Docker Support
What is Docker?
Docker is an open platform for developing, shipping, and running applications. Docker enables you to separate your applications from your infrastructure in order to deliver software quickly. With Docker, you can manage your infrastructure in the same ways you manage your applications. By taking advantage of Docker’s methodologies for shipping, testing, and deploying code quickly, you can significantly reduce the delay between writing code and running it in production. Retrieved from docs.docker.com
More in-depth information on Docker can be found on the official Docker Website.
WinCC OA and Docker
Starting with V3.18 of WinCC OA, the use of WinCC OA within a Docker container, even for productive usage, is now supported.
This chapter provides an introduction on how to use WinCC OA within a Docker container, what specifics must be considered as well as where to find more extensive information on the topic.
The WinCC OA-Video feature cannot be used with Docker, due to the fact that the necessary vimacc components cannot be installed within a container.
Defining a Build Image
For using WinCC OA in Docker it is necessary to create a specific build image.
Predefined Build Image
WinCC OA provides a pre-configured Dockerfile that can be used to create a build image.
The Dockerfile
is located inside the Debian installation package of
WinCC OA . (WinCC OA
3.19 P15 - Debian 11 (Bullseye) -
x86_64.zip
). The installation can be found at winccoa.com.
This file can be used directly and adapted to the specific project requirements.
Within the pre-configured file, the shell script
docker-entrypoint.sh
is referenced and is used to properly
shut-down the WinCC OA PMON as well as the CodeMeter service when
stopping the WinCC OA Docker container.
Custom Build Image
To adjust to your specific project requirements, it is recommended to familiarize yourself with Docker. The full documentation for creating a custom build image and Docker in general can be found within the official Docker documentation.
Creating a Build Image
To create the configured Docker build image within your Docker environment, you must
call the docker build
command, e.g.:
docker build -t winccoa31X .
Within the example it is assumed, that the call is performed from within the folder
where your Dockerfile
is located, therefore the provided PATH is
stated as .
. The optional parameter -t winccoa31X
is used to add the tag "winccoa31X" to the Docker build.
Additional examples and information on how to run your configured image are directly
described within the Dockerfile
provided with WinCC OA.
Running the Docker container
To start a container, using the created docker build image, the docker
run
command is used.
You must make sure, that the WinCC OA project is mounted into the correct directory.
By default, the path home/winccoa/oaproj/
is used. To state a
different path the optional -v
argument of the docker
run
command is used.
To map all necessary ports for your project to the Docker container the optional
-p
argument of the docker run
command is
used.
An example for running a container is seen here:
docker run -d --rm --name winccoa -v /home/myuser/myproj:/home/winccoa/oaproj/ -p 4999:4999 -p 5678:5678 -p 8079:8079 winccoa31X
WinCC OA Licensing for Docker
For licensing WinCC OA within a docker container, a stand-alone CodeMeter license server is required.
The CodeMeter license server can either be running on a separate server or as service on the host machine which provides the Docker environment.
A CodeMeter license server requires the installation and corresponding server configuration of the CodeMeter runtime. The runtime is provided as part of the WinCC OA setup or can be downloaded, for Linux only, from winccoa.com or directly from the vendor website wibu.com.
wibu.com also provides extensive descriptions for the configuration of a CodeMeter license server.
Adding a License Server
- On the central license server web interface under License Access Permission , specify the IP range for clients to be allowed to use licenses. within the area
- In the docker instance, add the central license server by using the following
command:
cmu --add-server <server-IP>
- To check if the server is in the server search list, run the following command:
cmu --show-serversearchlist
- To pass the license server address to a docker container instead of adding it
manually, there are two options:
- Create and run a docker container with a dedicated license server:
docker run -d --rm --name winccoa -v /home/myuser/myproj:/home/winccoa/oaproj/ -p 4999:4999 -p 5678:5678 -p 8079:8079 -e LICENSESERVER=10.0.0.2 winccoa
- Start a docker container with the environment variable:
VN = LICENSESERVER [, separated if multiple license servers are used]
- Create and run a docker container with a dedicated license server:
Notes and Restrictions
Please consider following notes and restrictions when using WinCC OA within a Docker container.
- The usage of WinCC OA within a Docker container is only supported on Linux.
- A Docker container is not intended to save the configuration, values or history that is created during the runtime. A backup routine must be created and configured to use storage outside of the container. Stopping a container will reset it back to the initial state of the build image!
- Additional information on how to securely run WinCC OA with Docker are available within the WinCC OA Security Guidelines .
- The WinCC OA User Interface cannot be run within a Docker Container!
- You must consider the WinCC OA Operating Conditions , especially when using WinCC OA within a virtualized environment like Docker.
Docker - Network
The description below provides you with the necessary steps to create a virtual network between two (or more) Docker container(s) that can be used as a base for a redundant or distributed project scenario.
The tutorial assumes, that you already configured the container
myFirstContainer
for your WinCC OA project,
containing your first redundancy partner.
When using WinCC OA as a virtualized docker container it might be beneficial to create a redundant configuration of your project environment. This guide will provide you with the necessary steps to create a redundant environment for using WinCC OA in Docker.
-
Create a new network
myNetwork
that is used for the communication between the WinCC OA projects.$ docker network create --driver=bridge --subnet=172.28.0.0/16 --ip-range=172.28.5.0/24 --gateway=172.28.5.254 myNetwork
-
Create a new container
mySecondContainer
that uses the networkmyNetwork
.$ docker run --name myNewContainer --hostname <HOSTNAME_IHRES_PROJEKTS> --network myNetwork -u <Benutzername>:<Benutzername> -it -e DISPLAY=$DISPLAY -v /tmp/.X11-unix:/tmp/.X11-unix -v /etc/hosts:/etc/hosts -v /etc/localtime:/etc/localtime:ro <Dockerimage-Name>
The Docker image file used in the call above must be created using the Dockerfile provided by WinCC OA. A description on how to create your image file can be found in the chapter Docker Support. -
Add the existing container to the network
myNetwork
.$ docker network connect myNetwork myFirstContainer
Both, the containermyFirstContainer
as well as the containermySecondContainer
, are now part of the same networkmyNetwork
and can establish a connection via the Docker network interface.
To verify if the connection has been successfully established the following docker commands can be used:
- Ping your Docker container
-
To execute a ping command from one Docker container to the other the
exec
command can be used:docker exec -it <Docker image name> ping <IP address of your second container>
- Get IP address
-
To get the IP address of your Docker container the following
inspect
command can be used:docker inspect