Running AWS IoT Greengrass in a Docker Container

This feature is available for AWS IoT Greengrass Core v1.7 and later.

AWS IoT Greengrass can be configured to run in a Docker container.

You can download a Dockerfile through Amazon CloudFront that has the AWS IoT Greengrass Core software and dependencies installed. To modify the Docker image to run on different platform architectures or reduce the size of the Docker image, see the README file in the Docker package download.

To help you get started quickly and experiment with AWS IoT Greengrass, AWS also provides a prebuilt Docker image that has the AWS IoT Greengrass Core software and dependencies installed. You can download the prebuilt image from Docker Hub or Amazon Elastic Container Registry (Amazon ECR) and run it on Windows, macOS, and Linux (x86_64) platforms. This topic describes how to download the image from Amazon ECR. It contains the following steps:

1. Get the AWS IoT Greengrass Container Image from Amazon ECR

2. Create and Configure the Greengrass Group and Core

3. Run AWS IoT Greengrass Locally

4. Configure "No container" Containerization for the Group

5. Deploy Lambda Functions to the Docker Container

6. (Optional) Deploy Devices that Interact with Greengrass in the Docker Container

 

The following features aren't supported when you run AWS IoT Greengrass in a Docker container:

• Connectors, except the IoT SiteWise connector and Greengrass Docker application deployment connector.

• Local device and volume resources. Your user-defined Lambda functions that run in the Docker container must access devices and volumes on the core directly.

These features aren't supported when the Lambda runtime environment for the Greengrass group is set to No container, which is required to run AWS IoT Greengrass in a Docker container.

Prerequisites

To complete this tutorial, the following software and versions must be installed on your host computer.

• Docker, version 18.09 or later. Earlier versions might also work, but version 18.09 or later is preferred.

• Python, version 3.6 or later.

• pip version 18.1 or later.

• AWS CLI version 1.16 or later.

  • To install and configure the CLI, see Installing the AWS Command Line Interface and Configuring the AWS CLI in the AWS Command Line Interface User Guide.

  • To upgrade to the latest version of the AWS CLI, run the following command:

    pip install awscli --upgrade --user

  Note

  If you use the MSI installation of the AWS CLI on Windows, be aware of the following:

  • If the installation fails to install botocore, try using the Python and pip installation.

  • To upgrade to a newer CLI version, you must repeat the MSI installation process.

Step 1: Get the AWS IoT Greengrass Container Image from Amazon ECR

AWS IoT Greengrass provides a Docker image that has the AWS IoT Greengrass Core software installed. For steps that show how to pull the container image from Amazon ECR, choose your operating system:

Pull the Container Image (Linux)

Run the following commands in your computer terminal.

1. Log in to the AWS IoT Greengrass registry in Amazon ECR.

   aws ecr get-login-password --region  us-west-2 | docker login --username AWS --password-stdin https://216483018798.dkr.ecr.us-west-2.amazonaws.com

   If successful, the output prints Login Succeeded.

2. Retrieve the AWS IoT Greengrass container image.

   docker pull 216483018798.dkr.ecr.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/aws-iot-greengrass:latest

   Note

   The latest tag corresponds to the latest AWS IoT Greengrass container. You can also pull other versions from the repository. To list all images that are available in the AWS IoT Greengrass repository, use the aws ecr list-images command. For example:

   aws ecr list-images --region us-west-2 --registry-id 216483018798 --repository-name aws-iot-greengrass

3. Enable symlink and hardlink protection. If you're experimenting with running AWS IoT Greengrass in a container, you can enable the settings for the current boot only.

   Note

   You might need to use sudo to run these commands.

   • To enable the settings for the current boot only:

     echo 1 > /proc/sys/fs/protected_hardlinks
     echo 1 > /proc/sys/fs/protected_symlinks

   • To enable the settings to persist across restarts:

     echo '# AWS Greengrass' >> /etc/sysctl.conf 
     echo 'fs.protected_hardlinks = 1' >> /etc/sysctl.conf 
     echo 'fs.protected_symlinks = 1' >> /etc/sysctl.conf
     
     sysctl -p

4. Enable IPv4 network forwarding, which is required for AWS IoT Greengrass cloud deployment and MQTT communications to work on Linux. In the /etc/sysctl.conf file, set net.ipv4.ip_forward to 1, and then reload sysctls.

   sudo nano /etc/sysctl.conf
   # set this net.ipv4.ip_forward = 1
   sudo sysctl -p

   Note

   You can use the editor of your choice instead of nano.

