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Running a topology

Before running a topology you first need to specify what to instantiate!

Prepare​

To run the topology you first generate the runtime environment:

$ remotive-topology generate -f mytopology.instance.yaml build
Generated topology at: build/mytoplogy

This generates docker compose file, all RemotiveBroker configuration and copies all databases to the RemotiveBroker folders. Understanding these generated files is typically not necessary.

⚠️ You shouldn't edit the generated files as they're completely overwritten every time you run generate.

Run​

Running tests​

A common use case for RemotiveTopology is to run automated test cases, typically as part of continuous integration (CI). To enable interactive mode it's recommended that tests are configured using a profile. When running tests it's useful to shut down the topology after the tests have completed using the flag --abort-on-container-exit:

docker compose -f build/mytopology/docker-compose.yaml --profile tester up --abort-on-container-exit

Once you are done, it's recommended to clean up the docker resources:

docker compose -f build/mytopology/docker-compose.yaml --profile tester down

Interactive mode​

Another use case is to start the topology and keep it running. This is useful when performing manual tests or when developing test cases.

docker compose -f build/mytopology/docker-compose.yaml up

Once the topology is started you can run your tests in your normal editor of choice. This works by connecting RemotiveTopology framework to the RemotiveBroker running inside the topology using port forwarding, i.e. connect to http://localhost:50051.

It might also be useful to enable RemotiveTopology user interface.

As always, once you are done clean up the docker resources:

docker compose -f build/mytopology/docker-compose.yaml down

Good to know​

Regenerate​

⚠️ Every time you change platform or instance files the topology must be re-generated!

Changes to python code typically doesn't require re-generate.

Docker build​

After modifying a Dockerfile you need to force docker to build, for example in interactive mode:

docker compose -f build/mytopology/docker-compose.yaml up --build

This page has more tips around docker.