Question

Running assyst without Windows Server

  • 27 September 2022
  • 2 replies
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Hello.

 

We’re migrating our assyst environment to a kubernetes cluster by creating docker images for services such as assyst Portal and report, search and chat services.

 

So far, those services have succesfully been “dockerized”. However, we have Axios Smart Mail, Job Processor and Action Processor running on a Windows Server, mostly using Legacy REST API.

 

Given the difficulties in migrating Winodows Systems to Docker, our Ops team asked us if it would be possible to replace this Windows Server with a Linux one.

 

I guess that it’s possible to do so and would like to know if anyone had any experience in doing that. I guess that would require converting Lua scripts to regular web service calls (maybe, Lua can be run on Linux) and simulating Action Processor / Job Processor with a cron job that would periodically process the rules file, or execute corresponding commands via the new REST API.

 

Any ideas or toughts on this? Is it possible to convert all those Windows files and programs to an equivalent non-Windows one? Or is there anything that can only be done on a Windows Server?

 

Regards,

Otmar

2 replies

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Even running the portal components in containers is a big win IMHO.  Especially in larger installations where you want some fault tolerance.  We are in the same boat, looking forward to better node coordination options, and I believe we have a grasp on all the parameters we would have to tokenize to run those, how to set up volumes for logs etc.

We also have a the legacy integrations on Windows we haven’t planned for yet and those are indeed long in the the tooth (the bundled LUA library does not even support SSL).  I was assuming we would just run a windows (docker) image for the integrations, but maybe you have insights into why this wouldn’t work.  Is the problem you can’t host a windows container to install these into, or that you want to package an existing installation?

I am confident we will be able to containerize the components eventually, but it would be nice to see some guidance on this from IFS instead of (re)inventing the wheel.  Also it would be good to know longer term what the IFS plan is to move away from the older windows client and integrations, perhaps with new system agnostic services.

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(...)  Is the problem you can’t host a windows container to install these into, or that you want to package an existing installation?

 

Hello!

 

Our DevOps team told us that hosting Windows containers is a completeley different beast, that would require a dedicated cluster. Given that assyst is one of the very few solutions for which Windows is mandatory, it’s not worth the investment, time and effort.

It’s really a shame. Our team crafted scripts to create docker images from assyst installation media that made upgrades a breeze after applying the database scripts for the new version.

 

 

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