Pull the Container Image (macOS)

Run the following commands in your computer terminal.

1. Log in to the AWS IoT Greengrass registry in Amazon ECR.

   aws ecr get-login-password --region  us-west-2 | docker login --username AWS --password-stdin https://216483018798.dkr.ecr.us-west-2.amazonaws.com

   If successful, the output prints Login Succeeded.

2. Retrieve the AWS IoT Greengrass container image.

   docker pull 216483018798.dkr.ecr.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/aws-iot-greengrass:latest

   Note

   The latest tag corresponds to the latest AWS IoT Greengrass container. You can also pull other versions from the repository. To list all images that are available in the AWS IoT Greengrass repository, use the aws ecr list-images command. For example:

   aws ecr list-images --region us-west-2 --registry-id 216483018798 --repository-name aws-iot-greengrass

Pull the Container Image (Windows)

Run the following commands in a command prompt. Before you can use Docker commands on Windows, Docker Desktop must be running.

1. Log in to the AWS IoT Greengrass registry in Amazon ECR.

   aws ecr get-login-password --region  us-west-2 | docker login --username AWS --password-stdin https://216483018798.dkr.ecr.us-west-2.amazonaws.com

   If successful, the output prints Login Succeeded.

2. Retrieve the AWS IoT Greengrass container image.

   docker pull 216483018798.dkr.ecr.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/aws-iot-greengrass:latest

   Note

   The latest tag corresponds to the latest AWS IoT Greengrass container. You can also pull other versions from the repository. To list all images that are available in the AWS IoT Greengrass repository, use the aws ecr list-images command. For example:

   aws ecr list-images --region us-west-2 --registry-id 216483018798 --repository-name aws-iot-greengrass

Step 2: Create and Configure the Greengrass Group and Core

The Docker image has the AWS IoT Greengrass Core software installed, but you must create a Greengrass group and core. This includes downloading certificates and the core configuration file.

• Follow the steps in Configure AWS IoT Greengrass on AWS IoT. Skip the step where you download the AWS IoT Greengrass Core software. The software and its runtime dependencies are already set up in the Docker image.

Step 3: Run AWS IoT Greengrass Locally

After your group is configured, you're ready to configure and start the core. For steps that show how to do this, choose your operating system:

Run Greengrass Locally (Linux)

Run the following commands in your computer terminal.

1. Decompress the certificates and configuration file (that you downloaded when you created your Greengrass group) into a known location, such as /tmp. For example:

   tar xvzf hash-setup.tar.gz -C /tmp/

2. Review Server Authentication in the AWS IoT Developer Guide and choose the appropriate root CA certificate. We recommend that you use Amazon Trust Services (ATS) endpoints and ATS root CA certificates.

   Run the following commands to download the root CA certificate to the directory where you decompressed the certificates and configuration file. Certificates enable your device to connect to AWS IoT over TLS.

   Replace /tmp with the path to the directory.

   Important

   Your root CA certificate type must match your endpoint. Use an ATS root CA certificate with an ATS endpoint (preferred) or a VeriSign root CA certificate with a legacy endpoint. Only some AWS Regions support legacy endpoints. For more information, see Endpoints Must Match the Certificate Type.

   • For ATS endpoints (preferred), download the appropriate ATS root CA certificate. The following example downloads AmazonRootCA1.pem.

     cd /tmp/certs/
     sudo wget -O root.ca.pem https://www.amazontrust.com/repository/AmazonRootCA1.pem

   • For legacy endpoints, download a VeriSign root CA certificate. Although legacy endpoints are acceptable for the purposes of this tutorial, we recommend that you create an ATS endpoint and download an ATS root CA certificate.

     cd /tmp/certs/
     sudo wget -O root.ca.pem https://www.websecurity.digicert.com/content/dam/websitesecurity/digitalassets/desktop/pdfs/roots/VeriSign-Class%203-Public-Primary-Certification-Authority-G5.pem

   Note

   The wget -O parameter is the capital letter O.

