scadalink-design/docker

ScadaLink Docker Infrastructure

Local Docker deployment of the full ScadaLink cluster topology: a 2-node central cluster and three 2-node site clusters.

Cluster Topology

              ┌───────────────────┐
              │  Traefik LB :9000 │  ◄── CLI / Browser
              │  Dashboard :8180  │
              └────────┬──────────┘
                       │ routes to active node
┌──────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────┐
│                  Central Cluster                    │
│                                                     │
│  ┌─────────────────┐     ┌─────────────────┐        │
│  │  central-node-a  │◄──►│  central-node-b  │       │
│  │  (leader/oldest) │     │  (standby)       │       │
│  │  Web UI :9001    │     │  Web UI :9002    │       │
│  │  Akka   :9011    │     │  Akka   :9012    │       │
│  └────────┬─────────┘     └─────────────────┘       │
│           │                                         │
└───────────┼─────────────────────────────────────────┘
            │ Akka.NET Remoting (hub-and-spoke)
            ├──────────────────┬──────────────────┐
            ▼                  ▼                  ▼
┌────────────────────┐ ┌────────────────────┐ ┌────────────────────┐
│  Site-A Cluster    │ │  Site-B Cluster    │ │  Site-C Cluster    │
│  (Test Plant A)    │ │  (Test Plant B)    │ │  (Test Plant C)    │
│                    │ │                    │ │                    │
│  node-a ◄──► node-b│ │  node-a ◄──► node-b│ │  node-a ◄──► node-b│
│  Akka :9021 :9022  │ │  Akka :9031 :9032  │ │  Akka :9041 :9042  │
│  gRPC :9023 :9024  │ │  gRPC :9033 :9034  │ │  gRPC :9043 :9044  │
└────────────────────┘ └────────────────────┘ └────────────────────┘

Central Cluster (active/standby)

Runs the web UI (Blazor Server), Template Engine, Deployment Manager, Security, Inbound API, Management Service, and Health Monitoring. Connects to MS SQL for configuration and machine data, LDAP for authentication, and SMTP for notifications.

Site Clusters (active/standby each)

Each site cluster runs Site Runtime, Data Connection Layer, Store-and-Forward, and Site Event Logging. Sites connect to OPC UA for device data and to the central cluster via Akka.NET remoting. Each site node also hosts a gRPC streaming server (port 8083) that central nodes connect to for real-time attribute value and alarm state streams. Deployed configurations and S&F buffers are stored in local SQLite databases per node.

Site Cluster	Site Identifier	Central UI Name
Site-A	site-a	Test Plant A
Site-B	site-b	Test Plant B
Site-C	site-c	Test Plant C

Port Allocation

Application Nodes

Node	Container Name	Host Web Port	Host Akka Port	Host gRPC Port	Internal Ports
Traefik LB	scadalink-traefik	9000	—	—	80 (proxy), 8080 (dashboard)
Central A	scadalink-central-a	9001	9011	—	5000 (web), 8081 (Akka)
Central B	scadalink-central-b	9002	9012	—	5000 (web), 8081 (Akka)
Site-A A	scadalink-site-a-a	—	9021	9023	8082 (Akka), 8083 (gRPC)
Site-A B	scadalink-site-a-b	—	9022	9024	8082 (Akka), 8083 (gRPC)
Site-B A	scadalink-site-b-a	—	9031	9033	8082 (Akka), 8083 (gRPC)
Site-B B	scadalink-site-b-b	—	9032	9034	8082 (Akka), 8083 (gRPC)
Site-C A	scadalink-site-c-a	—	9041	9043	8082 (Akka), 8083 (gRPC)
Site-C B	scadalink-site-c-b	—	9042	9044	8082 (Akka), 8083 (gRPC)

Port block pattern: 90X1/90X2 (Akka), 90X3/90X4 (gRPC) where X = 0 (central), 2 (site-a), 3 (site-b), 4 (site-c). gRPC streaming ports are used by central nodes to subscribe to real-time site data streams.

Infrastructure Services (from infra/docker-compose.yml)

Service	Container Name	Host Port	Purpose
MS SQL 2022	scadalink-mssql	1433	Configuration and machine data databases
LDAP (GLAuth)	scadalink-ldap	3893	Authentication with test users
SMTP (Mailpit)	scadalink-smtp	1025 / 8025	Email capture (SMTP / web UI)
OPC UA	scadalink-opcua	50000 / 8080	Simulated OPC UA server (protocol / web UI)
REST API	scadalink-restapi	5200	External REST API for integration testing

All containers communicate over the shared scadalink-net Docker bridge network using container names as hostnames.

