Testkube Docker Agent

The Testkube Docker Agent provides a convenient way to evaluate Testkube as it allows you to run the Testkube Agent directly under Docker without having to install or manage your own Kubernetes distribution.

info

You can use the Docker Agent with both Cloud and On Premise deployments of the Control Plane, but it is not recommended for production usage - Read More

Resource Allocation

While the Testkube Agent itself does not consume a lot of resources, you should make sure you have allocated the right amount of resources to your Docker Engine for the kinds of Tests you plan to run. We recommend to allocate at least 8GB and 2 CPUs for "simple" test executions (Postman, K6, etc.), and at least 16 GB and 4 CPUs for more high-volume/distributed performance tests and E2E tests using Playwright, Cypress or Selenium since these require a fair amount of resources themselves.

tip

If you prefer to use your own local Kubernetes cluster for the Testkube Agent, have a look at Testkube Agent with local Kubernetes.

Installation

You can install the Docker Agent either using the Testkube CLI or directly with docker. Please note that both approaches can take some time during the initial installation.

With Testkube CLI

Installing the Docker Agent with the Testkube CLI has the advantage of automatically configuring the CLI to work with the Docker Agent, which would otherwise have to be done with the testkube set context command as shown below.

1. Install the Testkube CLI as described at Installing the CLI
2. Run the below command:

testkube docker --agent-token=tkcagnt_XXX --org-id=tkcorg_YYY --env-id=tkcenv_ZZZ

You can get the required tokens from the Standalone Agent Panel.

tip

When creating a new Environment in the Testkube Dashboard, you will be shown the above command with the correct parameters automatically - see Creating Environments.

With Docker

Install the Testkube Agent using docker run with arguments provided in the Testkube Dashboard:

docker run --name=docker-testkube-agent -d --privileged -e AGENT_KEY=tkcagnt_XXX -e CLOUD_URL=agent.testkube.io:443 kubeshop/testkube-agent

info

• The --privileged flag is required for the Agent to provision its own Kubernetes runtime environment.
• The -d flag is optional and runs the Agent in the detached mode - Read More.

Once running, the Agent will connect to the Testkube Control Plane and be available for running your Workflows.

Working with the Docker Agent

Checking Agent Status

You can use docker ps to check the Agents Docker status:

➜  ~ docker ps
CONTAINER ID   IMAGE                     COMMAND                  CREATED         STATUS         PORTS           NAMES
5c9f8f1eae58   kubeshop/testkube-agent   "tini -- /usr/local/…"   6 minutes ago   Up 6 minutes   2375-2376/tcp   docker-testkube-agent
➜  ~

Accessing the terminal inside the Docker Agent

If you want to run kubectl (or any other) commands inside the Docker Agent you can use

docker exec -it <name> sh

for creating a corresponding prompt inside your Docker Agent.

Starting and stopping the Agent

Use regular docker commands to stop and start the agent:

docker stop <name>
docker start <name>

Using the Testkube CLI with the Docker Agent

To connect the Testkube CLI to the Testkube Agent running in Docker you will need to create an API Key and then use that with the testkube set context command provided in the Standalone Agent Settings popup.

note

This is not necessary if you used the Testkube CLI to install the Docker Agent as described above.

Upgrading the Testkube Docker Agent

There are two ways to upgrade the Docker Agent to the latest version

Upgrading with the Testkube CLI

The preferred way to upgrade the Docker Agent is by using the Testkube CLI - this requires you to have installed the agent with the CLI as described above:

testkube upgrade

This will update the Testkube version inside your running Docker Agent (the Agent needs to be running for this command to work).

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Under the hood this runs a helm upgrade in your Docker Agent:

docker exec testkube-agent helm upgrade testkube testkube/testkube --namespace testkube \
  --set testkube-api.minio.enabled=false --set mongodb.enabled=false --set testkube-api.cloud.key=tkcagnt_XXX \
  --set testkube-api.cloud.url=api.testkube.io:999 --set testkube-api.dockerImageVersion=1.2.3

Replacing the Agent Docker Image

This option comes with the drawback that you will lose any Testkube resources (Workflows, etc.) that were created in the Environment using the Agent (since these are stored as CRDs in your Agents cluster).

1. Use docker ps to find the existing container id:

➜  ~ docker ps
CONTAINER ID   IMAGE                     COMMAND                  CREATED        STATUS        PORTS           NAMES
5c9f8f1eae58   kubeshop/testkube-agent   "tini -- /usr/local/…"   31 hours ago   Up 31 hours   2375-2376/tcp   docker-testkube-agent
➜  ~

2. Stop the image using the container id:

➜  ~ docker stop 5c9f8f1eae58
5c9f8f1eae58
➜  ~

3. Remove the image from the Docker engine:

➜  ~ docker rm 5c9f8f1eae58
5c9f8f1eae58
➜  ~

4. Pull the latest version of the Testkube Docker Agent:

➜  ~ docker pull kubeshop/testkube-agent
Using default tag: latest
latest: Pulling from kubeshop/testkube-agent
2c38280daa69: Download complete
92ce1bafa8af: Download complete
ae522ceee3b1: Download complete
7f7cb6e453ec: Download complete
24640e644361: Download complete
d56b148afd3b: Download complete
6b40d2b477b4: Download complete
724c71e6ea6c: Download complete
Digest: sha256:38292da6ced7b9abfd1c6b481bb61186ab7cbf442fd0de4f8adba0a202bc4dfb
Status: Downloaded newer image for kubeshop/testkube-agent:latest
docker.io/kubeshop/testkube-agent:latest

5. Now you're ready to reinstall the latest version of the Testkube Agent using the installation command shown above.

Docker Agent internals

The Testkube Docker Agent provisions its own Kind cluster inside Docker and then uses an entrypoint.sh script to set up its environment and install the Agent using Helm.

The Docker Image itself is available on DockerHub.

Pod errors due to "too many open files"

If you encounter this error inside your Docker Agent you will need to increase the corresponding default settings in your environment - Read More.

Not for Production Usage!

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Although the Testkuber Docker Agent is a great way to run Testkube tests in your infrastructure, it is not meant for production or large-scale deployments as it is potentially (very) constrained by the Docker runtime environment itself.

When deploying the Testkube Agent production or advanced evaluation purposes, please run the agent directly under a Kubernetes instance, either locally or in a remote/hosted Kubernetes provider in line with the Installation Overview.