How to make the TIBCO Spotfire Enterprise Runtime for R (TERR) service or Python service work without Docker on Linux

Product: TIBCO Spotfire Service for Python

Versions: 1.0.0 and later

Summary:

The TIBCO Spotfire TERR service and Python service hosted on Linux node are configured to use a Docker container by default. However, Docker container is optional in this case. You can configure the TERR / Python Service on a Linux node without using Docker containers.

Details:

After installing the TIBCO Enterprise Runtime for R (TERR) service or Python service on a Linux node manager where Docker is not installed, the service may fail to start with errors like the following in the service logs:
------------------------
ERROR 2022-01-18T01:52:20,912 +0000 [ImageBuilder] topology.utility.DockerImageBuilder: Problem checking docker image for pythonsrv:1459876044n. Is docker installed and enabled on this system?
ERROR 2022-01-18T01:52:20,913 +0000 [get-docker-image] topology.engine.EngineQueueHandler: Exception while trying to build docker image: com.spotify.docker.client.exceptions.DockerException: java.util.concurrent.ExecutionException: javax.ws.rs.ProcessingException: java.io.IOException: No such file or directory
INFO 2022-01-18T02:13:13,018 +0000 [main] spotfire.topology.Application: Starting Application using Java 11.0.13 on ip-10-242-113-17.ec2.internal with PID 4798 (/data/tibco/tss-nm-10.10.9.x86_64/nm/services/Python Service Linux-1.0.5.4-7076c73e-66e3-4ebb-8454-05d24cc5b7d6/python-service.jar started by root in /data/tibco/tss-nm-10.10.9.x86_64/nm/services/Python Service Linux-1.0.5.4-7076c73e-66e3-4ebb-8454-05d24cc5b7d6)
------------------------

Resolution:

If you do not intend to run the TERR / Python Service within a docker container on the Linux node manager server, you can set the property "use.engine.containers: FALSE" in the custom.properties file for the TERR / Python Service, to make the service work without using a docker on the Linux node.
------------
use.engine.containers: FALSE
------------
The property is set as "TRUE" by default. Changing it to FALSE would allow the TERR / Python Service to work without the need of a docker on a node of Linux OS. 
After making changes to the configuration for the TERR / Python services, you need to restart the service for the change to take effect. 

More information about how to edit custom.properties for the Python service can be found in the TIBCO Spotfire® Service Python Installation and Administration manual:
https://docs.tibco.com/pub/sf-pysrv/1.3.4/doc/html/TIB_sf-pysrv_1.3.4_install/install/topics/configuring_spotfire_service_for_python.html

More information about how to edit custom.properties for the TERR service can be found in the TIBCO® Enterprise Runtime for R Service Installation and Administration manual:
https://docs.tibco.com/pub/terrsrv/1.7.4/doc/html/TIB_terrsrv_1.7.4_install/install/topics/configuring_the_terr_service.html