IBM App Connect Professional: Docker introduction

IBM App Connect Professional supports Docker and can be installed as a stand-alone Docker container or in a Kubernetes cluster. There are two ways in which you can launch App Connect Professional in a Docker container:

• Use the App Connect Professional Docker image running on Ubuntu 16.04 that is provided by IBM (7.5.3.0-WS-ACP-
• Build your own Docker image by using App Connect Professional software (7.5.3.0-WS-ACP-

System requirements
You can run the App Connect Professional Docker container in the following configurations:

1. Two CPUs with 4 GB RAM and a 100GB disk
2. Four CPUs with 8 or 16 GB RAM and a 100GB disk
3. Eight CPUs with 16, 24, or 32 GB RAM and a 100GB disk

For production purposes, it’s recommended that you use four or more CPUs.

Loading the App Connect Professional image

The first stage is to load the App Connect Professional Docker image into the local repository of the machine where the Docker software is installed.
The following steps describe how to load the Docker image for the two types of App Connect Professional Docker image.

Loading the App Connect Professional Ubuntu Docker image

1. Download the App Connect Professional Docker image (7.5.3.0-WS-ACP-
2. Copy the file to the Linux machine where Docker is installed and run the following command:
   docker load -i 7.5.3.0-WS-ACP-
3. Run the docker images command to verify that the image is available in the local Docker repository.

Build the Docker image from the App Connect Professional software and load it

Use these steps to customize the Docker image for your requirements. For example, use a different flavor of Linux, or load and start projects and other artifacts during container launch.

1. Download the App Connect Professional software (7.5.3.0-WS-ACP-
2. Copy the file to the Linux machine where Docker is installed.
3. On the Linux server, extract the TAR file by using the following command:
   tar –xvzf FILE_NAME
4. If any customization is needed, navigate to the extracted folder and find the directory castiron_docker. All customization can be done in this folder. For more information about customizations, see IBM App Connect Professional: Customizing docker containers.
5. Navigate to the parent directory of castiron_docker and create the Docker image by running the following command:
   docker build --no-cache -t ibmappconnect:7.5.3.0_
   For example:
   docker build --no-cache -t ibmappconnect:7.5.3.0_20181115-1639_H17 castiron_docker
6. Run the docker images command to verify that the image is available. You should see the following output:
   REPOSITORY TAG IMAGE ID CREATED SIZE
ibmappconnect 7.5.3.0_20181115-1639_H17 f931edf5e533 7 minutes ago 1.37GB
ibmjava 8-sdk 115d3b07ebf5 42 hours ago 360MB

Launching the App Connect Professional container

To launch the container from the App Connect Professional image that is available in the local repository, run the following command:

docker run -dit -p 28443:8443 -p 44444:9443 -p 443:443 -p 80:80 DOCKER_IMAGE_ID

where:

• DOCKER_IMAGE_ID is the image ID of the App Connect Professional image. You can get this value for your environment by running the docker images command.
• 8443 is the port number that is used by App Connect Professional for accessing the Web Management Console. Port number 8443 in the command maps to port number 28443 on the host machine. This value is an example; you can provide any available port value on the host machine.
• 9443 is the port number that is used by App Connect Professional when a secure connector is configured and running. Port number 9443 in the command maps to port number 44444 on the host machine. This value is an example; you can provide any available port value on the host machine. The same port number from the host machine (e.g. 44444) must be configured in the secure connector.
• If you’re exposing APIs by using the “HTTP Receive Request” activity or “Web Services/SOAP Provide” activity, the port numbers that are used by these activities also need to be exposed. Typically, the port numbers are 80 and 443; therefore, we’re also showing these port numbers in the example. It’s up to you which ports you use to expose the API, and to ensure that they’re mapped correctly to the host machine.

Check the status of the App Connect Professional container and access the Web Management Console

You can check whether the container is up and running by running the following Docker command and monitoring the output. The logs get generated and you can see whether all components (DerbyServer, maestro, Web Management Console, Gateway) are running.
docker logs -f CONTAINER_ID

You can also check whether the container is up and running by logging into the container and executing the status command, as described in the following steps.

1. To see the container ID of the App Connect Professional instance, run the following command:
   docker ps
2. To log in to the App Connect Professional container console, run the following command:
   docker exec -it
3. To check the status of the App Connect Professional instance, run the following command:
   castiron -–status
   You’ll see the status of various components in App Connect Professional, and the status should be “Up” for all components.
   output : Cast Iron Component Status
--------------------------
DerbyServer : Up
Maestro : Up
WMC : Up
Gateway : Up

   When you’ve checked the status, exit the container.

4. From a browser, access the home page of the App Connect Professional Web Management Console by using the following URL (you might need to wait for 4-5 minutes after the container is launched before you can test it):
   https://HOST_NAME:PORT

   where:

   • HOST_NAME is the host name or the IP address (default network interface) of the host machine where the App Connect Professional container is running
   • PORT is the port number that is used when the container is launched (28443 in this example)

In this particular example of launching an App Connect Professional container, the container uses the default bridge network and we map the port numbers to the host machine port numbers so that App Connect Professional can be accessed from external systems. More details about network configurations during the launch of the container are available in IBM App Connect Professional: Docker containers and network configuration.

The following examples illustrate how to set memory and CPUs while launching the container:
docker run -dit --memory 8GB -p 28443:8443 -p 44444:9443 -p 443:443 -p 80:80 DOCKER_IMAGE_ID
docker run -dit --cpus 4 -p 28443:8443 -p 44444:9443 -p 443:443 -p 80:80 DOCKER_IMAGE_ID
docker run -dit --memory 16GB --cpus 4 -p 28443:8443 -p 44444:9443 -p 443:443 -p 80:80 DOCKER_IMAGE_ID

This article is written by testing with App Connect Professional version 7.5.3 latest build and using Docker version 18.09.0