How to Install Exalate for Zendesk on Docker

This article shows how to install the Exalate app for Zendesk on the server using Docker.

Steps to Install Exalate for Zendesk on Docker

1. Create or download the docker-compose.yml

In the example below docker-compose.yml file can be used to install Exalate for Zendesk.

1. Create a directory that would hold the docker-compose file:

   cd ~
   mkdir exalate-zendesknode

2. Move into the newly created directory and create a docker-compose.yml file using your favorite editor:

   cd exalate-zendesknode
   vim docker-compose.yml

   The file should contain the following information:

   version: '2' services: database: restart: unless-stopped image: postgres:9.6 volumes: - ./persist/db:/var/lib/postgresql/data - ./createdb.sh:/docker-entrypoint-initdb.d/init-user-db.sh environment: - POSTGRES_PASSWORD=changeme - DB_NAME=zendesknode - DB_USER=idalko - DB_PASS=idalko networks: - dbnet zendesknode: restart: unless-stopped ports: - 9302:9002 # # Change the image tag to the required version # Check Release History on docs.exalate.com for an overview # image: idalko/zendesknode:5.4.8 depends_on: - database #wait for postgres to be started, not for ready volumes: - ./persist/home:/opt/zendesknode/data environment: # Add your enviroment settings here - ZENDESKNODE_PG_HOST=database - ZENDESKNODE_PG_DB=zendesknode - ZENDESKNODE_PG_USER=idalko - ZENDESKNODE_PG_PWD=idalko - ZENDESKNODE_PORT=9302 #As part of the security improvements, Exalate 5.5.0 validates the origin header #that the browser is sending upon every request to Exalate. #In order to validate the origin header, Exalate needs to know what is the URL #leading to it. #When deploying Exalate to Docker one needs to put an environment variable NODE_SELF_URL. #Example: # When you deploy Exalate onto a server, you configure a DNS rule such that #whenever people navigate to foo.com, they reach your server's Exalate. #You set up SSL so that https://foo.com leads to your Exalate on your server. #Now you need to set environment variable - NODE_SELF_URL=https://foo.com #for your Exalate docker container. networks: - dbnet - default networks: dbnet: driver: bridge default: driver: bridge

   Please note the following:
   • Line 6: Choose the correct version of PostgreSQL
   • Line 21: Add the correct ports. 
   • Line 27: Choose the latest stable release from here.
   • Line 38: Use the correct port here. 
   • Optionally, you can set up a reverse proxy such as nginx in order to terminate SSL connections.

2. Ensure that a correct database is set up using a createdb.sh

Create createdb.sh (referenced from docker-compose.yml):

#!/bin/bash
  
TEST=`psql -U postgres <<-EOSQL
   SELECT 1 FROM pg_database WHERE datname='$DB_NAME';
EOSQL`
  
echo "******CREATING DOCKER DATABASE******"
if [[ $TEST == "1" ]]; then
    # database exists
    # $? is 0
    exit 0
else
psql -U postgres <<-EOSQL
   CREATE ROLE $DB_USER WITH LOGIN ENCRYPTED PASSWORD '${DB_PASS}' SUPERUSER;
EOSQL
  
psql -U postgres <<-EOSQL
   CREATE DATABASE $DB_NAME WITH OWNER $DB_USER ENCODING 'UNICODE' LC_COLLATE 'C' LC_CTYPE 'C' TEMPLATE template0;
EOSQL
  
psql -U postgres <<-EOSQL
   GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON DATABASE $DB_NAME TO $DB_USER;
EOSQL
fi
  
echo ""
echo "******DOCKER DATABASE CREATED******"

3. Set environment variables if necessary

Below you can find the environment variables used for the app container. All of them are optional, and in the given example, we've overridden ZENDESKNODE_PG_DB, ZENDESKNODE_PG_USER, and ZENDESKNODE_PG_PWD just to show how to pass different credentials to the Exalate application.

    ports:
      - 9000:9000

    ports:
      - 8080:8080

4. Start the application

$ docker-compose up -d

You can verify the status by using: 

• $ docker-compose

• $ docker-compose logs

5. Verify the installation

After performing the aforementioned steps and checking that the container is up, you should be able to access the Exalate console via http://localhost:9302

Please continue to set up your Zendesk node by following the guide. 

Register the Node in the Mapper

The node needs to be registered in the Exalate mapper.  The Exalate mapper is a kind of DNS service that maps instances to nodes.
Please raise a ticket on the support portal providing the following:

• URL of the Zendesk instance.
• URL of the Exalate node which has been deployed on-premise.

How to Manage the Application on Docker

Run Queries to the Application's Database

cd ~/exalate-zendesknode
docker exec -it exalate-zendesknode_database_1 bash
su postgres
psql -A $DB_NAME

You can find all tables using Psql's \dt+ command: 

All the Postgres SQL queries are permitted.

To exit the application's DB:

\q
# \q exits the psql 
exit
# exits the postgres user session
exit
# exits the exalate-zendesknode_database_1 bash session

Inspect the application's filesystem

cd ~/exalate-zendesknode
docker exec -it exalate-zendesknode_zendesknode_1 bash

Remove the application

cd ~/exalate-zendesknode
docker-compose rm

Remove the application data

cd ~/exalate-zendesknode
# docker volume ls | grep exalate-zendesknode_vol |  awk '{ print $2 }' | xargs docker volume rm
docker volume rm exalate-zendesknode_voldatabase
docker volume rm exalate-zendesknode_volzendesknode

Issues during the installation of the Exalate server for Zendesk

If you have issues during the installation of the Exalate app for Zendesk, you can find logs describing possible problems inside /tmp.

The name for the file is generated randomly and automatically by the OS, but you can find the file by the creation date.

Issues while running the Exalate server for Zendesk

Logs will be generated under the directory: /opt/zendesknode/data/logs.

Refer to these logs to get more information about possible issues and communicate with our support if you need any assistance.

Support

Check our Support options.