Installing using Docker and Docker Compose

With the dockerized OTOBO deployment you can get your personal OTOBO instance up and running within minutes. All of OTOBO´s dependencies are already included in the collection of Docker images.

  • MariaDB is set up as the default database.
  • Elasticsearch is set up for the OTOBO power search.
  • Redis is enabled for fast caching.
  • Gazelle is used as fast Perl webserver.
  • nginx is used as optional reverse proxy for HTTPS support.

We think that this will become the perfect environment for an OTOBO installation.

Requirements

The minimal versions of required software, that have been tested, are listed here:

  • Docker 19.03.13
  • Docker Compose 1.25.0
  • Git 2.17.1

Note

To get the required minimal versions on Ubuntu 18.04 follow the instructions in https://www.digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/how-to-install-docker-compose-on-ubuntu-18-04 and https://www.digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/how-to-install-and-use-docker-on-ubuntu-18-04.

git, Docker, and Docker Compose can be installed with the standard system tools. Here is an example for installation on Ubuntu 20.04:

root> apt-get install git docker docker-compose
root> systemctl enable docker

Please check the Git and the Docker documentation for instructions on further setup.

Installation

The following instructions assume that all requirements are met, that you have a working Docker environment. We assume here that the user docker_admin is used for interacting with Docker. The Docker admin may be either the root user of the Docker host or a dedicated user with the required permissions.

1. Clone the otobo-docker repo

The Docker images will eventually be fetched from the image repository https://hub.docker.com. But there are some setup and command files that need to be cloned from the otobo-docker Github repository. Make sure that you specify the branch that corresponds to the current version of OTOBO. For example, when OTOBO 10.0.6 is the current version then please use the branch rel-10_0_6.

Note

This manual had been published before OTOBO 10.0.4 was released. This means that the git label rel-10.0.4 might not exist yet.

Note

The location of the cloned repository does not matter. For these instructions we chose /opt/otobo-docker as the working dir.

docker_admin> cd /opt
docker_admin> git clone https://github.com/RotherOSS/otobo-docker.git --branch <BRANCH> --single-branch
docker_admin> ls otobo-docker    # just a sanity check, README.md should exist

2. Create an initial .env file

The Docker Compose configuration file .env allows you to manage your installation of OTOBO. This file must first be created and then be adapted by yourself. In order to simplify the task there are two example files that should be used as starting point. If the OTOBO web application is planned to be accessed via HTTPS, then please use .docker_compose_env_https. Access via HTTPS is the recommended mode of operation. If HTTPS is not required then use .docker_compose_env_http as the starting point.

Note

Use ls -a for listing the hidden template files.

Per default OTOBO is served on the standard ports. Port 443 for HTTPS and port 80 for HTTP. When HTTPS is activated then the OTOBO web application actually still runs with HTTP. HTTPS support is achieved by an additional reverse proxy, which is implemented as a nginx service.

For the following commands we assume that HTTPS should be supported.

docker_admin> cd /opt/otobo-docker
docker_admin> cp -p .docker_compose_env_https .env # or .docker_compose_env_http for HTTP

3. Configure the password for the database admin user

Change the following setting inside your .env file:

OTOBO_DB_ROOT_PASSWORD=<your_secret_password>

The password for the database admin user may be chosen freely. The database admin user is needed to create the database user otobo and the database schema otobo. OTOBO will actually use the dedicated database user otobo.

4. Set up a volume with SSL configuration for the nginx webproxy (optional)

This step can be skipped when OTOBO should be available only via HTTP.

nginx needs for SSL encryption a certificate and a private key.

Note

For testing and development a self-signed certificate can be used. However for productive use you should work with regular registered certificates.

See e.g. https://www.digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/how-to-create-a-self-signed-ssl-certificate-for-nginx-in-ubuntu-18-04 on how to create self-signed certificates.

Note

To specify a CA chain with a certificate in nginx, it is necessary to copy the CA chain file with the actual certificate into a file.

The certificate and the private key are stored in a volume, so that they can be used by nginx later on. In any case the volume needs to be generated manually, and we need to copy the certificate and key to the volume:

docker_admin> docker volume create otobo_nginx_ssl
docker_admin> otobo_nginx_ssl_mp=$(docker volume inspect --format '{{ .Mountpoint }}' otobo_nginx_ssl)
docker_admin> echo $otobo_nginx_ssl_mp  # just a sanity check
docker_admin> cp /PathToYourSSLCert/ssl-cert.crt /PathToYourSSLCert/ssl-key.key $otobo_nginx_ssl_mp

The names of the copied files need to be set in our newly created .env file. E.g.

OTOBO_NGINX_SSL_CERTIFICATE=/etc/nginx/ssl/ssl-cert.crt OTOBO_NGINX_SSL_CERTIFICATE_KEY=/etc/nginx/ssl/ssl-key.key

Please adapt only the name of the files as the path /etc/nginx/ssl/ is hard coded in the Docker image.