3. Start AWS IoT Greengrass and bind-mount the certificates and configuration file in the Docker container.

   Replace /tmp with the path where you decompressed your certificates and configuration file.

   docker run --rm --init -it --name aws-iot-greengrass \
   --entrypoint /greengrass-entrypoint.sh \
   -v /tmp/certs:/greengrass/certs \
   -v /tmp/config:/greengrass/config \
   -p 8883:8883 \
   216483018798.dkr.ecr.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/aws-iot-greengrass:latest

   The output should look like this example:

   Setting up greengrass daemon
   Validating hardlink/softlink protection
   Waiting for up to 30s for Daemon to start
   
   Greengrass successfully started with PID: 10

Run Greengrass Locally (macOS)

Run the following commands in your computer terminal.

1. Decompress the certificates and configuration file (that you downloaded when you created your Greengrass group) into a known location, such as /tmp. For example:

   tar xvzf hash-setup.tar.gz -C /tmp/

2. Review Server Authentication in the AWS IoT Developer Guide and choose the appropriate root CA certificate. We recommend that you use Amazon Trust Services (ATS) endpoints and ATS root CA certificates.

   Run the following commands to download the root CA certificate to the directory where you decompressed the certificates and configuration file. Certificates enable your device to connect to AWS IoT over TLS.

   Replace /tmp with the path to the directory.

   Important

   Your root CA certificate type must match your endpoint. Use an ATS root CA certificate with an ATS endpoint (preferred) or a VeriSign root CA certificate with a legacy endpoint. Only some AWS Regions support legacy endpoints. For more information, see Endpoints Must Match the Certificate Type.

   • For ATS endpoints (preferred), download the appropriate ATS root CA certificate. The following example downloads AmazonRootCA1.pem.

     cd /tmp/certs/
     sudo wget -O root.ca.pem https://www.amazontrust.com/repository/AmazonRootCA1.pem

   • For legacy endpoints, download a VeriSign root CA certificate. Although legacy endpoints are acceptable for the purposes of this tutorial, we recommend that you create an ATS endpoint and download an ATS root CA certificate.

     cd /tmp/certs/
     sudo wget -O root.ca.pem https://www.websecurity.digicert.com/content/dam/websitesecurity/digitalassets/desktop/pdfs/roots/VeriSign-Class%203-Public-Primary-Certification-Authority-G5.pem

   Note

   The wget -O parameter is the capital letter O.

3. Start AWS IoT Greengrass and bind-mount the certificates and configuration file in the Docker container.

   Replace /tmp with the path where you decompressed your certificates and configuration file.

   docker run --rm --init -it --name aws-iot-greengrass \
   --entrypoint /greengrass-entrypoint.sh \
   -v /tmp/certs:/greengrass/certs \
   -v /tmp/config:/greengrass/config \
   -p 8883:8883 \
   216483018798.dkr.ecr.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/aws-iot-greengrass:latest

   The output should look like this example:

   Setting up greengrass daemon
   Validating hardlink/softlink protection
   Waiting for up to 30s for Daemon to start
   
   Greengrass successfully started with PID: 10

Run Greengrass Locally (Windows)

1. Use a utility such as WinZip or 7-Zip to decompress the certificates and configuration file that you downloaded when you created your Greengrass group. For more information, see the WinZip documentation.

   Locate the downloaded hash-setup.tar.gz file on your computer and then decompress the file into C:\Users\%USERNAME%\Downloads\.

2. Review Server Authentication in the AWS IoT Developer Guide and choose the appropriate root CA certificate. We recommend that you use Amazon Trust Services (ATS) endpoints and ATS root CA certificates.

   Run the following commands to download the root CA certificate to the directory where you decompressed the certificates and configuration file. Certificates enable your device to connect to AWS IoT over TLS.

   Important

   Your root CA certificate type must match your endpoint. Use an ATS root CA certificate with an ATS endpoint (preferred) or a VeriSign root CA certificate with a legacy endpoint. Only some AWS Regions support legacy endpoints. For more information, see Endpoints Must Match the Certificate Type.

   • For ATS endpoints (preferred), download the appropriate ATS root CA certificate. The following example downloads AmazonRootCA1.pem.

