Table of contents
Why should I use Docker containers with IMAS in a first place
If you find it hard to have your local IMAS installation, it might be you find yourself in one of these situations:
- you have a computing cluster but you don't have root permissions to install new software,
- you need just bare bones IMAS installation, with basic components, but you don't have a computing machine and manpower to install it,
- you don't have to time to perform regular upgrades of your IMAS installation,
- you want to utilise Cloud resources.
Indeed, having a local IMAS installation may be a challenge. However, there is a solution. In case you need your private IMAS release, with slightly limited functionality, a Docker based IMAS release if the way for you to go.
We have successfully used this approach across various projects and were able to deliver solutions from embedding single physical code to complex, micro-services based, server solutions. We were able to provide UDA server and UDA client based on IMAS inside Docker, we have released SimDB installations based on IMAS inside Docker, finally, we provide CI/CD based tests at https://gitlab.eufus.psnc.pl that are based on IMAS inside Docker. And all of that thanks to Docker images with IMAS inside.
You can benefit from this solution, and it is extremely simple. All you have to do is to create your Dockerfile such way it is based on ours
Create your own Docker image based on IMAS
> cat ~/mycontainer/Dockerfile FROM gitlab.eufus.psnc.pl:5050/containerization/imas/imas-installer/al-iwrap:DD-4.0.0_AL-5.4.1_IWRAP-0.10.0-UDA-2.8.1-UDA-PLUGIN-1.5.0 ... ...
That's it. You have a Docker image with IMAS inside. Feel free to add anything you like on top of it.
Login required
Please note that accessing gitlab.eufus.psnc.pl registry requires login:
docker login gitlab.eufus.psnc.pl:5050
You will need EUROfusion Software Stack login (Getting access to JIRA/Confluence/Gitlab/Mattermost). You will also need access token (password replacement). You can learn how to create and use access tokens here: Generating access tokens.
What options are available when it comes to Docker images with IMAS
You have a number of choices when it comes to deciding what you want to use. Everything depends on your particular use case.
# Just base components - foundation for other images base image - gitlab.eufus.psnc.pl:5050/containerization/imas/imas-installer/base # Everything in base + al core components AL core image - gitlab.eufus.psnc.pl:5050/containerization/imas/imas-installer/al-core # Everything in AL core + components required for a specific language developments AL Java image - gitlab.eufus.psnc.pl:5050/containerization/imas/imas-installer/al-java AL Python image - gitlab.eufus.psnc.pl:5050/containerization/imas/imas-installer/al-python AL CPP image - gitlab.eufus.psnc.pl:5050/containerization/imas/imas-installer/al-cpp AL Fortran image - gitlab.eufus.psnc.pl:5050/containerization/imas/imas-installer/al-fortran # Everything in AL core image + all AL interfaces AL image - gitlab.eufus.psnc.pl:5050/containerization/imas/imas-installer/al # Everything in AL image + FC2K application FC2K image - gitlab.eufus.psnc.pl:5050/containerization/imas/imas-installer/al-fc2k # Everything in AL image + iWrap application iWrap image - gitlab.eufus.psnc.pl:5050/containerization/imas/imas-installer/al-iwrap # Everything in AL image + SimDB server SimDB image - gitlab.eufus.psnc.pl:5050/containerization/imas/imas-installer/al-simdb
Successful projects based on Docker images with IMAS
Running IMAS based codes on your laptop
You can run IMAS based codes using Docker images with IMAS. All you have to do is to get the image and run the container (some changes inside container might be needed, it contains only bare IMAS installation).
Source code: https://gitlab.eufus.psnc.pl/containerization/imas/imas-installer
HOWTO: https://gitlab.eufus.psnc.pl/containerization/imas/uda-demo/-/blob/master/README.md
Simulation Catalogue - Data Management Plan project
Simulation Catalogue components responsible for data ingestion are based on Docker with IMAS. This way it is possible to easily deploy micro-services based solution within cloud based environment.
Source code: https://gitlab.eufus.psnc.pl/dmp
HOWTO: https://gitlab.eufus.psnc.pl/dmp/installer/-/blob/develop/README.md
UDA (Universal Data Access) server and client
UDA (Universal Data Access) is a client-server infrastructure designed to enable the reading and passing of heterogeneous data format back to a client in a universal data format (source: https://ukaea.github.io/UDA/). With Docker based approach, installation procedure was heavily simplified and allows to install UDA wherever you want it installed. We have prepared a simple Hello world! demo with both UDA Server and UDA Client - you can run it on your laptop.
git clone git@gitlab.eufus.psnc.pl:containerization/imas/uda-demo.git cd uda-demo docker logout https://gitlab.eufus.psnc.pl:5050 docker login https://gitlab.eufus.psnc.pl:5050
With UDA Server and UDA Client images you can establish connection between virtually any machines and transfer data directly from UDA Server inside your IMAS compatible code
Source code: https://gitlab.eufus.psnc.pl/containerization/imas/uda-demo
HOWTO: https://gitlab.eufus.psnc.pl/containerization/imas/uda-demo/-/blob/master/README.md
JINTRAC codes inside IMAS based Docker images
We were able to prepare Docker based environment for JINTRAC project. Initially, it was implemented using IMAS AL4, and we have demonstrated that the very same approach can be used to run codes inside IMAS AL5 environment.
Hello world with IMAS based Docker
For one of our tutorials (live-demo) we have prepared extremely simple use case: "Hello world" with IMAS based Docker.
This example illustrates how one can:
- create data using IMAS based Docker container
- modify data using IMAS based Docker container
- read data using IMAS based Docker container
Examples are provided using Python and are really simple. Just a basics.
Source code: https://gitlab.eufus.psnc.pl/g2awisz/testing_repository/-/tree/Docker/multi-container-usage
SimDB inside Docker
We have successfully embedded and deployed SimDB server based completely on Docker. By embedding SimDB inside Docker container we are free to use virtually any hardware environment for deployment. All we need is a Docker compatible setup on target machine.
Source code: https://gitlab.eufus.psnc.pl/imas/simdb/-/tree/master
HOWTO: https://gitlab.eufus.psnc.pl/imas/simdb/-/blob/master/README.md
How can I get some help with making my code containers ready
The best way to get support is to reach out to ACH-04 through E-TASC activities. If you have reserved time in your project for adapting code to IMAS, feel free to reach out to us and we can discuss your case and suggest the best approach for your code. We occasionally provide tutorial sessions related to running code inside the Docker - make sure to attend these whenever they are available.