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Use Docker when you want the Arupa Kernel and its runtime dependencies to run inside a container. The image is published at ghcr.io/steeldregg/arupa. The container stores its configuration, plugin packages, and temporary plugin files in /data. This guide uses a Docker named volume so those files remain available when you replace the container.

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Before you begin

Install Docker Engine or Docker Desktop, then make sure the Docker CLI can contact the Docker daemon:
The published image supports Linux amd64 and arm64 hosts. Docker selects the correct image variant for your host automatically.

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1. Pull the image

Download the latest stable image:
For a repeatable deployment, use a release tag instead of latest. For example, to use version v0.2.0:

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2. Create persistent storage

Create a Docker named volume for the Kernel data:
Docker keeps this volume after the container is removed. It will hold:
  • config.toml, the Kernel configuration file;
  • plugins, the directory for .plg plugin packages; and
  • tmp, the directory used while the Kernel loads plugin packages.
To print the volume’s storage location, run:
On a Linux Docker host, the result is a host directory such as /var/lib/docker/volumes/arupa-data/_data. You can inspect or edit that directory with the required host permissions. On Docker Desktop, the mount point is inside Docker’s Linux VM, so you normally cannot open it directly from macOS or Windows. Use the docker cp commands later in this guide on those systems.

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3. Create the initial configuration

Create a working directory for the configuration file, then create config.toml in it:
Add the following configuration:
Listen is the HTTP and Socket.IO address inside the container. PluginDir and PluginTempDir are relative to /data, which is the container’s working directory.

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4. Create and start the container

Create the container. The --publish option makes the container’s port 8080 available at port 8080 on your host. The named volume is mounted at /data.
Copy the configuration file into the volume through the newly created container, then start it:
Watch the Kernel logs:
The Kernel reports that it is listening on :8080 when startup succeeds. Press Control-C to stop following the logs; this does not stop the container.

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5. Verify the Kernel

From another terminal, request the Kernel version endpoint:
The response includes the running Kernel version.

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Edit configuration and add plugin packages

The named volume holds both the configuration and plugin packages. The following commands work on Linux, macOS, and Windows with Docker Desktop. To edit the configuration, copy it out of the container, edit the local copy, copy it back, and restart the Kernel:
To add a downloaded plugin package, copy its .plg file into /data/plugins. For example:
On a Linux Docker host, you can instead copy the package directly to the plugins directory beneath the Mountpoint reported by docker volume inspect arupa-data. Restart the container after changing plugin files so the Kernel scans the directory again.

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Manage the container

Use these commands to stop, start, or remove the Kernel container:
Removing the container does not remove the arupa-data volume. When you create a replacement container with the same --volume arupa-data:/data option, it reuses the existing configuration and plugin data.

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Next steps

The Kernel is ready for plugin packages. Continue with the Coreplugins documentation, then follow Install a plugin. Before exposing the host port outside your local machine, configure users and access rules.