one-container-alternative

one-container-alternative

A single-container alternative to YANG Suite's multi-container setup for experimentation and development.

Quick Start

Important

All commands must be run from the one-container-alternative directory, not the repository root.

# Navigate to the one-container-alternative directory
cd one-container-alternative

# Build and run YANG Suite
make build
make run

Then visit https://localhost:8480 and login with:

• Username: developer
• Password: developer

Overview

This alternative installation uses only a single container instead of three, making it simpler for experimentation.

Advantages

• Fewer points of failure - one container for all requirements.
• No user input required - configuration settings are preset.
• No Docker/Podman Compose needed - only Docker/Podman commands.
• HTTPs only on port 8480

Limitations

• No backup cron job.
• Container runs as root (/usr/local/bin/create_yangtree had permissions issues).
• Intended for experimentation, not production.

Prerequisites

• Docker or Podman (container runtime).
• Make (build automation tool).
• 4GB+ available RAM (recommended).

This command creates and starts the container, exposing YANG Suite on port 8480 (HTTPS only) with a persistent volume for your data.

Managing the Container

You can control the container lifecycle with these commands:

make stop    # Stop the running container
make start   # Start the stopped container
make rm      # Remove the container (data persists in volume)

Using Custom Certificates

By default, the container uses self-signed certificates. To use your own SSL certificates:

1. Place exactly one .crt and one .key file in the certificate directory inside the one-container-alternative directory.
2. Run make run - your certificates will be automatically detected and used.

Note

The container automatically detects custom certificates. If none are found, it falls back to self-signed certificates.

Troubleshooting & Logs

"make: command not found" or "No such file or directory"

You're probably in the wrong directory. Make sure you're in one-container-alternative:

# Check your current directory
pwd

# If you're in the repository root, navigate to the subdirectory:
cd one-container-alternative

# Verify you can see the Makefile:
ls Makefile

Expected directory structure

yangsuite/                          # Repository root
├── README.md                       # Main YANG Suite README
├── docker/                         # Main Docker setup
└── one-container-alternative/      # ← You should be here
    ├── Dockerfile
    ├── Makefile                    # ← This should exist
    ├── README.md                   # ← This file
    └── build-assets/

Viewing Logs

Watch real-time application logs:

make follow    # View container logs (Ctrl+C to stop)

Access internal YANG Suite logs:

make debug     # Monitor internal application logs

Get shell access for debugging:

make cli       # Open bash shell inside container

Data Persistence

Your YANG Suite data is stored in the Docker volume yangsuite-one-container-data. This means:

• Settings and configurations persist between container restarts.
• Data survives container removal (unless you run make rm-volume).
• You can backup/restore data by managing this volume.

Quick Development Workflow

For development and testing, use this command to rebuild and restart everything:

make dev       # Removes container+volume, rebuilds, runs, and follows logs

[!WARNING] > make dev removes all data! Only use for development.