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Run IBM DataPower in Docker in 5 Minutes! 🚀 (No IBM Cloud Needed!)

#ibm #datapower #crosscloudx #docker

"IBM DataPower is a powerful API gateway, but it's usually locked behind complex setups. Let’s run it locally with Docker—no licenses or cloud accounts required!"

datapower

🔧 What You’ll Need

  • Docker installed (👉 Install guide)
  • 5 minutes of time
  • Terminal (Bash or ZSH)

🔍 Before We Start: About Skopeo

Need to check container versions before downloading? Skopeo is your friend! This handy tool lets you:

  • 🔎 Inspect images without pulling them
  • 🏷️ List available versions (tags)
  • 🔄 Copy images between registries 
skopeo list-tags docker://icr.io/cpopen/datapower/datapower-limited
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skopeo-tags

📂 Step 1: Prep Your Workspace 

mkdir datapower && cd datapower
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Using version 2018.4.1.9 (stable and widely compatible):

# Pull the specific DataPower version
docker pull icr.io/cpopen/datapower/datapower-limited:2018.4.1.9
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Launch the container with persistent configs 

docker run -it \
  -v $PWD/config:/drouter/config \
  -v $PWD/local:/drouter/local \
  -e DATAPOWER_ACCEPT_LICENSE=true \
  -e DATAPOWER_INTERACTIVE=true \
  -p 9090:9090 \
  -p 9022:22 \
  -p 8000-8010:8000-8010 \
  --name idg \
  icr.io/cpopen/datapower/datapower-limited:2018.4.1.9
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docker-run

🔧 Key Notes (Best Practices!)

🚪 Ports Management

  • Auto-port assignment: For multi-container setups, use -p 8000 (let Docker choose host port)
  • Port conflicts? Remap the WebGUI (e.g., -p 9191:9090 → access via http://localhost:9191)

📂 Folder Structure 

datapower/
├── config/ # Stores all configurations (edit directly!)
└── local/ # For certificates, scripts (XSLT/JS), and keys
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🔐 Security Must-Dos

  1. First step: Change default credentials (admin/admin)!
  2. Production tip: Disable DATAPOWER_INTERACTIVE to avoid log clutter

🌐 Step 2: Enable the Web GUI

  1. In the running container's CLI: 
   configure; web-mgmt 0 9090;  # Activates WebGUI
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datapower-access

Access it:
URL: https://localhost:9090
Credentials: admin / admin (change this!)

datapower-gui-1

datapower-gui-2

Cleanup:

docker stop idg && docker rm idg
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🏁 Conclusion

You've now got IBM DataPower running in Docker in just minutes! Key takeaways:

✓ Local testing without expensive hardware

✓ Persistent configs via Docker volumes

✓ Full access to WebGUI and CLI

🤝 Let's Connect!

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Thank you for reading! 😊

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