Docker
Running a basic container
This is a single container is available for SEEK that runs on the SQLite3 database, which can only support a small number of concurrent users.
This isn’t recommended for a production deployment, but is a good quick way to try out SEEK, and for testing or checking out new features.
For production deployments see Docker compose
Once Docker is installed it can be started simply with:
docker run -d -p 3000:3000 --name seek fairdom/seek:1.15
This will start the container, and will be then available at http://localhost:3000 after a short few seconds wait for things to start up. ( the container exposes port 3000 by default, if you want to map to a different port, e.g standard port 80, you can use -p 80:3000 )
If you wish to see the logs you can use
docker logs seek
To stop the container you use
docker stop seek
… and then to start again
docker start seek
Once the container is finshed with, and after it has been stopped you can delete it with:
docker rm seek
Note that in this simple form, deleting the container will also delete the data (see Persistent Storage for how to avoid this)
Image tags
The above example used the image name fairdom/seek:1.15. The number following the : is the tag, and corresponds to the SEEK minor version 1.15 . From SEEK 1.1 onwards tags are available for each stable version of SEEK. Tags are available with or without the patch version - i.e fairdom/seek:1.13.0 and fairdom/seek:1.13. The image without the patch is always up to date with the latest version, whereas the image with the patch version is locked to that specific version and gives some more control over updates.
Our images are automatically built, and you can see the full list on the FAIRDOM Docker Hub
Note that there is also a main tag. This is the latest development build of SEEK. It is useful for testing and trying out new cutting edge features, but is not suitable for a production deployment of SEEK.
Persistent Storage
If running a container for other than basic testing, you will want the stored data to be preserved when updating images. (However, if this is case you should be thinking about using Docker compose).
The recommended way to achieve persistance is to use named data volumes for the database and filestore:
docker run -d -p 3000:3000 -v seek-filestore:/seek/filestore -v seek-db:/seek/sqlite3-db --name seek fairdom/seek:1.15
this will create 2 volumes called seek-filestore and seek-db, which you can see and manage with docker volumes, e.g
docker volume ls
By using volumes the container can be thrown away and recreated (say, for a newer image) without losing your data.
For more detailed information about Volumes please read Manage data in containers
It is possible to do so by mounting a directory on the host machine for the database and filestore. E.g. to use /data/seek-filestore and /data/seek-db:
docker run -d -p 3000:3000 -v /data/seek-filestore:/seek/filestore -v /data/seek-db:/seek/sqlite3-db --name seek fairdom/seek:1.15
Upgrades
Upgrades between SEEK container versions is only possible (and only makes sense) when using Volumes. Also, upgrades are generally only necessary when switching between minor versions of SEEK.
Switching to a newer build of the same version is as simple as:
docker stop seek
docker rm seek
docker pull fairdom/seek:1.15
docker run -d -p 3000:3000 -v seek-filestore:/seek/filestore -v seek-db:/seek/sqlite3-db --name seek fairdom/seek:1.15
However, if moving between versions it is necessary to run some upgrade steps which can be achieved by usiung a temporary container.
If for example you have been running SEEK 1.1 with
docker run -d -p 3000:3000 -v seek-filestore:/seek/filestore -v seek-db:/seek/sqlite3-db --name seek fairdom/seek:1.1
and you now wish to upgrade to 1.2 then do:
docker stop seek
docker rm seek
docker pull fairdom/seek:1.2
docker run --rm -v seek-filestore:/seek/filestore -v seek-db:/seek/sqlite3-db fairdom/seek:1.2 docker/upgrade.sh
docker run -d -p 3000:3000 -v seek-filestore:/seek/filestore -v seek-db:/seek/sqlite3-db --name seek fairdom/seek:1.2
You will now be running an upgraded SEEK 1.2
IMPORTANT: it is critical you only upgrade between successive versions, i.e. 1.1 -> 1.2 -> 1.3 and run the upgrade step at each stage. Jumping say, 1.1 -> 1.3 may introduce errors or missed steps during the upgrade.