Updating IBM software in HCL Commerce Docker images (9.1.14.0+)

The latest IBM software updates for HCL Commerce production environments are delivered in newer release Docker images. Building custom images on top of the latest available release is the recommended method for remaining up-to-date with important HCL updates in order to keep your deployment secure and free from product defects.

To ensure that your site remains up-to-date with any important fixes that are delivered subsequent to the latest HCL Commerce release, or to continue to use older HCL Commerce release images, this group of tasks can be used to manually rebuild custom images to include important IBM stack updates.

In a typical deployment, these updates span multiple containers, and include both fix packs, interim fix, and IBM Java SDK updates for WebSphere Application Server, WebSphere Application Server V8.5.5 Liberty, IBM HTTP Server, and WebSphere Application Server Web Server Plugins.

Important:

You must only apply fix pack, interim fixes (iFixes), or SDK updates on top of clean HCL Commerce images. Do not apply fixes on top of custom images. Apply all customizations to a default image during the same build to avoid additional size increases.
After the upgrade you will notice an increases in size of each image.
Create backups of your existing Dockerfiles.

Before you begin

Beginning in HCL Commerce 9.1.14.0, application container images are built to be run as a non-root user by default. This change has the potential to break your custom deployment. Therefore, you must review this change and its potential impacts. For more information, see HCL Commerce container users and privileges. The Dockerfile additions for updating your stack are impacted by these changes.
Review Supported software levels, fixes, and settings for HCL Commerce to observe the software levels for stack items included with the latest release. These versions provide a baseline target for your stack to ensure that the most recently identified security issues are addressed.
Contact HCL Support to obtain the fix packs and interim fixes that you require for WebSphere Application Server, WebSphere Application Server V8.5.5 Liberty, the IBM Java SDK, IBM HTTP Server, and WebSphere Application Server Web Server Plugins.
Configure a local FTP server to serve the fix packs and interim fixes to your Docker containers during the update procedure. The provided Dockerfile samples utilize an FTP server with password authentication.

About this task

To update one or more custom Docker images, follow the procedure in each task that is contained within this task flow, as highlighted in the procedure below.

The general process contains two steps:

For each image in your deployment, associated Installation Manager response files are created for each individual software update. The response file defines the location of, and directs the installation of, each specific fix pack, interim fix, or SDK within the image using IBM Installation Manager.
Additional script contents are then added to the image Dockerfile, which run the update process using the corresponding Installation Manager response files.
The additions to your image Dockerfiles:
1. Copy over your IBM Installation Manager response files.
2. Download the required fix packs and interim fixes to your images via FTP server, making them available for installation.
3. Run Installation Manager, to perform the stack updates within your custom containers.
4. Clean up temporary directories, reclaiming storage within the container.

Procedure

Results

Your custom Docker image is generated, containing any updated prerequisite IBM software. You must repeat this process for each HCL Commerce image with IBM software in your deployment. Then, you must fully test and deploy these images into your production environment.