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Quick Start with Docker

We provide a Docker Compose environment that lets you quickly bring up and test the full Contextal Platform package. The images have been prepared for and tested on x64 and arm64 architectures.

This setup can also optionally start an instance of Contextal Console.

Please note that this setup is intended for local use (testing, experimentation, etc.) and is not recommended for production. For production environments, we recommend deploying the software to a Kubernetes cluster using the Helm Chart.

Setup Steps​

  1. Clone the following repository and enter its directory: 
    git clone https://github.com/contextal/compose.git && cd compose
  2. To start both the platform and the console, use: 
    docker compose --profile console up -d
    To start the platform only, run: 
    docker compose up -d

Access the Platform​

You can interact with the platform through:

Exposed Services​

  • Platform API: available at localhost:8080
  • Console (if enabled): available at http://localhost:8000
  • Grafana: monitoring and alerting (with several pre-generated dashboards). Access at http://localhost:8888; log in initially as admin/admin.

Customization​

The compose file is easily customizable through environment variables. For example, all default passwords can be modified.

However, we do not recommend altering the default Data Processors configuration unless you are familiar with the platform’s inner details.

Object Data Retention​

While work results and actions are retained indefinitely, the object data is regularly evicted to prevent clutter and keep disk usage under control. The OBJECTS_MAX_AGE_MINS environment variable sets the life time (in minutes) of the data; the default is 1 day (1440 minutes).

The value can be modified as needed but we recommend a minimum of 120 minutes (2 hours) to avoid interfering with the platform activities.

See also Data Retention.