How to Run Neo4j Inside a Docker Container: A Quick Start Guide

If you are looking to run Neo4j inside a Docker container for development or testing purposes, this quick start guide will help you get up and running in no time. Docker containers provide a lightweight and portable way to run applications, making it easy to set up and manage your Neo4j database.

Step 1: Install Docker

The first step is to install Docker on your machine. You can download and install Docker Desktop for Mac or Windows, or Docker Engine for Linux. Make sure Docker is running before proceeding to the next steps.

Step 2: Pull the Neo4j Docker Image

Next, pull the official Neo4j Docker image from the Docker Hub repository. You can do this by running the following command in your terminal:

docker pull neo4j

Step 3: Run Neo4j Container

Now that you have the Neo4j image, you can run a Neo4j container using the following command:

docker run --name my-neo4j-container -p 7474:7474 -p 7687:7687 -d neo4j

This command will create a new container named “my-neo4j-container” and expose the default Neo4j ports 7474 and 7687 to the host machine.

Step 4: Access Neo4j Browser

Once the container is up and running, you can access the Neo4j Browser by opening a web browser and navigating to http://localhost:7474. You can use the default credentials (username: neo4j, password: neo4j) to log in and start working with your Neo4j database.

Step 5: Interact with Neo4j Database

Now that you have Neo4j running inside a Docker container, you can start creating nodes, relationships, and queries to interact with your graph database. You can use Cypher, Neo4j’s query language, to perform operations on your database.

Additional Tips:

• Volume Mounting: You can mount a local directory to the Neo4j container to persist data by adding the -v flag when running the container.
• Environment Variables: You can set environment variables for Neo4j configuration by using the -e flag with the docker run command.
• Custom Configurations: If you need to customize Neo4j configurations, you can create a custom neo4j.conf file and mount it to the container.

Running Neo4j inside a Docker container is a convenient way to set up and manage your graph database environment. It allows you to easily spin up Neo4j instances for development, testing, or production use, without worrying about dependencies or compatibility issues.

By following this quick start guide, you can quickly get started with Neo4j in a Docker container and start building powerful graph database applications.