     • If you have curl installed, run the following commands in your command prompt.

       cd C:\Users\%USERNAME%\Downloads\certs
       curl https://www.amazontrust.com/repository/AmazonRootCA1.pem -o root.ca.pem

     • Otherwise, in a web browser, open the Amazon Root CA 1 certificate. Save the document as root.ca.pem in the C:\Users\%USERNAME%\Downloads\certs directory, which contains the decompressed certificates.

       Note

       Depending on your browser, save the file directly from the browser or copy the displayed key to the clipboard and save it in Notepad.

   • For legacy endpoints, download a VeriSign root CA certificate. Although legacy endpoints are acceptable for the purposes of this tutorial, we recommend that you create an ATS endpoint and download an ATS root CA certificate.

     • If you have curl installed, run the following commands in your command prompt.

       cd C:\Users\%USERNAME%\Downloads\certs
       curl https://www.websecurity.digicert.com/content/dam/websitesecurity/digitalassets/desktop/pdfs/roots/VeriSign-Class%203-Public-Primary-Certification-Authority-G5.pem -o root.ca.pem

     • Otherwise, in a web browser, open the VeriSign Class 3 Public Primary G5 root CA certificate. Save the document as root.ca.pem in the C:\Users\%USERNAME%\Downloads\certs directory, which contains the decompressed certificates.

       Note

       Depending on your browser, save the file directly from the browser or copy the displayed key to the clipboard and save it in Notepad.

3. Start AWS IoT Greengrass and bind-mount the certificates and configuration file in the Docker container. Run the following commands in your command prompt.

   docker run --rm --init -it --name aws-iot-greengrass --entrypoint /greengrass-entrypoint.sh -v c:/Users/%USERNAME%/Downloads/certs:/greengrass/certs -v c:/Users/%USERNAME%/Downloads/config:/greengrass/config -p 8883:8883 216483018798.dkr.ecr.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/aws-iot-greengrass:latest

   When Docker prompts you to share your C:\ drive with the Docker daemon, allow it to bind-mount the C:\ directory inside the Docker container. For more information, see Shared drives in the Docker documentation.

   The output should look like this example:

   Setting up greengrass daemon
   Validating hardlink/softlink protection
   Waiting for up to 30s for Daemon to start
   
   Greengrass successfully started with PID: 10

Note

If the container doesn't open the shell and exits immediately, you can debug the issue by bind-mounting the Greengrass runtime logs when you start the image. For more information, see To Persist Greengrass Runtime Logs Outside of the Docker Container.

Step 4: Configure "No container" Containerization for the Greengrass Group

When you run AWS IoT Greengrass in a Docker container, all Lambda functions must run without containerization. In this step, you set the default containerization for the group to No container. You must do this before you deploy the group for the first time.

1. In the AWS IoT console, choose Greengrass, and then choose Groups.

2. Choose the group whose settings you want to change.

3. Choose Settings.

4. Under Lambda runtime environment, choose No container.

5. Choose Update default Lambda execution configuration. Review the message in the confirmation window, and then choose Continue.

For more information, see Setting Default Containerization for Lambda Functions in a Group.

Note

By default, Lambda functions use the group containerization setting. If you override the No container setting for any Lambda functions when AWS IoT Greengrass is running in a Docker container, the deployment fails.

Step 5: Deploy Lambda Functions to the AWS IoT Greengrass Docker Container

You can deploy long-lived Lambda functions to the Greengrass Docker container.

• Follow the steps in Module 3 (Part 1): Lambda Functions on AWS IoT Greengrass to deploy a long-lived Hello World Lambda function to the container.

Step 6: (Optional) Deploy Devices that Interact with Greengrass Running in the Docker Container

You can also deploy Greengrass devices that interact with AWS IoT Greengrass when it's running in a Docker container.

• Follow the steps in Module 4: Interacting with Devices in an AWS IoT Greengrass Group to deploy devices that connect to the core and send MQTT messages.

