Container

Pathfinder Core PRO 2.0 is also available as a container image that runs under Docker on a Linux host. Once it is running, it works like a virtual machine installation, with the differences listed at the end of this page.

Approved Container Hosts

The container is supported on Linux hosts prepared with the Telos Alliance Container Setup Tool (TACST), which installs Docker and Docker Compose and sets the host up to the Telos Alliance container standard.

This document does not cover the setup of the container host (see the TACST install guide), and it is the responsibility of the customer to set up and be knowledgeable of the host in use.

Minimum Host Requirements

The container host should have the following minimum settings applied:

2 GB RAM memory
4 GB hard drive storage
2 processor allocation
A network interface on the Livewire network, and one on the office network if the office network is separate
Internet access for the Key9 license server

Important Note: Larger amounts of RAM, faster processors, more processors for better parallelization, and additional hard disk space can be used for large systems to improve performance and capacity or to make more space available for logging.

Installation

Copy the Pathfinder Core PRO image file (pfcp-<version>.tar.gz) supplied with the purchase to the host, and connect to the host with SSH.
Load the image into Docker:

docker load < pfcp-<version>.tar.gz

Create a folder for Pathfinder Core PRO and change to it:

sudo mkdir -p /opt/telos/pfcp
cd /opt/telos/pfcp

Create docker-compose.yml in that folder with the compose file supplied with the image, and a .env file with the settings for this host (see Network Configuration below).
Start the container:

sudo docker compose up -d

The container starts automatically after a failure or a reboot of the host. Its configuration, backups, licenses and logs are kept in Docker volumes, so they survive updates of the container.

Network Configuration

A container has no console menu for its IP addresses: it uses the host's network. The standard compose file uses host networking, which Livewire needs, so the container answers on the host's own addresses. Set the host's addresses, gateway and DNS servers on the host, then describe the host to the container in the .env file:

Setting	Description
`TAG`	The image version to run, for example `2.0` or `latest`.
`REPOSITORY`	The registry the image is pulled from.
`INSTANCE_NAME`	The container's name and hostname, and the node name shown on the license server.
`TZ`	The time zone, for example `America/New_York`. The default is UTC.
`LW_IFACE`, `OFFICE_IFACE`	The host interfaces for the Livewire and office networks. Needed when the host has more than one network interface.
`CLUSTER_ADVERTISE_IP`	Bridge networking only: the host address other cluster nodes use to reach this one. Leave it empty with host networking.
`TLS_CERT_FILE`, `TLS_KEY_FILE`, `TLS_SAN`	A web server certificate and key supplied by the host, and extra names for the self-signed certificate.

After changing .env, run sudo docker compose up -d again to apply it.

A bridge-network compose file is also supplied. With it, only the published ports are reachable, and Livewire devices cannot be discovered. Its PORT_HTTP, PORT_HTTPS, PORT_SAPV2, PORT_LWRP and PORT_METERING settings choose the host ports when the standard ones are already in use.

First Time Licensing Access and Setup

The container runs only with a Key9 license key, which it activates with the Telos license server.

Access the web interface by typing in the host's IP address in a web browser; an authentication window will appear; type the following values: Username = Admin Password = Admin
Select Sign in to load the Pathfinder Core PRO control panel

Click System > Licenses in the navigation bar
Select [ Add New License Key ] in the list, type or paste the Key9 license key you received with your purchase into License Key, and click Add License

The system contacts the license server; when activation succeeds, the key appears in the list and the license points, features and support agreement (SLA) are shown above it
License changes may require a restart before newly licensed services become fully functional; restart from System > Configuration if asked

If the license does not activate, check that the host's DNS servers and gateway are set and that it can reach the internet. See the Licenses section of the System article for license server settings and health warnings.

Differences From an Appliance or VM

The host manages the network settings, the time and the hostname, so the Network card on the System Status page, the Time page and the hostname Edit button are not shown.
There is no Bank Control or Upload Update: to update, load or pull the new image and run sudo docker compose up -d again.
The System Status page shows the container's own uptime, CPU and memory use.
When a backup is restored, the container restarts itself to apply it.
The web server certificate comes from TLS_CERT_FILE/TLS_KEY_FILE when they are set, otherwise from the certificate stored in the system, otherwise a self-signed certificate that renews itself.

Once the licensing is complete and the networked devices are on line, you may move to the Discovery section.

Discovery