Docker Container Installation Guide

Overview

The BRAVO Platform v2.1.1 introduce the Docker Container version of the platform to allow easier deployment of software for local use. In the future, every numbered release will have docker image updated.

Docker Image and Repository

Dockerfiles are created for BRAVO Client and Server folder. The Client Docker Image is a simple react-script starter, which means the Docker Image for BRAVO Client is somewhat slow due to compilation every time we need to start the Client. The BRAVO Server utilize additional Docker Image such as mysql:8.0 and redis:5 for handling data storage and cache for WebSocket. By default, CRON is also started in BRAVO Server Container so the ProcessingQueueJob is being run periodically (every minute) without user interaction.

You can find the Docker Images for BRAVO Client and BRAVO Server from Docker Hub. The BRAVO Client is built upon nginx:alpine package, which is a minimum image for serving static content through Port 80 (HTTP). The BRAVO Server is built on ubuntu:20.04 image, which will serve the server through Port 3001. The Server has DEBUG enabled, and all error messages can be confirmed in the Docker Logs.

How to start Docker Container

A docker-compose.yml file is placed in Docker folder. This file utilize the Docker Compose function, naturally included in the Docker Desktop. You may download Docker Desktop for Windows through their docker tutorial for Windows or docker tutorial for Mac. I do not recommend using Docker Container for Linux.

Once installed, you can use Powershell or Terminal to call the following code inside the Docker folder containing docker-compose.yml file.

docker compose pull && docker compose -p bravo up -d
docker image prune -f

After Docker Container is started, you can simply start/stop the docker container via Docker Desktop GUI.

Where are Docker File stored

The Docker Compose will create 2 volumes, one for SQL Database (SQLDatabase) and one for BRAVO data (BRAVOStorage). These volumes are usually mapped in the VM and accessible via Docker Interface.

For Windows, they are usually in \\wsl.localhost\docker-desktop-data\data\docker\volumes.

Public Access for Docker Images

By using Windows NETSH command, we can forward ports from Docker to public domain so your Windows Docker Image can serve as a public accessible server as well.

By standard, Port 80 and Port 3001 are used by Docker (80 as Frontend and 3001 as Backend) to serve the BRAVO Platform. However, it is also important to edit SERVER_ADDRESS and CLIENT_ADDRESS to your actual IP address. To do so, you can edit the docker-compose.yml file you download.

netsh interface portproxy set v4tov4 listenport=80 listenaddress=0.0.0.0 connectport=80 connectaddress={WSL_IP_Address}
netsh interface portproxy set v4tov4 listenport=3001 listenaddress=0.0.0.0 connectport=3001 connectaddress={WSL_IP_Address}