DEPowerFolder Client and Docker container utilization

Owned by Daniel Maletz (Unlicensed)
Sept 25, 2018
2 min read


Docker Installation

For the Docker main installation visit the Docker documentation site.

Build PowerFolder Docker Image

Since the PowerFolder client image isn't registered to the Docker HUB, we have to build the Docker image first. The PowerFolder client Docker image will be registered to the Docker HUB when the Q&A process is finished. To build the image follow these steps:

  • Get the Dockerfile for the PowerFolder client and put it to a desired location.
  • Rename the file "Dockerfile_client" to "Dockerfile".
  • In the directory with the file "Dockerfile" type "docker build --tag=powerfolder:client ." to your command line.

Configure PowerFolder Server

To create a preferably realistic test scenario every PowerFolder Client will get it's own Folder. To achieve this the PowerFolder Server needs a special profile. This profile ensures that every PowerFolder client from a specified host will create it's own folder. To create a sever profile follow these steps:

  1. Login to your PowerFolder server.
  2. Go to Profiles.
  3. Click on 'Create Profile' Button.
  4. Fill the following fields, where <HOST IP> is the IP from the host with the docker container running.

    • Profile name: Docker
    • By IP/range: <HOST IP>
    • Folder Name: docker_client_folder
    • Filesystem path: docker_client_folder

This will create one folder per PowerFolder client. However, it is recommended to create at least one folder per client - of course it is also possible to create more than one folder per client over the PowerFolder server profile functionality.

Furthermore the option 'Version of the Terms of Service' is set to zero, so every new test user must not accept the terms of services when connecting. Go to Preferences -> Web and set the value from 'Version of the Terms of Service' to 0.

Create PowerFolder Clients as Docker Containers

After the image has been written and the PowerFolder server profile is set up, the docker clients can be created. PowerFolder provides a bash script for the creating process. The following section describes where to download this script and how to use it.

Get the script 'create_pf_clients.sh'. The script can be used with the following parameters:

  • -h: Indicates the usage of the script.
  • -c: Starts a specific number of PowerFolder clients. Usage: -c <NUMBER OF CLIENTS>
  • -d: Deletes a specific number of PowerFolder Clients. Usage -d <NUMBER OF CLIENTS>
  • -s: Defines a PowerFolder server for the PowerFolder clients. Usage -s <SERVER URL>
  • -u: Username to login to the server. This user has to be a admin user! Usage -u <USERNAME>
  • -p: Password for the given user. Usage -p <PASSWORD>

If you want to create several PowerFolder clients, you have to use the -c parameter together with the parameters -s, -u and -p to provide a server with active login data.

If you just want to delete the running docker containers, use -d parameter isolated. If you want to delete the PowerFolder server users as well, use -d and -s, -u, -p together.