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Docker Compose Files

Docker Tools

Docker and Docker Compose are used to manage the Edge Xpert Services.

Using Docker

For information on installing Docker, refer to Installation.

The Edge Xpert microservices are deployed in Docker containers.

For information on the Docker commands, refer to the Docker CLI documentation

Using Docker Compose

For information on installing Docker Compose, refer to Installation.

Edge Xpert uses Docker Compose to obtain and configure the latest images and to install, start the stop the microservice containers.

The docker-compose YAML files drive the edgexpert CLI tool. For further information on the Docker Compose YAML file see Configuration Files and Using a Local Docker Compose File.

For information on the Docker Compose commands, refer to the Docker Compose CLI documentation.

Configuration Files

Edge Xpert installs the Docker Compose and Application Service YAML files to /etc/edgexpert/. These files contain the configuration settings used by Edge Xpert.

The following Docker Compose YAML files are provided:

File Description
docker-compose.yml Default configuration file
docker-compose-security.yml Used when security mode is enabled, overrides the base docker-compose.yml with security settings.
app-service.yml Default configuration file used by the Application Services
app-service-security.yml Used when security mode is enabled, overrides the base app-service.yml with security settings.

To view the content, open the file in a text editor.

IOTech recommends that you use Docker Compose Override if you need to make any changes.

For further information on the Docker Compose file, refer to the Compose file reference. For further information on using a local Docker Compose file within Edge Xpert, see Using a Local Docker Compose File.

Using a Local Docker Compose File

For more information on the docker-compose file content and parameters see Configuration File Content.

If you want to make changes to the configuration, it is best practice to override it with local YAML files.

Override the Docker Compose Files

To override the Docker Compose file, complete the following steps:

  1. Create the YAML files identical to /etc/edgexpert in your chosen local directory. For example, ~/local-compose/docker-compose.yml
  2. Open the local YAML file in an editor

  3. Override the existing settings, or add your own configuration settings, as required.

    Below, an example of overriding with local docker-compose.yml can be found. This example demonstrates overriding the log level configuration with the environment variable WRITABLE_LOGLEVEL:

    services:
  device-virtual:
    environment:
      WRITABLE_LOGLEVEL: DEBUG

    Note

    The above configuration changes the log level to DEBUG. This can generate a large number of log lines and is only advised when attempting to debug. The default is INFO.

  4. Save the local docker-compose.yml file

Run Edge Xpert with Local Docker Compose File

If using a local Docker Compose files, you must run the edgexpert CLI commands from the directory containing your YAML files.

The following message at the start of the output from a command indicates that a local Docker Compose file is being used:

$ edgexpert up
Overriding configuration with local docker-compose.yml

Note

Before Edge Xpert v2.1.2 Docker Compose Override was not yet introduced and YAML files must be copied and edited as a whole.

Docker Compose Override

Edge Xpert leverages docker-compose override mechanism starting from v2.1.2 release. This simplifies the effort for user to modify the configuration file.

If configuration files exist in EDGEXPERT_COMPOSE_PATH or local directory, Edge Xpert will try to override base configuration with those files. The priority would be:
1. local(current) directory
2. EDGEXPERT_COMPOSE_PATH
3. default directory (/etc/edgexpert)

This rule applies on docker-compose.yml, docker-compose-security.yml and docker-compose.<EDGEXPERT_PROJECT>.yml.

For example: 

$ export EDGEXPERT_COMPOSE_PATH=scripts/composefiles
$ export EDGEXPERT_PROJECT=prod
$ edgexpert up --secret

Overriding configuration with /home/user/scripts/composefiles/docker-compose.yml
Overriding configuration with local docker-compose.prod.yml
Creating network "edgexpert_edgex-network" with driver "bridge"
...

Note

For the usage of EDGEXPERT_COMPOSE_PATH and EDGEXPERT_PROJECT please refer to Environment Variables

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