Installing WEBCON BPS in containers (Kubernetes)

Applies to version: 2023.1.x and above; author: Michał Bednarz

Introduction

The feature to install WEBCON BPS modules in containers was added in version 2023 and has been described here. Now that the platform can be run based on container services, we can employ various modern services like Kubernetes to launch and manage our application.

Requirements

• WEBCON BPS containers are based on images that use Windows Server Core architecture. Therefore, the admin cluster needs to be able to run loads of this type.
• If SOLR and/or SQL components are to be implemented in the same cluster, the cluster must support loads based on both Linux and Windows containers.
• The application requires the ingress controller to support ARR with Cookie Affinity enabled.
• Only the subscription licensing model is supported. Perpetual licenses cannot currently be used.
• Containerization is supported from version 2023 onward.
• User authentication based on AD is not currently supported. Use Entra ID, ADFS, or any other provider that supports OpenID Connect.
• If the SOLR component is to be implemented in a cluster, it will require persistent storage on the disc.
• If the SQL component is to be implemented in a cluster, it will require persistent storage on the disc.

Example infrastructure based on Azure Kubernetes Services

This example involves implementing WEBCON BPS in Azure Kubernetes Services using Azure SQL Managed Instance as the SQL Server database instance.

The cluster contains two node pools:

• Windows Node Pool – for running BPS Portal and BPS Service
• Linux Node Pool – for running SOLR Search Service

For SOLR implementation, it will be necessary to use persistent volumes (PVC).

Traffic to the application is directed by an ingress controller with Cookie Affinity enabled.

Additionally, we use a virtual machine running Windows as a terminal for creating and updating WEBCON BPS databases.