DockerΒΆ

Click on the Disabled switch to activate the docker service.

This feature allows to run custom containers on the Connect Switchboard and does not currently offer any additional configuration option besides activating the docker service.

A container allows to run microservices on a device, in parallel to the functionalities provided by the Connect Switchboard. Sample scenarios in which the docker functionality may prove useful include:

  • Deploying Node-Red applications. A company that developed a data processing logic software with the help of Node-Red, can deploy it easily on all devices in its production facilities.

  • Developing a custom Python application for a particular device and having it running on other similar devices, that are located at customer sites all around the world.

Once the docker functionality has been activated on the Connect Switchboard, starting a new container only requires to access the CLI and run a command. For example, Endian set up an image to run an OPC-UA server on an Connect Switchboard; to create a container and run it requires only to issue the following command:

docker run --name opcua-server -ti -p 4840:4840 -d endiansrl/opcua-demo

After the command has successfully been executed, it suffices to
connect from any OPC-UA client to the following address to browse
the sample data contained in the image.

opc.tcp://GREENIP:4840

Replace GREENIP with the actual IP of the GREEN zone.

See also

Additional resources about docker can be found online:

Docker official documentation, including architecture and overview of the whole engine.

Docker curriculum, an extensive and detailed tutorial.

An interesting and open framework for IoT edge computing is the Linux EdgeX Foundry, which is also a repository of resources and solutions for IoT deployment.