Stopping the AWS IoT Greengrass Docker Container

To stop the AWS IoT Greengrass Docker container, press Ctrl+C in your terminal or command prompt. This action sends SIGTERM to the Greengrass daemon process to tear down the Greengrass daemon process and all Lambda processes that were started by the daemon process. The Docker container is initialized with /dev/init process as PID 1, which helps in removing any leftover zombie processes. For more information, see the Docker run reference.

Troubleshooting AWS IoT Greengrass in a Docker Container

Use the following information to help troubleshoot issues with running AWS IoT Greengrass in a Docker container.

Error: Unknown options: -no-include-email

Solution: This error can occur when you run the aws ecr get-login command. Make sure that you have the latest AWS CLI version installed (for example, run: pip install awscli --upgrade --user). If you're using Windows and you installed the CLI using the MSI installer, you must repeat the installation process. For more information, see Installing the AWS Command Line Interface on Microsoft Windows in the AWS Command Line Interface User Guide.

Warning: IPv4 is disabled. Networking will not work.

Solution: You might receive this warning or a similar message when running AWS IoT Greengrass on a Linux computer. Enable IPv4 network forwarding as described in this step. AWS IoT Greengrass cloud deployment and MQTT communications don't work when IPv4 forwarding isn't enabled. For more information, see Configure namespaced kernel parameters (sysctls) at runtime in the Docker documentation.

Error: A firewall is blocking file Sharing between windows and the containers.

Solution: You might receive this error or a Firewall Detected message when running Docker on a Windows computer. See the Error: A firewall is blocking file sharing between Windows and the containers Docker support issue. This can also occur if you are signed in on a virtual private network (VPN) and your network settings are preventing the shared drive from being mounted. In that situation, turn off VPN and re-run the Docker container.

For general AWS IoT Greengrass troubleshooting help, see Troubleshooting AWS IoT Greengrass.

Debugging AWS IoT Greengrass in a Docker Container

To debug issues with a Docker container, you can persist the Greengrass runtime logs or attach an interactive shell to the Docker container.

To Persist Greengrass Runtime Logs Outside of the Docker Container

You can run the AWS IoT Greengrass Docker container after bind-mounting the /greengrass/ggc/var/log directory. The logs persist even after the container exits or is removed.

On Linux or macOS

Stop any Greengrass Docker containers running on the host, and then run the following command in a terminal. This bind-mounts the Greengrass log directory and starts the Docker image.

Replace /tmp with the path where you decompressed your certificates and configuration file.

docker run --rm --init -it --name aws-iot-greengrass \
      --entrypoint /greengrass-entrypoint.sh \
      -v /tmp/certs:/greengrass/certs \
      -v /tmp/config:/greengrass/config \
      -v /tmp/log:/greengrass/ggc/var/log \
      -p 8883:8883 \
      216483018798.dkr.ecr.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/aws-iot-greengrass:latest

You can then check your logs at /tmp/log on your host to see what happened while Greengrass was running inside the Docker container.

On Windows

Stop any Greengrass Docker containers running on the host, and then run the following command in a command prompt. This bind-mounts the Greengrass log directory and starts the Docker image.

cd C:\Users\%USERNAME%\Downloads
mkdir log
docker run --rm --init -it --name aws-iot-greengrass --entrypoint /greengrass-entrypoint.sh -v c:/Users/%USERNAME%/Downloads/certs:/greengrass/certs -v c:/Users/%USERNAME%/Downloads/config:/greengrass/config -v c:/Users/%USERNAME%/Downloads/log:/greengrass/ggc/var/log -p 8883:8883 216483018798.dkr.ecr.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/aws-iot-greengrass:latest

You can then check your logs at C:/Users/%USERNAME%/Downloads/log on your host to see what happened while Greengrass was running inside the Docker container.

To Attach an Interactive Shell to the Docker Container

You can attach an interactive shell to a running AWS IoT Greengrass Docker container. This can help you investigate the state of the Greengrass Docker container.

On Linux or macOS

While the Greengrass Docker container is running, run the following command in a separate terminal.

docker exec -it $(docker ps -a -q -f "name=aws-iot-greengrass") /bin/bash

On Windows

While the Greengrass Docker container is running, run the following commands in a separate command prompt.

docker ps -a -q -f "name=aws-iot-greengrass"

Replace gg-container-id with the container_id result from the previous command.

docker exec -it gg-container-id /bin/bash