Demo

Easy as 1, 2, 3...


Two-Node Client/Server

This demo consists of a two-node deployment with the first node configured as a REX-Ray/libStorage server and the second node as merely a client. Both nodes have Docker installed and configured to leverage REX-Ray for persistent storage.

The below example does have a few requirements:

Start REX-Ray Vagrant Environment

Before bringing the Vagrant environment online, please ensure it is accomplished in a clean directory

$ cd $(mktemp -d)

Inside the newly created, temporary directory, download the REX-Ray Vagrantfile:

$ curl -fsSLO https://raw.githubusercontent.com/rexray/rexray/master/Vagrantfile

Now it is time to bring the REX-Ray environment online:

note

The next step could potentially open up the system on which the command is executed to security vulnerabilities. The Vagrantfile brings the VirtualBox web service online if it is not already running. However, in the name of simplicity the Vagrantfile also disables the web server's authentication module. Please do not disable authentication for the VirtualBox web server if this example is being executed on an open network or without some type of firewall in place.

$ vagrant up

The above command should result in output similar to this Gist.

Once the command has been completed successfully there will be two VMs online named node0 and node1. Both nodes are running Docker and REX-Ray with node0 configured to act as a libStorage server.

Now that the environment is online it is time to showcase Docker leveraging REX- Ray to create persistent storage as well as illustrating REX-Ray's distributed deployment capabilities.

Node 0

First, SSH into node0

$ vagrant ssh node0

From node0 use Docker with REX-Ray to create a new volume named hellopersistence:

vagrant@node0:~$ docker volume create --driver rexray --opt size=1 \
                 --name hellopersistence

After the volume is created, mount it to the host and container using the --volume-driver and -v flag in the docker run command:

vagrant@node0:~$ docker run -tid --volume-driver=rexray \
                 -v hellopersistence:/mystore \
                 --name temp01 busybox

Create a new file named myfile on the file system backed by the persistent volume using docker exec:

vagrant@node0:~$ docker exec temp01 touch /mystore/myfile

Verify the file was successfully created by listing the contents of the persistent volume:

vagrant@node0:~$ docker exec temp01 ls /mystore

Remove the container that was used to write the data to the persistent volume:

vagrant@node0:~$ docker rm -f temp01

Finally, exit the SSH session to node0:

vagrant@node0:~$ exit

Node 1

It's time to connect to node1 and use the volume hellopersistence that was created in the previous section from node0.

note

While node1 runs both the Docker and REX-Ray services like node0, the REX-Ray service on node1 in no way understands or is configured for the VirtualBox storage driver. All interactions with the VirtualBox web service occurs via node0's libStorage server with which node1 communicates.

Use the vagrant command to SSH into node1:

$ vagrant ssh node1

Next, create a new container that mounts the existing volume, hellopersistence:

vagrant@node1:~$ docker run -tid --volume-driver=rexray \
                 -v hellopersistence:/mystore \
                 --name temp01 busybox

The next command validates the file myfile created from node0 in the previous section has persisted inside the volume across machines:

vagrant@node1:~$ docker exec temp01 ls /mystore

Finally, exit the SSH session to node1:

vagrant@node1:~$ exit

Cleaning Up

Be sure to kill the VirtualBox web server with a quick killall vboxwebsrv and to tear down the Vagrant environment with vagrant destroy. Omitting these commands will leave the web service and REX-Ray Vagrant nodes online and consume additional system resources.

Congratulations

REX-Ray has been used to provide persistence for stateless containers! Examples using MongoDB, Postgres, and more with persistent storage can be found at Application Examples or within the {code} Labs repo.