Introduction

lxc/lxd provides a framework for vendor neutral containers. This post explains how to install AIL framework in a container or already use the existing AIL container.

If you want to run the container without doing the installation

A ready made container is available at the following location https://cra.circl.lu/lxc-containers/497cb236635bbe9dc345bc807e386b8f48f7f304fc25163cdb6df8e39fbc4146.tar.gz and you can use lxc import to import the container.

lxc image import https://cra.circl.lu/lxc-containers/497cb236635bbe9dc345bc807e386b8f48f7f304fc25163cdb6df8e39fbc4146.tar.gz --alias fresh-ail
lxc launch fresh-ail myailcontainer

Now, dive in the container:

$ lxc exec myailcontainer -- /bin/bash
# su ail
$ cd ~/ail-framework/bin
$ ../LAUNCH -l

Get the container’s IP address by entering lxc list Then open a web browser on the host at

https://<container-ip-address>:7000

The default password for the web interface of AIL is G4FP7EabeXfuNPi

If you want to build from scratch your own AIL container

Installation Steps

The instance name will be ail.

• install lxd apt install lxd and apt install lxc
• initialize with lxd init (default configuration is ok)
• deploy and start a Ubuntu instance lxc launch ubuntu:20.04 ail

Check if the instance is installed and running

lxc list
+------+---------+-------------------+-----------------------+-----------+-----------+
| NAME |  STATE  |       IPV4        |             IPV6      |   TYPE    | SNAPSHOTS |
+------+---------+-------------------+-----------------------+-----------+-----------+
| ail  | RUNNING | 10.3.94.60 (eth0) | fd42:7ab::22 (eth0)   | CONTAINER | 0         |
+------+---------+-------------------+-----------------------+-----------+-----------+

Connect to the shell of the AIL container

lxc exec ail -- /bin/bash

Add an ail user in the container

root@ail:~# adduser ail
Adding user `ail' ...
Adding new group `ail' (1001) ...
Adding new user `ail' (1001) with group `ail' ...
Creating home directory `/home/ail' ...
Copying files from `/etc/skel' ...
New password: 
Retype new password: 
passwd: password updated successfully
Changing the user information for ail
Enter the new value, or press ENTER for the default
	Full Name []: AIL framework
	Room Number []: 
	Work Phone []: 
	Home Phone []: 
	Other []: 
Is the information correct? [Y/n] 

• Add the user to the sudoer group with usermod -aG sudo ail
• and then switch to the user su - ail

Install AIL framework

Git clone AIL

git clone https://github.com/ail-project/ail-framework.git

Compile AIL

• cd ail-framework
• ./installing_deps.sh

Then take a cup of tea or coffee until the installation/compilation is over.

When it’s over take notes of the generated password.

Such as (to be replaced by the one you saw in your terminal)

new user created: admin@admin.test
password: aviWe)jgqcfLC4b*ZJtyMaBNOFRFyh
token: AKciyJGAJK8sWRXusWx3XqshTS6dz7KE8PGkC64CW

Update the binding interface of the web interface

Replace the host with 0.0.0.0 to bind on all the interface of the container in ./config/core.cfg.

##### Flask #####
[Flask]
#Proxying requests to the app
baseUrl = /
#Host to bind to
host = 0.0.0.0 
#Flask server port
port = 7000

Starting AIL

• cd ./bin
• ./LAUNCH.sh -l

Connecting to AIL web interface

Check the IP address of your container and connect to:

• https://<IP of the container>:7000 with the login/password given at the installation

Exporting the container (if you need it)

• lxc snapshot ail fresh-install
• lxc publish ail/fresh-install --alias ail-fresh-install
• lxc image export ail-fresh-install .