Directory Structure

docker/
├── Dockerfile                          # Multi-stage build (shared by all nodes)
├── docker-compose.yml                  # 8-node application stack
├── build.sh                            # Build Docker image
├── deploy.sh                           # Build + deploy all containers
├── seed-sites.sh                       # Create test sites with Akka + gRPC addresses
├── teardown.sh                         # Stop and remove containers
├── central-node-a/
│   ├── appsettings.Central.json        # Central node A configuration
│   └── logs/                           # Serilog file output (gitignored)
├── central-node-b/
│   ├── appsettings.Central.json
│   └── logs/
├── site-a-node-a/
│   ├── appsettings.Site.json           # Site-A node A configuration
│   ├── data/                           # SQLite databases (gitignored)
│   └── logs/
├── site-a-node-b/
│   ├── appsettings.Site.json
│   ├── data/
│   └── logs/
├── site-b-node-a/
│   ├── appsettings.Site.json           # Site-B node A configuration
│   ├── data/
│   └── logs/
├── site-b-node-b/
│   ├── appsettings.Site.json
│   ├── data/
│   └── logs/
├── site-c-node-a/
│   ├── appsettings.Site.json           # Site-C node A configuration
│   ├── data/
│   └── logs/
└── site-c-node-b/
    ├── appsettings.Site.json
    ├── data/
    └── logs/

Commands

Initial Setup

Start infrastructure services first, then build and deploy the application:

# 1. Start test infrastructure (MS SQL, LDAP, SMTP, OPC UA)
cd infra && docker compose up -d && cd ..

# 2. Build and deploy all 8 ScadaLink nodes
docker/deploy.sh

# 3. Seed test sites (first-time only, after cluster is healthy)
docker/seed-sites.sh

After Code Changes

Rebuild and redeploy. The Docker build cache skips NuGet restore when only source files change:

docker/deploy.sh

Stop Application Nodes

Stops and removes all 8 application containers. Site SQLite databases and log files are preserved in node directories:

docker/teardown.sh

Stop Everything

docker/teardown.sh
cd infra && docker compose down && cd ..

View Logs

# All nodes (follow mode)
docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.yml logs -f

# Single node
docker logs -f scadalink-central-a

# Filter by site cluster
docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.yml logs -f site-a-a site-a-b
docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.yml logs -f site-b-a site-b-b
docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.yml logs -f site-c-a site-c-b

# Persisted log files
ls docker/central-node-a/logs/

Restart a Single Node

docker restart scadalink-central-a

Check Cluster Health

# Central node A health check
curl -s http://localhost:9001/health/ready | python3 -m json.tool

# Central node B health check
curl -s http://localhost:9002/health/ready | python3 -m json.tool

CLI Access

The CLI connects to the Central Host's HTTP management API via the Traefik load balancer at http://localhost:9000, which routes to the active central node:

dotnet run --project src/ScadaLink.CLI -- \
    --url http://localhost:9000 \
    --username multi-role --password password \
    template list

Direct access to individual nodes is also available at http://localhost:9001 (central-a) and http://localhost:9002 (central-b).

Note: The multi-role test user has Admin, Design, and Deployment roles. The admin user only has the Admin role and cannot perform design or deployment operations. See infra/glauth/config.toml for all test users and their group memberships.

A recommended ~/.scadalink/config.json for the Docker test environment:

{
  "managementUrl": "http://localhost:9000"
}

With this config file in place, the URL is automatic:

dotnet run --project src/ScadaLink.CLI -- \
    --username multi-role --password password \
    template list

Clear Site Data

Remove SQLite databases to reset site state (deployed configs, S&F buffers):

# Single site
rm -rf docker/site-a-node-a/data docker/site-a-node-b/data
docker restart scadalink-site-a-a scadalink-site-a-b

# All sites
rm -rf docker/site-*/data
docker restart scadalink-site-a-a scadalink-site-a-b \
    scadalink-site-b-a scadalink-site-b-b \
    scadalink-site-c-a scadalink-site-c-b

Rebuild Image From Scratch (no cache)

docker build --no-cache -t scadalink:latest -f docker/Dockerfile .

Build Cache

The Dockerfile uses a multi-stage build optimized for fast rebuilds:

1. Restore stage: Copies only .csproj files and runs dotnet restore. This layer is cached as long as no project file changes.
2. Build stage: Copies source code and runs dotnet publish --no-restore. Re-runs on any source change but skips restore.
3. Runtime stage: Uses the slim aspnet:10.0 base image with only the published output.

Typical rebuild after a source-only change takes ~5 seconds (restore cached, only build + publish runs).

Test Users

All test passwords are password. See infra/glauth/config.toml for the full list.

Username	Roles	Use Case
admin	Admin	System administration
designer	Design	Template authoring
deployer	Deployment	Instance deployment (all sites)
multi-role	Admin, Design, Deployment	Full access for testing

Failover Testing

Central Failover

# Stop the active central node
docker stop scadalink-central-a

# Verify central-b takes over (check logs for leader election)
docker logs -f scadalink-central-b

# Access UI on standby node
open http://localhost:9002

# Restore the original node
docker start scadalink-central-a

Site Failover

# Stop the active site-a node
docker stop scadalink-site-a-a

# Verify site-a-b takes over singleton (DeploymentManager)
docker logs -f scadalink-site-a-b

# Restore
docker start scadalink-site-a-a

Same pattern applies for site-b (scadalink-site-b-a/scadalink-site-b-b) and site-c (scadalink-site-c-a/scadalink-site-c-b).

Failover takes approximately 25 seconds (2s heartbeat + 10s detection threshold + 15s stable-after for split-brain resolver).