# Run BigchainDB with Docker

**NOT for Production Use**

For those who like using Docker and wish to experiment with BigchainDB in
non-production environments, we currently maintain a Docker image and a
`Dockerfile` that can be used to build an image for `bigchaindb`.

## Pull and Run the Image from Docker Hub

Assuming you have Docker installed, you would proceed as follows.

In a terminal shell, pull the latest version of the BigchainDB Docker image using:
```text
docker pull bigchaindb/bigchaindb
```

then do a one-time configuration step to create the config file; we will use
the `-y` option to accept all the default values. The configuration file will
be stored in a file on your host machine at `~/bigchaindb_docker/.bigchaindb`:

```text
docker run --rm -v "$HOME/bigchaindb_docker:/data" -ti \
  bigchaindb/bigchaindb -y configure
Generating keypair
Configuration written to /data/.bigchaindb
Ready to go!
```

Let's analyze that command:

* `docker run` tells Docker to run some image
* `--rm` remove the container once we are done
* `-v "$HOME/bigchaindb_docker:/data"` map the host directory
 `$HOME/bigchaindb_docker` to the container directory `/data`;
 this allows us to have the data persisted on the host machine,
 you can read more in the [official Docker
 documentation](https://docs.docker.com/engine/tutorials/dockervolumes/#/mount-a-host-directory-as-a-data-volume)
* `-t` allocate a pseudo-TTY
* `-i` keep STDIN open even if not attached
* `bigchaindb/bigchaindb` the image to use
* `-y configure` execute the `configure` sub-command (of the `bigchaindb` command) inside the container, with the `-y` option to automatically use all the default config values


After configuring the system, you can run BigchainDB with the following command:

```text
docker run -v "$HOME/bigchaindb_docker:/data" -d \
  --name bigchaindb \
  -p "58080:8080" -p "59984:9984" \
  bigchaindb/bigchaindb start
```

The command is slightly different from the previous one, the differences are:

* `-d` run the container in the background
* `--name bigchaindb` give a nice name to the container so it's easier to
 refer to it later
* `-p "58080:8080"` map the host port `58080` to the container port `8080`
 (the RethinkDB admin interface)
* `-p "59984:9984"` map the host port `59984` to the container port `9984`
 (the BigchainDB API server)
* `start` start the BigchainDB service

Another way to publish the ports exposed by the container is to use the `-P` (or
`--publish-all`) option. This will publish all exposed ports to random ports. You can
always run `docker ps` to check the random mapping.

You can also access the RethinkDB dashboard at
[http://localhost:58080/](http://localhost:58080/)

If that doesn't work, then replace `localhost` with the IP or hostname of the
machine running the Docker engine. If you are running docker-machine (e.g. on
Mac OS X) this will be the IP of the Docker machine (`docker-machine ip
machine_name`).

### Load Testing with Docker

Now that we have BigchainDB running in the Docker container named `bigchaindb`, we can
start another BigchainDB container to generate a load test for it.

First, make sure the container named `bigchaindb` is still running. You can check that using:
```text
docker ps
```

You should see a container named `bigchaindb` in the list.

You can load test the BigchainDB running in that container by running the `bigchaindb load` command in a second container:

```text
docker run --rm -v "$HOME/bigchaindb_docker:/data" \
  -e BIGCHAINDB_DATABASE_HOST=bigchaindb \
  --link bigchaindb \
  bigchaindb/bigchaindb load
```

Note the `--link` option to link to the first container (named `bigchaindb`).

Aside: The `bigchaindb load` command has several options (e.g. `-m`). You can read more about it in [the documentation about the BigchainDB command line interface](../server-reference/bigchaindb-cli.html).

If you look at the RethinkDB dashboard (in your web browser), you should see the effects of the load test. You can also see some effects in the Docker logs using:
```text
docker logs -f bigchaindb
```

## Building Your Own Image

Assuming you have Docker installed, you would proceed as follows.

In a terminal shell:
```text
git clone git@github.com:bigchaindb/bigchaindb.git
```

Build the Docker image:
```text
docker build --tag local-bigchaindb .
```

Now you can use your own image to run BigchainDB containers.