Deploying custom images to a Production Environment - BlueCat Integrity - 9.3.0

Address Manager Administration Guide
Locale
English
Product name
BlueCat Integrity
Version
9.3.0

The following task describes the steps to deploy a custom BlueCat Gateway image to a Production environment. This task also applies if you need to deploy Gateway, Adaptive Applications, or Plugins with BDDS behind a firewall (even in a Lab environment).

In this scenario, BDDS is behind a firewall and is not routable to either a cloud or local repository. You must first copy the tarred image directly to the Production BDDS appliance, then enable Gateway Service from the BAM UI.

Custom image

A custom image is BlueCat's recommended best practice for deploying Gateway to a Production environment. A custom image is built on top of the Gateway base image. The deployed container will include all necessary workflow/application data, thereby removing the need to import workflows or change configurations of a running container manually. This simplifies deployments to Production and improves container resiliency. For more information on the Built-in Workspace, and using Dockerfile to generate custom images, refer to Adding Built-in Workflows to the BlueCat Gateway Container in the BlueCat Gateway Administration Guide.

Before you begin, ensure you have completed the following:

  • Ensure Gateway Service is disabled on the production BDDS
  • The custom image has been built on BlueCat Gateway v20.12.1 and leverages the Built-in workspace. For more information on the Built-in workspace and using Dockerfile to generate custom images, refer to Adding Built-in Workflows to the BlueCat Gateway Container
  • The custom image has been packaged into a tar file: 
    docker save –o /path/to/file.tar <repository|imagename>

To copy the custom image to BDDS:

  1. From the CLI of your Linux Console, copy the tar file to the BDDS: 
    scp /path/to/file/<customimage>.tar root@<bdds-ip-address>:.
  2. At the prompt, enter your BDDS root password.
  3. Connect to the BDDS. 
    ssh root@<bdds-ip-address>
  4. Since Gateway Service is disabled, you must start Docker on the BDDS. 
    systemctl start docker
  5. (Optional) Run docker ps to verify that Docker is running.
  6. Unpack the image. 
    docker load -i /root/<customimage>.tar
Next, return to Address Manager to enable Gateway Service and start the custom container. Refer to Configuring Gateway Service on a BDDS appliance to enable Gateway Service and start the custom container.
Note: You do not need to enter a username or password under Repository as the image is on the BDDS.
To verify the status of Gateway Service, go back to the Server Service Configuration page, and scroll down to view the Gateway Status section.

You can find the status of the service under the Status and Description fields. If the Status field shows RUNNING for Gateway Service, you can launch your custom container using the IPV4 address of the BDDS appliance.