Docker container without databse and redis

[stephanr]

Describe the feature or potential improvement

Hi everyone,

It is great that there is a container pre-build, which can be used to get up and running easily; however, this comes with some side effects.
So my question would be, would it be possible to provide an addition container build (tag) which does not contain the database and Redis?
I would prefer to use a separated database and redis instance to have more control, so for example, an existing database could be used or updated without touching the sourcebot image.
Another benefit would be that the image could be more compact.

Additional information

No response

[brendan-kellam]

Heya - you can provide a separate db & redis instance via DATABASE_URL and REDIS_URL environment variables, checkout this doc. The database & redis are still packaged in the container but won't be use.

Let me know if that works for your use case.

[stephanr]

Hi,

that partially solves it, at least to the point that the embedded PostgreSQL won't start if an external database is configured.

When I tested with a separated postgres and valkey (redis fork with open license) the redis still gets started in the container, so I am not sure if the external container was used or not.

After thinking about this, I would still prefer a lightweight container without an embedded database and key-value store.
In my opinion, the microservice design has its benefits here, like the docker project describes it in their documentation.
Following this design principle, this would require to run the zoekt, frontend, backend, database and redis each into their own container which might be a little too much here.

So if it were feasible to build a variant without the external dependencies (database + redis) I would appreciate that to not have to think about embedded dependencies and their licenses and so on.

By the way, are you aware that most people do not consider redis to be open source anymore after their recent license changes (see https://www.google.com/search?q=is+redis+open+source ).

[brendan-kellam]

Totally - I think what you are suggesting w.r.t, running each service in it's own container (including Redis & db) is something we are thinking about for enabling horizontal scaling. We aren't there yet, and still need to collect feedback from users that are hitting limits where horizontal scaling would be needed - but it's on our roadmap.