Docker Deployment

Base Image

The official Frank!Framework Docker image is available from:

Registry	Image
DockerHub	frankframework/frankframework
Nexus	nexus.frankframework.org/frankframework

The image contains Apache Tomcat with the Frank!Framework deployed. It serves on port 8080.

For Docker installation, see Docker documentation.

Directory Layout

The image expects data in three directories:

Path	Purpose
/opt/frank/configurations	Frank configurations (XML, properties). Each subdirectory or archive is a separate configuration. Data is isolated between configurations.
/opt/frank/resources	Shared data accessible to all configurations: resources.yml, application-level properties.
/opt/frank/drivers	Third-party libraries (database drivers, JMS client libraries).

docker-compose.yml for Development

services:
  frank-docker-example:
    image: frankframework/frankframework:latest
    ports:
      - 8080:8080
    volumes:
      - ./configurations:/opt/frank/configurations
      - ./resources:/opt/frank/resources
    environment:
      instance.name: frank-docker-example
      dtap.stage: LOC
      configurations.directory.autoLoad: true

Setting configurations.directory.autoLoad: true causes the framework to load all subdirectories and archives in /opt/frank/configurations automatically. This works from Frank!Framework version 9.3.0-20250806.042330 onwards.

Start with docker compose up. The console is available at http://localhost:8080.

Resources Configuration (resources.yml)

File resources.yml in /opt/frank/resources defines datasources and JMS connections.

Minimal H2 Database

jdbc:
  - name: "frank-docker-example"
    type: "org.h2.jdbcx.JdbcDataSource"
    url: "jdbc:h2:mem:h2;DB_CLOSE_ON_EXIT=FALSE;DB_CLOSE_DELAY=-1;"

The name field corresponds to the resource name without the jdbc/ prefix. The default database name is jdbc/${instance.name.lc} (instance name in lowercase).

For in-memory H2 databases, include DB_CLOSE_ON_EXIT=FALSE to prevent data loss when connections are closed.

To start without a database, set jdbc.required=false.

Fields

Field	Description
name	Resource name (without jdbc/ or jms/ prefix)
type	Java class for the driver/datasource/connection factory
url	Connection URL
authalias	Credential alias (takes precedence over username/password)
username	Username for authentication
password	Password for authentication
properties	Additional name/value pairs passed to the driver

Dockerfile for Packaging Configurations

For production, package configurations into the image rather than using volumes:

ARG PG_VERSION
FROM frankframework/frankframework:latest
ARG PG_VERSION
ADD --chown=tomcat https://jdbc.postgresql.org/download/postgresql-${PG_VERSION}.jar /opt/frank/drivers/postgresql-${PG_VERSION}.jar
COPY src/main/configurations/MyConfig /opt/frank/configurations/MyConfig

Corresponding docker-compose.yml:

services:
  db:
    image: postgres
    ports:
      - 5432:5432
    environment:
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: testiaf_user00
      POSTGRES_USER: testiaf_user
      POSTGRES_DB: testiaf
  ff:
    build:
      context: .
      dockerfile: Dockerfile
      args:
        PG_VERSION: 42.7.8
    ports:
      - 8080:8080
    volumes:
      - ./src/main/resources:/opt/frank/resources
    environment:
      jdbc.hostname: db

No volume is needed for /opt/frank/configurations since it is populated during image build. The /opt/frank/resources volume allows system administrators to configure resources externally.

Configurations with custom Java code must be packaged as .jar or .zip archives and require the property configurations.<configuration name>.allowCustomClasses=true.

Transport Security

• HTTP is only allowed when dtap.stage=LOC.
• All other DTAP stages require HTTPS by default.
• Override with application.security.http.transportGuarantee=none.

Internal Network Isolation

Restrict a Frank!Framework server to an internal Docker network by omitting the ports entry:

services:
  frank-server:
    image: frankframework/frankframework:latest
    volumes:
      - ./server/configurations:/opt/frank/configurations
    environment:
      instance.name: frank-server
      dtap.stage: DEV
      configurations.directory.autoLoad: true
      application.security.http.transportGuarantee: none
  frank-client:
    image: frankframework/frankframework:latest
    ports:
      - 8080:8080
    volumes:
      - ./client/configurations:/opt/frank/configurations
    environment:
      instance.name: frank-client
      dtap.stage: LOC

The server has no ports entry, making it accessible only within the Docker Compose internal network. The client connects using the internal Docker DNS name (e.g., http://frank-server:8080).