Skip to main content

Proxy Configuration

In this document, we will explore the configuration of a proxy server to enable internet connectivity from your Appcircle containers for accessing external resources.

We will cover Docker and Podman, providing step-by-step instructions to set up and utilize the proxy server effectively.

Using proxies on Appcircle containers ensures smooth connectivity to external resources.

info

We're assuming that previously you reviewed or followed install self-hosted appcircle section in docs and applied example scenario.

Following steps are using example project as project naming, which was told there.

1. Stop Appcircle Server​

At first, you must shut down your server and configure it when it is stopped for the overall stability of the host machine.

  • Go to the appcircle-server folder.
cd appcircle-server
  • Stop the server.
./ac-self-hosted.sh -n "spacetech" down

2. Configure Proxy for the Server​

For a typical proxy configuration, you need to know the arguments for these parameters:

  • Username if the proxy has authentication. For example, user
  • Password if the proxy has authentication. For example, password
  • Hostname or IP of the proxy server. For example, proxy.spacetech.com
  • Port of the proxy server. For example, 8080
info

If your proxy server has no authentication, you should ignore the user and password values in the below sample codes and configurations.

info

You can also use the IP of the proxy server if it does not have a dedicated domain name.

Next, you should enable proxy settings on the host server.

To do that you can follow the steps below:

  • For non-shell processes, edit the /etc/environment.
sudo vi /etc/environment
  • Add the content below to the /etc/environment file.
HTTP_PROXY=http://user:password@proxy.spacetech.com:8080/
HTTPS_PROXY=http://user:password@proxy.spacetech.com:8080/
NO_PROXY=localhost,127.0.0.1

http_proxy=http://user:password@proxy.spacetech.com:8080/
https_proxy=http://user:password@proxy.spacetech.com:8080/
no_proxy=localhost,127.0.0.1
tip

no_proxy Configuration​

no_proxy and NO_PROXY should be used for your corporate intranet services that should be kept away from the proxy. You can add all the required domains or IPs separated by a comma. Below are some example cases that are common for a typical enterprise installation.

  • Git provider (GitLab, Bitbucket, etc.) For example, gitlab.spacetech.com
  • Proxy Repository (Nexus, Harbor, etc.) For example, registry.spacetech.com
  • For shell processes, edit the /etc/profile.d/proxy.sh.
sudo vi /etc/profile.d/proxy.sh
  • Add the content below to the /etc/profile.d/proxy.sh file.
export HTTP_PROXY=http://user:password@proxy.spacetech.com:8080/
export HTTPS_PROXY=http://user:password@proxy.spacetech.com:8080/
export NO_PROXY=localhost,127.0.0.1

export http_proxy=http://user:password@proxy.spacetech.com:8080/
export https_proxy=http://user:password@proxy.spacetech.com:8080/
export no_proxy=localhost,127.0.0.1
caution

For system integrity, the proxy settings in here should be the same as the above settings in /etc/environment. Also see the no_proxy tip explained there.

  • Close the terminal and open a new session.
caution

To make the changes take effect, please open a brand new terminal session.

Otherwise, you won't succeed in the following steps.

info

Don't forget to change user, password, proxy host, proxy port, and no_proxy settings for your needs while copying from above.

caution

Currently we do not support proxies that requires to install it's own certificate.

Edit no_proxy for Internal Container Network​

In order not to break the connection of the containers with each other, we must add the service names to the no_proxy and NO_PROXY environment variables.

You can follow the steps below to edit these variables correctly.

  • Go to the appcircle-server folder.
cd appcircle-server

Inside the helper-tools directory, there is a bash script file called no-proxy.sh.

caution

The no-proxy.sh helper tool exists in self-hosted server versions 3.7.1 or later.

If you have an older version installed, please upgrade your self-hosted server to a newer version. If upgrading is not possible, you should contact us for support.

  • Execute the script with sudo privileges and give your project as argument.
sudo ./helper-tools/no-proxy.sh ${YOUR_PROJECT}

For example if your project name is "spacetech", you should run the command like below.

sudo ./helper-tools/no-proxy.sh spacetech
caution

You must run the script from the parent directory of the no-proxy.sh script.

Be aware that if you run the script like ./no-proxy spacetech, it will fail.

  • Restart your terminal session.
caution

Don't forget to start a new terminal session after you run command above for the changes to take effect.

3. Enable Settings on the Container Engine​

After you enable proxy settings on the host server, you must also edit the Docker's configuration file to notify the container runtime engine that there are proxy settings to use.

You can follow the steps below to enable proxy settings on the Docker:

  • Print the value of the no_proxy variable to the terminal and copy it.
echo $no_proxy
  • Edit the Docker configuration file. It creates if it does not exist.
vi ~/.docker/config.json
  • Add the proxy settings to the configuration file like below. Paste the copied no_proxy variable to the noProxy section on the configuration file.
{
  "proxies": {
    "default": {
      "httpProxy": "http://user:password@proxy.spacetech.com:8080",
      "httpsProxy": "http://user:password@proxy.spacetech.com:8080",
      "noProxy": "localhost,127.0.0.1"
    }
  }
}
caution

The Docker file config.json might exist on the system. If that's the case, then you should only add the proxies section of the JSON above to the configuration file.

caution

For system integrity, the proxy settings in here should be the same as the above settings in /etc/environment. Also see the no_proxy tip explained there.

The configuration becomes active after saving the file, you don’t need to restart Docker. However, the configuration only applies to new containers, and doesn’t affect existing containers.

So, if you stop the server as the first step in this document, then you can go on with the next step. If not, it's time to stopping the server before going on.

4. Start Appcircle Server​

After configuring the proxy settings on the host, you can start your Appcircle server.

  • Go to the appcircle-server folder.
cd appcircle-server
  • Start the server.
./ac-self-hosted.sh -n "spacetech" up

Your containers will be able to connect to external resources through the proxy now.

Maintenance of no_proxy Variables​

The Appcircle server is getting updates regularly, and there might be a new container service in the compose.yaml file.

To maintain the stability of the system, you should go back to the Edit no_proxy for Internal Container Network step and re-apply the operations done there on every upgrade.