

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In this tutorial, you will:

• Create a RethinkDB Container for Development
• (Advanced) Clone a small Node.js application and write data into RethinkDB.

Setting up RethinkDB in Kitematic

First, if you haven't yet done so, download and start Kitematic. Once open, the app should look like this:

Click on the Create button of the rethinkdb image listing in the recommended list as shown above. This will download & run a RethinkDB container within a few minutes. Once it's done, you'll have a local RethinkDB database up and running.

Let's start using it to develop a node.js app. For now, let's figure out which IP address and port RethinkDB is listening on. To find out, click the Settings tab and then the Ports section:

You can see there that for RethinkDB port 28015, the container is listening on host 192.168.99.100 and port 49154 (in this example - ports may be different for you). This means you can now reach RethinkDB via a client driver at 192.168.99.100:49154. Again, this IP address may be different for you.

(Advanced) Saving Data into RethinkDB with a local Node.js App

First, if you don't have it yet, download and install Node.js.

Now, you'll create the RethinkDB example chat to test drive your new database. In your terminal, type:

 bash-3.2$ export RDB_HOST=192.168.99.100 # replace with IP from above step
 bash-3.2$ export RDB_PORT=49154 # replace with Port from above step
 bash-3.2$ git clone https://github.com/rethinkdb/rethinkdb-example-nodejs-chat
 bash-3.2$ cd rethinkdb-example-nodejs-chat
 bash-3.2$ npm install
 bash-3.2$ npm start

Now, point your browser to http://localhost:8000. Congratulations, you've successfully used a RethinkDB container in Kitematic to build a real-time chat app. Happy coding!