DataPower Gateway for Linux
DataPower® Gateway for Linux® is installed from RPM packages.
The DataPower Gateway runs as an application on a Linux host. The DataPower Gateway requires exclusive access to some host resources. You can control the interaction by configuring the datapower.conf file.
- Resource requirements on Linux hosts
- The datapower.conf file
- What running as an application means
- DataPower Gateway for Docker compared to DataPower Gateway for Linux
Resource requirements on Linux hosts
- To install the RPM packages, the host must be running a supported 64-bit version of Linux.
- 2 GiB of free storage must be available on /opt.
- 5 GiB of free storage must be available on /var.
- At least 2 free loop devices are required, with an additional 1 loop device if RAID storage is used.
- RAID storage, if used, must be configured in the datapower.conf file.
- For DataPower Gateway without API workload, the minimum resource allocation is 4 virtual processors (vCPU) and 4 GB RAM.
- For DataPower Gateway with API workload, the minimum resource allocation is 4 vCPU and 8 GB RAM independent of edition.
The datapower.conf file
The DataPower Gateway reads the /opt/ibm/datapower/datapower.conf file on startup. The file sets attributes for features such as local: and config: directory mapping, RAID configuration, and standalone standby control.
Use of the datapower.conf file is accomplished with the removal or presence of directives. In the file content, sections of self-explanatory comments refer to a directive that is prevented from being enacted by the presence of # as first character of a line. Editing the file to remove this character from the directive results in a configuration change to the DataPower Gateway when the datapower.conf file is read. For changes from the file to take effect, the DataPower Gateway must be restarted. The usage of the parameters in the datapower.conf file is as follows:
- Enable or disable high availability managed by the DataPower Gateway
EnableStandbyControl=[true|false]
- Specify the device to be used for a RAID volume
DataPowerRaidDevice=device_name
- Specify the number of CPUs that are allocated
DataPowerCpuCount=number
- Specify the limit of usable memory
DataPowerMemoryLimit=memory_limit
- Specify external directory access
-
DataPowerConfigDir=path DataPowerLocalDir=path
- Specify the primary disk device size for the encrypted /var file system
DataPowerImageSize=disk_space
- Accept the terms of the license agreements
DataPowerAcceptLicense=[true|false]
What running as an application means
- The DataPower Gateway runs as
root
. - Depending on the host, the DataPower Gateway is
controlled with different commands.
- When installed from RPM packages, the DataPower Gateway daemon is controlled with the systemctl command.
- On Docker, the DataPower Gateway is started with the
datapower-launch
command.
- The DataPower Gateway inherits many settings and some
configuration from the operating system.
- DNS settings are inherited. You cannot modify the inherited DNS configuration in DataPower, you can modify it only in the host. For more information, see DNS settings and DataPower Gateway for Linux.
- The host name is inherited. The host name is the system identifier for the DataPower Gateway in system settings. If you attempt to change the system identifier, the change is silently ignored.
- Time management is handled by the operating system. Time and date settings are not available on the DataPower Gateway.
- Network interfaces are used as they are found. The Ethernet, VLAN, and link aggregation interfaces are not available for configuration in the DataPower Gateway.
- Host aliases are created from the network interfaces that are defined in the operating system.
The name for each host alias uses the
ethernet_version_n
format and its value is the original IP address from the operating system. For example,eth0_ipv4_1
is the host alias that is created for the first IP address oneth0
that uses IPv4.
- Sysplex target control service is not available.
- The installation wizard, started with the startup command, is not available.
DataPower Gateway for Docker compared to DataPower Gateway for Linux
Although DataPower Gateway for Linux can run inside a Docker container, DataPower Gateway for Docker is more flexible, less resource intensive, requires fewer privileges, and requires less preparation work than DataPower Gateway for Linux. Therefore, DataPower Gateway for Docker is the preferable approach to deploy a DataPower Gateway in a Docker container.