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README.md

Copyright (C) 2020, Axis Communications AB, Lund, Sweden. All Rights Reserved.

An example of how to use containers in a native ACAP application

Warning

Container solutions are deprecated from AXIS OS 12.0.

  • armv7hf is no longer supported after AXIS OS 11.11.
  • aarch64 will be supported until the end of the AXIS OS 12 LTS cycle. After this period, container solutions will no longer receive updates or support.

Overview

Purpose

The purpose of this example is to demonstrate a way of using containers in a native ACAP application.

The advantage of using a native ACAP application for this, as opposed to a Computer Vision ACAP application, is that the application can be administered via the VAPIX API and the web GUI in AXIS OS. It also has the advantage that the container images can be included in the .eap application file so that the entire application is contained in this single, installable file, without any dependency on external image repositories.

However, the actual container images that are used in this type of application may well have been built using the ACAP Computer Vision SDK, but this is not a requirement.

How it works

This example works by taking advantage of the option to include post-install and pre-uninstall scripts in a native ACAP application. In the post-install script we load the container image(s) to the local image store on the device, and in the pre-uninstall script we remove them from the store. The actual application executable is a shell script that runs docker compose up when starting and docker compose down before exiting. This requires that a Docker compose file has been written, describing how to run the container(s).

In order for this to work, we need to have docker compose functionality included in the device, which means another ACAP application must first be installed: the Docker Compose ACAP.

In this way we are able to construct a native ACAP application that consists of one or several containers running on an Axis device.

The application

This minimal example consist of an Alpine Linux container that executes a script where the nc (netcat) program displays a text on a simple web page on port 80. Port 80 in the container is then mapped to port 8080 on the device.

Prerequisites

  • An Axis device with container support, see more info in Axis devices and compatibility.
  • AXIS OS 11.10 or later.
  • The Docker Compose ACAP version 3.0 or later, installed and running on the device.
    • In the settings of the application:
      • IPCSocket must be set to yes.
      • TCPSocket can be set to no since this example does not connect to the Docker Daemon from outside of the device.
        • However, if you do want to run with TCP Socket, TLS should be used (UseTLS set to yes). In that case, follow the instructions in the Docker Compose ACAP for how to generate and upload TLS certificates to the device.
      • For the other settings refer to the documentation in that repository.

Getting started

These instructions will guide you on how to execute the code. Below is the structure and scripts used in the example:

container-example
├── containerExample
├── docker-compose.yml
├── Dockerfile
├── LICENSE
├── Makefile
├── manifest.json
├── postinstall.sh
├── preuninstall.sh
└── README.md
  • containerExample - Application source code in shell script.
  • docker-compose.yml - Docker compose file to start a container on the device.
  • Dockerfile - Docker file with the specified Axis toolchain and API container to build the example specified.
  • LICENSE - Text file which lists all open source licensed source code distributed with the application.
  • Makefile - Makefile containing the build and link instructions for building the ACAP application.
  • manifest.json - Defines the application and its configuration. This includes additional parameters.
  • postinstall.sh - Post-install script, running at end of an application installation.
  • preuninstall.sh - Pre-uninstall script, running before an application uninstallion.
  • README.md - Step by step instructions on how to run the example.

How to run the code

Below is the step by step instructions on how to execute the program. So basically starting with the generation of the .eap file to running it on a device.

Build the application

Standing in your working directory run the following commands:

Note

Depending on the network your local build machine is connected to, you may need to add proxy settings for Docker. See Proxy in build time.

Pull the Alpine linux container image and save it to a .tar file.

docker pull --platform="linux/arm64/v8" alpine:3.19.1
docker save -o alpine.tar alpine:3.19.1

Build the application:

docker build --tag <APP_IMAGE> .

<APP_IMAGE> is the name to tag the image with, e.g., container-example:1.0.

Copy the result from the container image to a local directory build:

docker cp $(docker create <APP_IMAGE>):/opt/app ./build

The build directory contains the build artifacts, where the ACAP application is found with suffix .eap. This file should be found:

  • Container_Example_1_0_0_aarch64.eap.

Install your application

Browse to the application page of the Axis device:

http://<AXIS_DEVICE_IP>/index.html#apps
  • Click on the tab Apps in the device GUI
  • Enable Allow unsigned apps toggle
  • Click (+ Add app) button to upload the application file
  • Browse to the newly built ACAP application:
    • Container_Example_1_0_0_aarch64.eap
  • Click Install
  • Run the application by enabling the Start switch

The expected output

Browse to http://<AXIS_DEVICE_IP>:8080, the page should display the text Hello from an ACAP!.

License

Apache License 2.0