Deploy using Docker

Introduction

Docker is a robust platform for developing, shipping, and running applications. It enables you to bundle your application and all its dependencies into a container, providing consistency across different environments and machines.

This guide will help you deploy a WaveMaker application using Docker. We will cover how to run a Docker container for hosting your application and how to customize the Tomcat server configuration inside the container.

Prerequisites

Ensure the following before starting:

1. Docker Installed: Docker must be installed on your machine. If not, download and install Docker from the official Docker website.

2. WaveMaker Application: You should have a built WaveMaker application. This app will have a WAR file located in the dist folder after the build process.

3. Docker Image for Your Application: A Docker image for your application is required, either built by you or pulled from a registry.

Once these prerequisites are in place, you can proceed with deploying your WaveMaker application using Docker.

Running the Docker Container

Build the Docker Image (Optional)

If you don’t have a Docker image or need to build your own, follow the steps from the WaveMaker app development guide to create a Docker image for your application. Detailed instructions are available in this guide on building a Docker image.

To create a Docker container, use the following Docker command:

note

You can use any host_port. For example, 80. The container's internal port is fixed to 8080 and cannot be changed.

docker run --name <containername> -d -p <host_port>:8080 <imagename:version>

Example:

docker run --name wmapp -d -p 80:8080 wmimage:1.0

Access Application

If Docker is running on the Host network, use the Host IP address to access the application on the web. Get an Instance IP Address using the following command to access the application on the web. Please run the below command in the web application hosting Instance.

ifconfig

• Above command will provide the network interfaces and their respective IP Address in Instance. Please use the respective IP Address to access the application on the web. You can access the application with http://<HOST_IP:HOST_PORT>/<APPLICATION_CONTEXT>/.

Deploying a WAR File

If you have a WAR file generated after the build, located in the <your_project_location>/dist folder, you can deploy it either in a host Tomcat server or in a Tomcat Docker container.

Deploying WAR in a Tomcat Docker Container

To deploy the WAR file in a Tomcat Docker container, run the following command:

docker run -d --name <container_name> -v <your_project_location>/dist/:/usr/local/tomcat/webapps/ -p <host_port>:8080 wavemakerapp/app-runtime-tomcat:<wavemaker_version>

Example:

docker run -d --name wm-app -v /home/user/MySampleApp/dist/:/usr/local/tomcat/webapps/ -p 80:8080 wavemakerapp/app-runtime-tomcat:<wavemaker_version>

Customizing the Tomcat Server Configuration and Logs

You can customize the server.xml file for the Tomcat server inside the container and map the logs to the host machine.

Customizing the server.xml

To use your own server.xml for Tomcat, map the custom server.xml file to the container’s corresponding location using the -v option. Example:

docker run -d --name wm-app   -v /home/user/MySampleApp/dist/:/usr/local/tomcat/webapps/   -v /home/user/custom/server.xml:/usr/local/tomcat/conf/server.xml   -p 80:8080 wavemakerapp/app-runtime-tomcat:<wavemaker_version>

Mapping Logs to the Host

To map Tomcat logs to your host system, use the following volume mapping for the Tomcat logs directory:

docker run -d --name wm-app   -v /home/user/MySampleApp/dist/:/usr/local/tomcat/webapps/   -v /home/user/custom/server.xml:/usr/local/tomcat/conf/server.xml   -v /home/user/logs:/usr/local/tomcat/logs   -p 80:8080 wavemakerapp/app-runtime-tomcat:<wavemaker_version>

In this case, the logs from /usr/local/tomcat/logs inside the container will be available in /home/user/logs on the host.

note

All customizations (like specifying a custom server.xml, mapping logs, or mapping your WAR file) are optional and independent of each other. You can choose any of them based on your specific requirements without affecting other configurations.

Access Application

If Docker is running on the Host network, use the Host IP address to access the application on the web. Get an Instance IP Address using the following command to access the application on the web. Please run the below command in the web application hosting Instance.

ifconfig

• Above command will provide the network interfaces and their respective IP Address in Instance. Please use the respective IP Address to access the application on the web. You can access the application with http://<HOST_IP:HOST_PORT>/<APPLICATION_CONTEXT>/.

note

The wavemakerapp/app-runtime-tomcat Docker image comes with the necessary software packages and libraries required to deploy WaveMaker applications in Docker containers.

• You can deploy your application using the app-runtime-tomcat Docker image.
• The app-runtime-tomcat Docker image is available on Docker Hub.