5. Start the Docker containers with Docker Compose

Now we start the Docker containers using docker-compose. Per default the Docker images will be fetched from https://hub.docker.com/u/rotheross.

docker_admin> docker-compose up --detach

To verify that the six required services (five in the case of HTTP only) are actually running, type:

docker_admin> docker-compose ps
docker_admin> docker volume ls

6. Install and start OTOBO

Run the OTOBO installer at http://yourIPorFQDN/otobo/installer.pl.

Note

Please configure OTOBO inside the installer with a new MySQL database. As MySQL database root password please use the password you configured in the variable OTOBO_DB_ROOT_PASSWORD of your .env file. Please leave the value db for the MySQL hostname untouched.

Have fun with OTOBO!

Note

To change to the OTOBO directory, inside the running container, to work on command line as usual, you can use the following Docker command: docker exec -it otobo_web_1 bash.

Additional technical information

This section gives some more technical insight into what is happing under the hood.

List of Docker containers

Container otobo_web_1
OTOBO webserver on internal port 5000.
Container otobo_daemon_1
OTOBO daemon. The OTOBO daemon is started and periodically checked.
Container otobo_db_1
Run the database MariaDB on internal port 3306.
Container otobo_elastic_1
Elasticsearch on the internal ports 9200 and 9300.
Container otobo_redis_1
Run Redis as caching service.
Optional container otobo_nginx_1
Run nginx as reverse proxy for providing HTTPS support.

Overview over the Docker volumes

The Docker volumes are created on the host for persistent data. These allow starting and stopping the services without losing data. Keep in mind that containers are temporary and only data in the volumes is permanent.

otobo_opt_otobo
contains /opt/otobo in the container web and daemon.
otobo_mariadb_data
contains /var/lib/mysql in the container db.
otobo_elasticsearch_data
contains /usr/share/elasticsearch/datal in the container elastic.
otobo_redis_data
contains data for the container redis.
otobo_nginx_ssl
contains the TLS files, certificate and private key, must be initialized manually.

Docker environment variables

In the instructions we did only minimal configuration. But the file .env allows to set more variables. Here is a list of all supported environment variables:

MariaDB settings

OTOBO_DB_ROOT_PASSWORD
The root password for MySQL. Must be set for running otobo db.

Elasticsearch settings

Elasticsearch needs some settings for productive environments. Please read https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/reference/7.8/docker.html#docker-prod-prerequisites for detailed information.

OTOBO_Elasticsearch_ES_JAVA_OPTS
Example setting: OTOBO_Elasticsearch_ES_JAVA_OPTS=-Xms512m -Xmx512m Please adjust this value for production env to a value up to 4g.

Webserver settings

OTOBO_WEB_HTTP_PORT
Set in case the HTTP port should deviate from the standard port 80. When HTTPS is enabled, the HTTP port will redirect to HTTPS.

nginx webproxy settings

These setting are used when HTTPS is enabled.

OTOBO_WEB_HTTP_PORT
Set in case the HTTP port should deviate from the standard port 80. Will redirect to HTTPS.
OTOBO_WEB_HTTPS_PORT
Set in case the HTTPS port should deviate from the standard port 443.
OTOBO_NGINX_SSL_CERTIFICATE
SSL cert for the nginx webproxy. Example: OTOBO_NGINX_SSL_CERTIFICATE=/etc/nginx/ssl/acme.crt
OTOBO_NGINX_SSL_CERTIFICATE_KEY
SSL key for the nginx webproxy. Example: OTOBO_NGINX_SSL_CERTIFICATE_KEY=/etc/nginx/ssl/acme.key

Docker Compose settings

These settings are used by Docker Compose directly.

COMPOSE_PROJECT_NAME
The project name is used as a prefix for the generated volumes and containers. Must be set because the compose file is located in scripts/docker-compose and thus docker-compose would be used per default as the project name.
COMPOSE_PATH_SEPARATOR
Separator for the value of COMPOSE_FILE
COMPOSE_FILE
Use docker-compose/otobo-base.yml as the base and add the wanted extension files. E.g docker-compose/otobo-override-http.yml or docker-compose/otobo-override-https.yml.
OTOBO_IMAGE_OTOBO, OTOBO_IMAGE_OTOBO_ELASTICSEARCH, OTOBO_IMAGE_OTOBO_NGINX
Used for specifying alternative Docker images. Useful for testing local builds.

Advanced topics

Custom configuration of the nginx webproxy

The default Docker-based OTOBO installation provides the container otobo_nginx_1. This container provides HTTPS support for the HTTP-based OTOBO web application. The default config template for nginx can be found within the Docker image, specifically in the file /etc/nginx/template/otobo_nginx.conf.template. When the container is started, the actually used configuration file is generated from the template. This is done by replacing each macro in the template with the corresponding environment variable. In the default template file, only the following macros are used: * ${OTOBO_NGINX_SSL_CERTIFICATE} * ${OTOBO_NGINX_SSL_CERTIFICATE_KEY} * `${OTOBO_NGINX_WEB_HOST} * ${OTOBO_NGINX_WEB_PORT}

There are various possibilities for customizing the nginx configuration. One way is to use a locally built image that is derived from the image otobo-nginx-webproxy. In such a local image, nginx can be configured in a very flexible way.

Warning

The following approach is only supported in OTOBO 10.0.4 or later.

