How to File Upload REST API using Node Js MySQL?

Hello Friends,

In this tutorial, we will create a very simple way to rest API for Image Uploading using node js and multer. we will use express, multer, and body-parser npm packages for creating image uploads with node.js and multer.

Throughout this tutorial steps, you will learn how to create file upload REST API using Node js + MySQL + Express js. You will also find out how to use multer in Node.js for handling multipart/form-data for uploading files into MySQL database via rest apis.

Step 1: Create Node Express js App

Execute the following command on the terminal to create the node js app:

mkdir my-app
cd my-app
npm init

Step 2: Install Express + Mysql + Body parser + cors and Multer Library

Install express, body-parser, cors, and multer library into your node js express application by executing the following command on the command prompt:

npm install express body-parser MySQL cors multer --save

Step 3: Create Database and Connect App to DB

Execute the following SQL query to create a database and table:

CREATE DATABASE my-node;
  
CREATE TABLE `files` (
    `id` int(11) NOT NULL,
    `name` varchar(255) NOT NULL,
) 

ENGINE=InnoDB DEFAULT CHARSET=latin1;

Then Connect the app to the database; so visit your app root directory and create a new file name database.js. Then add the following code into it to connect your app to the database:

var mysql = require('mysql');
var conn = mysql.createConnection({
    host: 'localhost', // Replace with your host name
    user: 'root',      // Replace with your database username
    password: '',      // Replace with your database password
    database: 'my-node' // // Replace with your database Name
}); 

conn.connect(function(err) {
    if (err) throw err;
    console.log('Database is connected successfully !');
});

module.exports = conn;

Step 4: Create Server.js File

Create server.js file and import express, MySQL, multer, and path dependencies in server.js and create file upload rest API route; as shown below:

var express = require('express');
var path = require('path');
var cors = require('cors');
var bodyParser = require('body-parser');
var multer = require('multer')
var db=require('./database');
var app = express();
var port = process.env.PORT || 3000;
  
// enable CORS
app.use(cors());

// parse application/json
app.use(bodyParser.json());

// parse application/x-www-form-urlencoded
app.use(bodyParser.urlencoded({extended: true}));

// serving static files
app.use('/uploads', express.static('uploads'));
  
// request handlers
app.get('/', (req, res) => {
    res.send('Node js file upload rest apis');
});

// handle storage using multer
var storage = multer.diskStorage({
    destination: function (req, file, cb) {
        cb(null, 'uploads');
    },
    filename: function (req, file, cb) {
        cb(null, `${file.fieldname}-${Date.now()}${path.extname(file.originalname)}`);
    }
});
 
var upload = multer({ storage: storage });
 
// handle single file upload
app.post('/upload-avatar', upload.single('dataFile'), (req, res, next) => {
    const file = req.file;
    if (!file) {
        return res.status(400).send({ message: 'Please upload a file.' });
    }
    var sql = "INSERT INTO `file`(`name`) VALUES ('" + req.file.filename + "')";
    var query = db.query(sql, function(err, result) {
        return res.send({ message: 'File is successfully.', file });
    });
});
 
app.listen(port, () => {
    console.log('Server started on: ' + port);
});

Step 5: Start Node Express Js App Server

Execute the following command on the terminal to start the node express js server:

//run the below command

npm start

After running this command open your browser and hit

http://127.0.0.1:3000/upload-avatar

Step 6: Upload File using Rest Apis App

To upload files using rest apis; So open postman for sending HTTP multipart/form-data requests: as shown below picture:

Node.js Rest Api File Upload in MySQL

I hope it can help you...