Installing the toolbox
Akamas offers, as an additional container, a toolbox that contains the Akamas CLI executable, along with some other useful command-line tools such as kubectl, Helm, vim, docker cli, jq, yq, git, gzip, zip, OpenSSH, ping, cURL, and wget. It can be executed along akamas services, in the same network, for docker-compose installation, or in the akamas namespace for Kubernetes installations.
This toolbox aims to:
allowing users to interact with Akamas without the need to install Akamas CLI on their systems
providing the Akamas' workflows with an environment where to run scripts and persist artifacts when no other options (e.g. a dedicated host) are available
Docker compose installation
By setting the following options in the .env file, you can configure your toolbox by enabling SSH password authentication (only key-based authentication will be available otherwise) and by setting a login password:
ALLOW_PASSWORD=true
CUSTOM_PASSWORD=yourPassword
To start the toolbox container just issue the following command:
docker compose --profile toolbox up -d
If you want to keep the toolbox running also after a complete restart you can also add the following line to your .env file: COMPOSE_PROFILES=toolbox
Accessing the toolbox on Docker
To access the toolbox on docker you can issue the following command:
docker exec -it toolbox bash
You will be provided with a shell inside the toolbox where you can interact with Akamas. Please read the work folder section below for more information on how to persist scripts and data on the toolbox upon restart and upgrades.
Kubernetes installation
Follow the usual guide for installing Akamas on Kubernetes, adding the following variables to your akamas.yaml
file:
toolbox:
enabled: true
sshPassword:
# enable SSH password authentication. If 'false', only key-based access
# will be allowed
enabled: false
# configure the password for the toolbox user. If not provided, an
# autogenerated password will be used
override:
Then, you can launch the usual helm upgrade --install ...
command to run the pod, as described in theStart the installation (online) or Start the installation (offline) sections.
Accessing the toolbox on Kubernetes
When it's deployed to Kubernetes, you may access this toolbox in two ways:
via
kubectl
via SSH command
Kubectl access
Accessing is as simple as:
kubectl exec -it deployment/toolbox -- bash
SSH access
For this type of access, you need to retrieve the SSH login password (if enabled) or key. To fetch them, run the following commands:
# Get the password
kubectl exec deployment/toolbox -- cat /home/akamas/password
# Get the key
kubectl exec deployment/toolbox -- cat /home/akamas/.ssh/id_rsa
With this info, you can leverage the toolbox to run commands in your workflows, like in the following example:
name: hello-workflow
tasks:
- name: Say Hello
operator: Executor
arguments:
command: echo 'Hello Akamas'
host:
hostname: toolbox
username: akamas
password: d48020ab71be6a07
You can also access the toolbox by port-forwarding from your local machine (on port 2222 in our example). Run the following kubectl
command:
kubectl port-forward service/toolbox 2222:22
On another terminal, run:
ssh akamas@localhost -p 2222
and answer yes
to the question, then insert the akamas
password to successfully SSH access the toolbox (see example below):
$ ssh akamas@localhost -p 2222
The authenticity of host '[localhost]:2222 ([127.0.0.1]:2222)' can't be established.
ED25519 key fingerprint is SHA256:34GXnmRz1YjWr2TTpUpJmRoHYck0NzeAxni2L857Exs.
This key is not known by any other names
Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no/[fingerprint])? yes
Warning: Permanently added '[localhost]:2222' (ED25519) to the list of known hosts.
akamas@localhost's password:
Welcome to Ubuntu 20.04.6 LTS (GNU/Linux 5.10.178-162.673.amzn2.x86_64 x86_64)
* Documentation: https://help.ubuntu.com
* Management: https://landscape.canonical.com
* Support: https://ubuntu.com/advantage
This system has been minimized by removing packages and content that are
not required on a system that users do not log into.
To restore this content, you can run the 'unminimize' command.
The programs included with the Ubuntu system are free software;
the exact distribution terms for each program are described in the
individual files in /usr/share/doc/*/copyright.
Ubuntu comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by
applicable law.
akamas@toolbox-6dd8b7f898-8xwzf:~$
Work directory
If you need to store Akamas artifacts, scripts, or any other file that requires persistence, you can use the /work
directory, which persists across restarts. This is the default working directory at login time.
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