Introduction of datanode may be confusing for users, possibly need to add text in the docker compose file to communication how to perform first setup

[drewmiranda-gl]

I've noticed some community users struggle to deal with the change to the docker compose files that replaced OpenSearch with datanode. Is it possible to add a comment in each of the compose files to be explicit about what to do once the containers are started?

[janheise]

@drewmiranda-gl We have the Readme in the repo itself on the root level which gives some DataNode specific infos and also the DataNode section in the regular docs. What would you suggest? Do you think an additional comment like If you're new to the DataNode, please read the docs. would be helpful or add a complete paragraph about setup?

edit: btw, we already agreed that the initial basic auth dialog needs improvement and shows a welcome page and some additional info before we ask for a password the first time. Would that be enough?

[drewmiranda-gl]

My thinking is having a one line comment in the compose file itself will ensure that anyone who runs it will at least get a hint that they need to look at the server log to obtain that first run password.

If the login dialog could also contain that same message that would also be useful. I can only assume that because we are asking users to set an admin password (either in the docker compose file, or in the server.conf itself but thats unrelated to this specific GH issue) they are confused that the password they set doesn't work and they need to go somewhere else to get the correct password.

Appreciate y'all's hard work on this!

[MSchantz]

Apologies if I'm in the wrong place, but I'm a confused user, and my problem appears to be with the DataNode. Specifically, I'm getting this error at first install, and the DataNode container is continuously rebooting.

[Timestamp] ERROR [CmdLineTool] Startup error:
org.graylog2.bootstrap.preflight.PreflightCheckException: /proc/sys/vm/max_map_count value should be at least 262144 but is 65530 (set via "vm.max_map_count" sysctl)

I am able to log into the preflight, but I get stuck at the provisioning step because graylog can't find the datanode. Can I fix that in the container? Thanks in advance for your help.

[drewmiranda-gl]

@MSchantz what operating system and OS version are you using?

[MSchantz]

@drewmiranda-gl Linux - Ubuntu 22.04.4 LTS

[drewmiranda-gl]

@MSchantz I just tested on Ubuntu 22 and replicated the exact same error. I found a suggestion that said to configure that setting on the host that the docker container runs on. I tested this and that seemed to resolve the issue:

sudo sysctl -w vm.max_map_count=262144
echo 'vm.max_map_count=262144' | sudo tee -a /etc/sysctl.conf

It looks like this isn't spelled out very clearly, but it is in the readme via https://github.com/Graylog2/docker-compose?tab=readme-ov-file#configure-your-os

[drewmiranda-gl]

For the internal graylog folks, can we add a note/comment in the docker compose files to make sure this is more obvious and more clear? Ideally offering an example for at least Debian (e.g. Debian, Ubuntu) and Redhat (e.g. RHEL, Centos, Alma, Rockey) based distros.

[MSchantz]

@drewmiranda-gl Thank you so much - that did it. I'm sorry I had missed that note in the readme.

[Nebucatnetzer]

I was confused by this change as well.
Currently we are using OpenSearch 2.5 and when there is an update I check the docker-compose files here to see if you recommend any new settings.
However from what I've seen here and in the documentation I can just ignore the section for the DataNode because there is no migration path?

[d00vy]

We have the Readme in the repo itself on the root level which gives some DataNode specific infos and also the DataNode section in the regular docs. What would you suggest? Do you think an additional comment like If you're new to the DataNode, please read the docs. would be helpful or add a complete paragraph about setup?

Reading the docs would be helpful if there was relevant information in the docs, but I couldn't find anything in the docs or the forums about how to find the initial password. Somehow this issue has been open for 6 months when all you need is one extra command to find the initial password...

For anyone else struggling, use: docker logs <containerID> to get the initial password