Another supported approach is to only override the default config template with a customized version. In this case, we have to create a volume that contains the adapted nginx config template, first.

docker_admin> cd /opt/otobo-docker
docker_admin> docker-compose down
docker_admin> docker volume create otobo_nginx_custom_config
docker_admin> otobo_nginx_custom_config_mp=$(docker volume inspect --format '{{ .Mountpoint }}' otobo_nginx_custom_config)
docker_admin> echo $otobo_nginx_custom_config_mp  # just a sanity check
docker_admin> docker create --name tmp-nginx-container rotheross/otobo-nginx-webproxy:latest  # use the appropriate label
docker_admin> docker cp tmp-nginx-container:/etc/nginx/templates/otobo_nginx.conf.template $otobo_nginx_custom_config_mp # might need 'sudo'
docker_admin> ls -l $otobo_nginx_custom_config_mp/otobo_nginx.conf.template # just checking, might need 'sudo'
docker_admin> docker rm tmp-nginx-container
docker_admin> # adapt the file $otobo_nginx_custom_config_mp/otobo_nginx.conf.template to your needs
docker_admin> docker-compose up --detach

Warning

Your adapted nginx configuration usually contains the directive listen, which declares the ports of the webserver. The internally used ports have changed between OTOBO 10.0.3 and OTOBO 10.0.4. This change must be reflected in the adapted nginx configuration. So for version 10.0.3 or earlier listen to the ports 80 and 443. For OTOBO 10.0.4 listen to the ports 8080 and 8443.

After setting up the volume, the adapted configuration must be activated. In order to achieve this, uncomment or add the following lines in your .env file:

NGINX_ENVSUBST_TEMPLATE_DIR=/etc/nginx/config/template-custom
COMPOSE_FILE=docker-compose/otobo-base.yml:docker-compose/otobo-override-https.yml:docker-compose/otobo-nginx-custom-config.yml

The changed Docker Compose configuration can be inspected with:

docker_admin> docker-compose config | more

Finally, the containers can be started again:

docker_admin> docker-compose up --detach

See also the section “Using environment variables in nginx configuration (new in 1.19)” in https://hub.docker.com/_/nginx.

Choosing non-standard ports

Per default the ports 443 and 80 serve HTTPS and HTTP respectively. There can be cases where one or both of these ports are already used by other services. In these cases the default ports can be overridden by specifying OTOBO_WEB_HTTP_PORT and OTOBO_WEB_HTTPS_PORT in the .env file.

Building local images

Note

Building Docker images locally is usually only needed during development.

The files needed for creating Docker images locally are part of the the git repository https://github.com/RotherOSS/otobo:

  • otobo.web.dockerfile
  • otobo.nginx.dockerfile
  • otobo.elasticsearch.dockerfile
  • bin/docker/build_docker_images.sh
docker_admin> cd /opt
docker_admin> git clone https://github.com/RotherOSS/otobo.git
docker_admin> cd otobo
docker_admin> bin/docker/build_docker_images.sh
docker_admin> docker image ls

The locally built images are tagged as local-<OTOBO_VERSION> using the version set up the file RELEASE. After building the local images, one can specify the images to be used by setting OTOBO_IMAGE_OTOBO, OTOBO_IMAGE_OTOBO_ELASTICSEARCH, OTOBO_IMAGE_OTOBO_NGINX in .env.

Automatic Installation

Instead of going through http://yourIPorFQDN/otobo/installer.pl, one can take a short cut. This is mostly useful for running the test suite on a fresh installation.

Warning

docker-compose down -v will remove all previous setup and data.

docker_admin> docker-compose down -v
docker_admin> docker-compose up --detach
docker_admin> docker stop otobo_daemon_1
docker_admin> docker exec -t --user otobo otobo_web_1 bash\
-c "rm -f Kernel/Config/Files/ZZZAAuto.pm ; bin/docker/quick_setup.pl --db-password otobo_root"
docker_admin> docker exec -t --user otobo otobo_web_1 bash\
-c "bin/docker/run_test_suite.sh"
.......
docker_admin> docker start otobo_daemon_1

List of useful commands

Docker

  • docker system prune -a system clean-up (removes all unused images, containers, volumes, networks)
  • docker version show version
  • docker build --tag otobo --file=otobo.web.Dockerfile . build an image
  • docker run --publish 80:5000 otobo run the new image
  • docker run -it -v opt_otobo:/opt/otobo otobo bash log into the new image
  • docker run -it -v opt_otobo:/opt/otobo --entrypoint bash otobo try that in case entrypoint.sh is broken
  • docker ps show running images
  • docker images show available images
  • docker volume ls list volumes
  • docker volume inspect otobo_opt_otobo inspect a volume
  • docker volume inspect --format '{{ .Mountpoint }}' otobo_nginx_ssl get volume mountpoint
  • docker volume rm tmp_volume remove a volume
  • docker inspect <container> inspect a container
  • docker save --output otobo.tar otobo:latest && tar -tvf otobo.tar list files in an image
  • docker exec -it nginx-server nginx -s reload reload nginx

Docker Compose

  • docker-compose config check and show the configuration
  • docker-compose ps show the running containers