Docker demo

This demo runs Bee as a standalone host-level container. That is also the correct shape on a Docker Swarm node: Swarm services cannot request host PID mode, so run one independently managed Bee container on each node.

1. Download the definitions

mkdir bee-demo && cd bee-demo

curl -fsSLO https://obstack.it/downloads/bee/docker-compose.yaml
curl -fsSLO https://obstack.it/downloads/bee/bee.yaml
curl -fsSLO https://obstack.it/downloads/bee/vector.yaml
curl -fsSLO https://obstack.it/downloads/bee/otel-collector.yaml

First ask for an evaluation license through an information request on www.obstack.it. Copy the signed file you receive into the directory:

install -m 0600 /path/to/your/license.json ./license.json

Prepare the host mounts described in requirements, then pull the immutable version used by the definitions:

docker pull obstackit/bee:0.3.0

2. Choose one collector

The Compose file uses profiles because Vector and the OpenTelemetry Collector both listen on the node’s 127.0.0.1:4318. Start exactly one.

Vector

sudo docker compose --profile vector up -d

OpenTelemetry Collector

sudo docker compose --profile otel up -d

Bee may start before the collector. That is safe: its exporter reconnects and its bounded disk ring retains eligible batches while the receiver is unavailable.

3. Generate traffic

The stack includes a Python HTTP service named bee-demo:

for request in 1 2 3; do
  curl -fsS "http://127.0.0.1:18080/?request=${request}" >/dev/null
done

Wait a few seconds for batching, then inspect the selected collector.

For Vector:

sudo docker compose logs --since 1m vector
sudo docker compose exec vector tail -n 5 /var/lib/vector/bee-traces.json

For the OpenTelemetry Collector:

sudo docker compose logs --since 1m otel-collector

The output should include an HTTP SERVER span and service.name=bee-demo.

4. Check Bee itself

curl -fsS http://127.0.0.1:9400/livez
curl -fsS http://127.0.0.1:9400/readyz
curl -fsS http://127.0.0.1:9400/metrics \
  | grep -E '^obstack_bee_(collector_connected|ebpf_packets_total|spans_exported_total) '
curl -fsS http://127.0.0.1:9400/graph | python3 -m json.tool

Expected values after traffic:

obstack_bee_collector_connected 1
obstack_bee_ebpf_packets_total <non-zero>
obstack_bee_spans_exported_total <non-zero>

What the Compose definition preserves

The downloadable definition includes the parts that tend to disappear from shortened examples:

• host PID, network, cgroup, and UTS namespaces;
• host /proc, cgroup v2, bpffs, tracefs, machine ID, and optional Docker socket;
• a disk-backed /var/lib/obstack-bee directory;
• nofile=131072 and unlimited legacy memlock;
• one CPU and 768 MiB memory/swap ceilings;
• bounded Docker logs and a 10-minute graceful stop allowance;
• the ordinary runc runtime, so Bee is not injected into its own container.

Do not convert Bee into a Swarm service. Install the same Compose definition or an equivalent docker run command once on each Swarm node.

Stop or replace Bee

Probe teardown can take minutes on a busy host. Stop gracefully and allow the configured ten minutes:

sudo docker compose stop -t 600 bee
sudo docker compose down

Avoid docker rm -f during upgrades. Start the replacement only after the old container has exited and port 9400 is free.