Run the NGINX Agent in a container

Overview

This guide serves as a step-by-step guide to run NGINX Agent in a container. It covers the basic setup needed to get the NGINX Agent up and running efficiently and securely.

Before you begin

Before you begin this guide ensure:

Note:
This guide uses Docker but NGINX Agent also works with other container applications.

• Docker: Ensure Docker is installed and configured on your system. Download Docker from the official site.
• Credentials: Acquire any necessary authentication tokens or credentials required for the NGINX Agent.

Prepare the environment

To run NGINX Agent in a container you will need to download the NGINX Agent container image and create a configuration file.

Pull the NGINX Agent container image

The NGINX Agent container image must be downloaded from a trusted source such as Docker Hub or a private container registry.

Run the following command to pull the official image:

<!-- Registry HERE -->
docker pull <Registry HERE>:latest

<!-- Registry HERE -->
docker pull <Registry HERE>:latest

Ensure you are using the correct image version. Replace latest with the desired version tag if necessary.

Create a configuration file

Create a configuration file named nginx-agent.conf in your current directory and populate the file with the following structure:

command:
  server:
    host: "<NGINX-One-Console-URL>" # Command server host
    port: 443                       # Command server port
  auth:
    token: "<your-data-plane-key-here>" # Authentication token for the command server
  tls:
    skip_verify: false

command:
  server:
    host: "<NGINX-One-Console-URL>" # Command server host
    port: 443                       # Command server port
  auth:
    token: "<your-data-plane-key-here>" # Authentication token for the command server
  tls:
    skip_verify: false

Replace the placeholder values:

• <NGINX-One-Console-URL>: The URL of your NGINX One Console instance.
• <your-data-plane-key-here>: Your Data Plane access token.

Run the container

Run the NGINX Agent container with the configuration file mounted.

Use the following command:

docker run -d \
  --name nginx-agent \
  -v $(pwd)/nginx-agent.conf:/etc/nginx-agent/nginx-agent.conf \
  nginx/agent:latest

docker run -d \
  --name nginx-agent \
  -v $(pwd)/nginx-agent.conf:/etc/nginx-agent/nginx-agent.conf \
  nginx/agent:latest

Key options explained:

• -d: Runs the container in detached mode.
• --name nginx-agent: Assigns a name to the container for easy identification.
• -v $(pwd)/nginx-agent.conf:/etc/nginx-agent/nginx-agent.conf: Mounts the configuration file into the container.

Verify the container is running

Check the running status of the container:

docker ps

docker ps

You should see an entry for nginx-agent. The STATUS field indicates that the container is running.

Monitor logs

To ensure the container is functioning properly and communicating with NGINX One Console, monitor the container logs.

Run the following command:

docker logs -f nginx-agent

docker logs -f nginx-agent

Look for log entries indicating successful connection to the NGINX One Console and periodic metric transmission.