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Docker container

This page guides you through the initial installation of the Zeebe broker and Zeebe Modeler for development purposes.

Using Docker​

The easiest way to develop with Zeebe is using Docker. Using Docker provides you with a consistent environment, and we recommend it for development.

Prerequisites​

  • Operating System:
    • Linux
    • Windows/MacOS (development only, not supported for production)
  • Docker

Docker configurations for docker-compose​

Docker configurations for starting Zeebe using docker-compose are available in the zeebe-docker-compose repository.

This repository contains several pre-defined configuration options:

  • Single node
  • Small cluster with and without gateway
  • Single node with Operate
  • Single node with simple monitor

This allows you to start using complex configurations with a single command. Later you can tailor these configurations to your needs, when you are ready to delve to that level.

Further instructions for using these configurations are in the README.

Using Docker without docker-compose​

You can run Zeebe with Docker:

docker run --name zeebe -p 26500-26502:26500-26502 camunda/zeebe:latest

This will give you a a single broker node.

Exposed ports​

  • 26500: Gateway API
  • 26501: Command API (gateway-to-broker)
  • 26502: Internal API (broker-to-broker)

Volumes​

The default data volume is under /usr/local/zeebe/data. It contains all data which should be persisted.

Configuration​

The Zeebe configuration is located at /usr/local/zeebe/config/application.yaml. The logging configuration is located at /usr/local/zeebe/config/log4j2.xml.

The configuration of the docker image can also be changed by using environment variables. The configuration template files also contains information on the environment variables to use for each configuration setting.

Available environment variables:

  • ZEEBE_LOG_LEVEL - sets the log level of the Zeebe Logger (default: info).
  • ZEEBE_BROKER_NETWORK_HOST - sets the host address to bind to instead of the IP of the container.
  • ZEEBE_BROKER_CLUSTER_INITIALCONTACTPOINTS - sets the contact points of other brokers in a cluster setup.

Mac and Windows users​

Note: On systems which use a VM to run Docker containers like Mac and Windows, the VM needs at least 4GB of memory, otherwise Zeebe might fail to start with an error similar to:

Exception in thread "actor-runner-service-container" java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: Direct buffer memory
        at java.nio.Bits.reserveMemory(Bits.java:694)
        at java.nio.DirectByteBuffer.<init>(DirectByteBuffer.java:123)
        at java.nio.ByteBuffer.allocateDirect(ByteBuffer.java:311)
        at io.zeebe.util.allocation.DirectBufferAllocator.allocate(DirectBufferAllocator.java:28)
        at io.zeebe.util.allocation.BufferAllocators.allocateDirect(BufferAllocators.java:26)
        at io.zeebe.dispatcher.DispatcherBuilder.initAllocatedBuffer(DispatcherBuilder.java:266)
        at io.zeebe.dispatcher.DispatcherBuilder.build(DispatcherBuilder.java:198)
        at io.zeebe.broker.services.DispatcherService.start(DispatcherService.java:61)
        at io.zeebe.servicecontainer.impl.ServiceController$InvokeStartState.doWork(ServiceController.java:269)
        at io.zeebe.servicecontainer.impl.ServiceController.doWork(ServiceController.java:138)
        at io.zeebe.servicecontainer.impl.ServiceContainerImpl.doWork(ServiceContainerImpl.java:110)
        at io.zeebe.util.actor.ActorRunner.tryRunActor(ActorRunner.java:165)
        at io.zeebe.util.actor.ActorRunner.runActor(ActorRunner.java:145)
        at io.zeebe.util.actor.ActorRunner.doWork(ActorRunner.java:114)
        at io.zeebe.util.actor.ActorRunner.run(ActorRunner.java:71)
        at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:748)

If you are using Docker with the default Moby VM, you can adjust the amount of memory available to the VM through the Docker preferences. Right-click on the Docker icon in the System Tray to access preferences.

If you use a Docker setup with docker-machine and your default VM does not have 4GB of memory, you can create a new one with the following command:

docker-machine create --driver virtualbox --virtualbox-memory 4000 zeebe

Verify that the Docker Machine is running correctly:

docker-machine ls
NAME        ACTIVE   DRIVER       STATE     URL                         SWARM   DOCKER        ERRORS
zeebe     *        virtualbox   Running   tcp://192.168.99.100:2376           v17.03.1-ce

Configure your terminal:

eval $(docker-machine env zeebe)

Then run Zeebe:

docker run --rm -p 26500:26500 camunda/zeebe:latest

To get the ip of Zeebe:

docker-machine ip zeebe
192.168.99.100

Verify that you can connect to Zeebe:

telnet 192.168.99.100 26500

Install the Zeebe Modeler​

The Zeebe Modeler is an open-source desktop BPMN modeling application created specifically for Zeebe.

You can download the most recent Zeebe Modeler release here.