How to Install Exalate for Azure DevOps on Docker

You can host Exalate for Azure DevOps on your own server. To do so, you need to install Exalate on Docker.

Steps to Install Exalate for Azure DevOps on Docker

1. Create directory and create docker-compose.yml file

Create a directory to hold the docker-compose file:

cd ~
mkdir exalate-azurenode

Create a docker-compose.yml file

The docker-compose.yml file should contain the following information in it:

services:
  database:
    restart: unless-stopped
    image: postgres:15.12
    volumes:
      - ./persist/db:/var/lib/postgresql/data
      - ./createdb.sh:/docker-entrypoint-initdb.d/init-user-db.sh
    environment:
      # adapt the default passwords
      - DB_NAME=azurenode
      - DB_USER=exalate
      - DB_PASS=exalate
      - POSTGRES_PASSWORD=exalate
    networks:
      - database
  azurenode:
    restart: unless-stopped
 
    # use the latest version https://hub.docker.com/r/idalko/azurenode
    image: idalko/azurenode:5.23.0
    depends_on:
      - database #wait for postgres to be started, not for ready
    volumes:
      - ./persist/home:/opt/azurenode/data
    environment:
      # Add your environment settings here, check documentation for details
      - AZURENODE_PG_HOST=database
      - AZURENODE_PG_DB=azurenode?gssEncMode=disable
      - AZURENODE_PG_USER=exalate
      - AZURENODE_PG_PWD=exalate
      - AZURENODE_PORT=9002


           #As part of the security improvements, Exalate 5.6.0 and above 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 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. once this is      done you need to set an environment variable NODE_SELF_URL=https://foo.com 
     #for your Exalate docker container.
     
      - NODE_SELF_URL=https://foo.com
     
     # You can use following variables to link the node with nginx proxy
     # Replace exa-ado.exalate.biz with the appropriate FQDN
     # - LETSENCRYPT_HOST=exa-ado.exalate.biz
     # - VIRTUAL_HOST=exa-ado.exalate.biz
     # - VIRTUAL_PORT=9002
     # To hanlde SSL termination we suggest following this article https://docs.exalate.com/docs/scripts-how-to-bring-up-a-reverse-proxy-using-the-jwildernginx-proxy
      
     # CACHE_EXPIRY_DURATION_HOURS variable defines how long the cache will remain in the app.
     # The default value of 8 hours can be changed by specifying the number of hours.
     # - CACHE_EXPIRY_DURATION_HOURS=20


    networks:
      - dbnet
      - default


networks:
  dbnet:
    driver: bridge
  default:
    driver: bridge

Note: the - AZURENODE_PG_DB= and - DB_NAME= must match in order to start the db correctly.

Connecting to Postgres 10 or Higher

For unencrypted connections from Exalate to a Postgres version 10 or higher, you need to disable gssEncMode with the following setting:

# exalate is the name of the database on the postgres instance
#
AZURENODE_PG_DB=exalate?gssEncMode=disable

2. Ensure that a correct database is setup using a createdb.sh

Create or download a createdb.sh file (referenced from docker-compose.yml):

The file must be executable (you can use the command: chmod +x createdb.sh to make the file executable)and should contain the following information:

#!/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******"

Ensure that the volumes are included in your backup strategy:

• persist

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 AZURENODE_PG_DB, AZURENODE_PG_USER, and AZURENODE_PG_PWD just to show how to pass different credentials to the Exalate application.

    ports:
      - 9000:9000

    ports:
      - 8080:8080

Using a Proxy for Outgoing Connections

Whenever the Exalate node needs to use a proxy to establish outgoing connections, use the following parameters in the environment (naming should be obvious):

• PROXY_HTTP_HOST
• PROXY_HTTP_PORT
• PROXY_HTTPS_HOST
• PROXY_HTTPS_PORT

4. Start the Application

cd ~/exalate-azurenode
docker-compose up -d

5. Register the Node

To be able to fully use the functionality of your new node, it needs to be registered on the mapper.  This mapper acts as a DNS server, mapping tracker URLs to node URLs.
This is required to be able to install the ADO extension on the organization's site.  Whenever deploying the extension, the extension requests the mapper where the node serving the ADO organization is located.  

Please raise a ticket on the support portal providing the following:

• URL of the ADO organization
• URL of the Exalate node which has been deployed on-premise

About the Exalate Node URL

The exalate node needs to be reachable by:

• The Azure DevOps instance.
  • Exalate configures webhooks on the ADO project, which is used to notify Exalate whenever a web item is modified
  • Exalate needs to be reachable for the OAuth protocol to set up a trust relationship between the ADO instance and the Exalate node
• The ADO users
  • The sync panel and the Exalate console are web properties that need to be reachable by the users.

How to Manage the Application on Docker

Run Queries to the Application's Database

You can find all tables using PSQLs \dt+ command:

\dt+

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 exalateazurenode_database_1 bash session

Inspect the Application's Filesystem

cd ~/exalate-azurenode
docker exec -it exalateazurenode_azurenode_1 bash

Remove the Application

cd ~/exalate-azurenode
docker-compose rm

Remove the Application Data

cd ~/exalate-azurenode
# docker volume ls | grep exalateazurenode_vol |  awk '{ print $2 }' | xargs docker volume rm
docker volume rm exalateazurenode_voldatabase
docker volume rm exalateazurenode_volazurenode

System Administration Tasks

When Exalate for Azure DevOps is running on your environment, you are also required to do the mandatory system administration tasks

• Backup (& restore tests)
• Disaster recovery procedure
• Upgrades whenever needed

Upgrading Exalate on Docker

If you need to upgrade Exalate on Docker, here are the steps to follow:

1. Edit the YAML File:

   Open the docker-compose.yml file in a text editor and modify the image tag for the service you wish to upgrade.

   # use the latest version https://hub.docker.com/r/idalko/azurenode
   image: idalko/azurenode:latest
   depends_on:
   - database #wait for postgres to be started, not for ready
   

   Replace latest with the latest or desired version tag.

2. Pull the Latest Image:

   From the directory containing your docker-compose.yml file, pull the latest image.

   docker-compose pull
   

3. Recreate the Container:

   Using Docker Compose, you can easily recreate the container with the new image.

   docker-compose up -d
   

   The -d flag runs the containers in detached mode. Docker Compose automatically stops the old container and starts a new one based on the updated image.

4. Post-Upgrade Checks:

   After starting the upgraded container, check to make sure everything is running as expected:

• Log into the Exalate interface and verify that all your configurations, connections are intact.
• Test out a few synchronizations to make sure they work as expected.
• Check for any errors in the Docker logs or the Exalate logs.

Troubleshooting

Issues during the installation of the Exalate for Azure DevOps

If you have issues during the installation of the Exalate app for Azure DevOps, 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 Azure DevOps

Logs are generated under the directory: /opt/azurenode/data/logs (in the docker container)

Refer to these logs to get more information about possible problems, and contact our support team if you need any assistance.

Support

Please read our Support options.