Production packaging

Before starting, ensure you have Docker installed on your system.

What you need to do

To build the production binaries, you need to:

Build a specific docker image containing Bonita UI Builder with your application(s). It will serve your application UI.
Use this new image, along with the Bonita runtime image, to interact with your processes.

Build a docker image containing your UI applications

Add this Dockerfile at the root of your project:

ARG VERSION=1.1.0
ARG BASE=bonitasoft.jfrog.io/docker/bonita-ui-builder
FROM ${BASE}:${VERSION}

# Argument for the folder location on the host where exported JSON applications are stored
ARG WORKSPACE=./workspace/

# Make sure that the dev mode is disabled
ENV BONITA_DEV_MODE=false

# Copy JSON applications inside an internal folder to be imported at startup
COPY ${WORKSPACE} /opt/appsmith/workspace/applications/

EXPOSE 80
EXPOSE 443
ENTRYPOINT [ "/opt/appsmith/entrypoint.sh" ]
HEALTHCHECK --interval=15s --timeout=15s --start-period=45s CMD "/opt/appsmith/healthcheck.sh"
CMD ["/usr/bin/supervisord", "-n"]

Unless specific needs, you do not need to edit variables in this dockerfile.

Save the Dockerfile next to the workspace folder which contains all your exported JSON applications:

..
Dockerfile
workspace/
  myApp.json
  myOtherApps.json

You can change the default workspace folder and use any folder, but in this case, edit the dockerfile’s WORKSPACE build argument with the new folder path.

Default build command

With this command, the image will be built with the default values defined in the Dockerfile.

If you use this command, be sure to have the workspace folder next to the Dockerfile.

docker build -t <my-uib-image-name>:<version> .

Advanced build

You can override some default values by using the following build arguments:

Args	Description	Default value
BASE	The base image to use	bonitasoft.jfrog.io/docker/bonita-ui-builder
VERSION	The version of image to use	1.1.0
WORKSPACE	The folder containing the apps descriptor	./workspace/

Args

Description

Default value

BASE

The base image to use

bonitasoft.jfrog.io/docker/bonita-ui-builder

VERSION

The version of image to use

1.1.0

WORKSPACE

The folder containing the apps descriptor

./workspace/

docker build --build-arg "BASE=bonitasoft.jfrog.io/docker/bonita-ui-builder" \
             --build-arg "VERSION=1.1.0" \
             --build-arg "WORKSPACE=./workspace/" \
             -t <my-uib-image-name>:<version> .

Run the production binaries

To run the production binaries, you need to:

start a container with the Bonita Application image
start a container with Bonita UI Builder containing you application UI
start a container with a reverse proxy to link the two previous containers

To do that, you can use the following docker-compose.yml file as a starting point:

# Used for running a bonita env for production
services:
  bonita-ui-builder:
    image: <my-uib-image-name>:<version>
    container_name: bonita-ui-builder
    environment:
      BONITA_DEV_MODE: false
      BONITA_API_URL: http://host.docker.internal:8080/bonita/API
      APPSMITH_ENCRYPTION_PASSWORD: <encryption-password>
      APPSMITH_ENCRYPTION_SALT: <encryption-salt>
    ports:
      - "8090:80"
    extra_hosts:
      - "host.docker.internal:host-gateway"
    depends_on:
      bonita-app:
        condition: service_healthy

  # A reverse proxy used to communicate between Bonita UI Builder and a Bonita Runtime
  bonita-ui-proxy:
    image: bonitasoft.jfrog.io/docker/bonita-ui-proxy:latest
    ports:
      - "443:443"
      - "80:80"
    extra_hosts:
      - "host.docker.internal:host-gateway"

  bonita-app:
    # Replace below with your image name and version, as built following
    # https://documentation.bonitasoft.com/bonita/latest/build-run/build-application#_docker_image_packaging
    image: my-bonita-application:1.0.0
    volumes:
      - <YOUR_LICENSE_FOLDER>:/opt/bonita_lic
    environment:
      - <ANY_STANDARD_BONITA_ENV_VARIABLE_HERE>
    ports:
      - "8080:8080"
    extra_hosts:
      - "host.docker.internal:host-gateway"

Your applications will then be accessible at http://localhost or http://YOUR_PUBLIC_IP_ADDRESS.

Configure and manage Bonita healthcheck settings in a production environment

The Bonita healthcheck is a mechanism used to monitor the health and availability of Bonita services in production environments. It periodically checks the status of these services to ensure they are functioning properly, helping to identify issues early and maintain system stability.

Changing the default credentials for the healthcheck is crucial for security. The default values for BONITA_HEALTHCHECK_USER and BONITA_HEALTHCHECK_PASSWORD are publicly known, and failing to update them can expose your healthcheck endpoint to unauthorized access and potential manipulation. Configuring Bonita’s healthcheck in a production environment involves several key steps to ensure both security and functionality.

To manage this, begin by assigning custom values to the credentials through environment variables:

BONITA_HEALTHCHECK_USER: Defines a custom username. Example: export BONITA_HEALTHCHECK_USER=my_custom_user
BONITA_HEALTHCHECK_PASSWORD: Defines a custom password. Example: export BONITA_HEALTHCHECK_PASSWORD=my_secure_password

Healthcheck configurations are not handled via the UI Builder but are instead managed through environment variables on the server where Bonita is deployed. To fine-tune the healthcheck behavior, adjust the following parameters:

BONITA_HEALTHCHECK_RETRY_DELAY: Sets the delay (in milliseconds) between retry attempts, with a default of 5000. Example: export BONITA_HEALTHCHECK_RETRY_DELAY=3000 for a 3-second delay.
BONITA_HEALTHCHECK_MAX_ATTEMPTS: Specifies the maximum number of retry attempts, defaulting to 20. Example: export BONITA_HEALTHCHECK_MAX_ATTEMPTS=10 reduces the number of attempts.

These variables should be configured in the server environment where Bonita is deployed. After configuration, verify the healthcheck via a browser to ensure the service is responsive and requires custom credentials. If issues arise, check the environment variables, service status, and logs, and adjust the retry delay and maximum attempts as needed.

By following these steps, you can effectively configure Bonita’s healthcheck to maintain both security and optimal performance in your production environment.

Customize your bonita-ui-builder image

You can override and configure all environment variables.

Please note that currently, only a single container instance is supported, which means multiple instances of UI builder for redundancy are not allowed.