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Docker: How to run RealTestData API and WEB

This documentation describes how to install a docker engine and how to install and run local docker image of RealTestData API and WEB from Windows, Mac and Linux

Step 1 - Install a docker compatible IDE or daemon

On Windows

  1. Download Docker Desktop
  2. Go to https://www.docker.com/products/docker-desktop/
  3. Download Docker Desktop for Windows

  4. Requires Windows 10/11 Pro, Enterprise, or Education (64-bit)

  5. Install Docker Desktop

  6. Run the installer as Administrator
  7. Follow the installation wizard
  8. Enable WSL 2 integration when prompted

  9. Restart your computer when installation completes

  10. Start Docker Desktop

  11. Launch Docker Desktop from Start menu
  12. Wait for the Docker engine to start (whale icon in system tray)

  13. You should see “Docker Desktop is running” status

  14. Verify Installation 

    docker --version
docker run hello-world

Option 2: Docker Engine (Command Line Only)

  1. Enable WSL 2 

    # Run in PowerShell as Administrator
wsl --install

  2. Install Docker Engine in WSL 2 

    # In WSL 2 terminal
curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com -o get-docker.sh
sudo sh get-docker.sh
sudo usermod -aG docker $USER

Option 3: Rancher Desktop (Alternative)

  1. Download from https://rancherdesktop.io/
  2. Install and configure with dockerd runtime
  3. Verify with docker --version

System Requirements

  • Windows 10 version 2004 or higher (Build 19041 or higher)
  • WSL 2 feature enabled
  • Virtualization enabled in BIOS
  • At least 4GB RAM (8GB recommended)

Troubleshooting

  • If Docker Desktop won’t start, ensure virtualization is enabled in BIOS
  • For WSL 2 issues, run: wsl --update
  • Check Windows features: Turn Windows features on/off → Enable “Virtual Machine Platform” and “Windows Subsystem for Linux”

On Mac

  1. Download Docker Desktop
  2. Go to https://www.docker.com/products/docker-desktop/

  3. Choose the appropriate version:

    • Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3): Download “Mac with Apple chip”
    • Intel Mac: Download “Mac with Intel chip”

  4. Install Docker Desktop

  5. Open the downloaded .dmg file
  6. Drag Docker to Applications folder
  7. Launch Docker from Applications

  8. Grant necessary permissions when prompted

  9. Start Docker Desktop

  10. Docker will start automatically after installation
  11. Look for Docker whale icon in menu bar

  12. Click icon to see “Docker Desktop is running”

  13. Verify Installation 

    docker --version
docker run hello-world

Option 2: Docker Engine via Homebrew

  1. Install Homebrew (if not already installed) 

    /bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

  2. Install Docker 

    brew install docker
brew install docker-compose

  3. Start Docker Service 

    brew services start docker

Option 3: Rancher Desktop (Alternative)

  1. Download from https://rancherdesktop.io/
  2. Install the .dmg package
  3. Configure with dockerd runtime
  4. Verify with docker --version

System Requirements (Mac)

  • macOS 10.15 or newer
  • At least 4GB RAM (8GB recommended)
  • VirtualBox prior to version 4.3.30 must not be installed

On Linux

Option 1: Docker Engine (Official Repository)

For Ubuntu/Debian: 1. Update package index 

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install ca-certificates curl gnupg lsb-release

  1. Add Docker’s official GPG key 

    sudo mkdir -p /etc/apt/keyrings
curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu/gpg | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.gpg

  2. Set up repository 

    echo "deb [arch=$(dpkg --print-architecture) signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/docker.gpg] https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu $(lsb_release -cs) stable" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list > /dev/null

  3. Install Docker Engine 

    sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io docker-buildx-plugin docker-compose-plugin

  4. Add user to docker group 

    sudo usermod -aG docker $USER
newgrp docker

For CentOS/RHEL/Fedora: 1. Install using yum/dnf 

# CentOS/RHEL
sudo yum install -y yum-utils
sudo yum-config-manager --add-repo https://download.docker.com/linux/centos/docker-ce.repo
sudo yum install docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io docker-buildx-plugin docker-compose-plugin

# Fedora
sudo dnf -y install dnf-plugins-core
sudo dnf config-manager --add-repo https://download.docker.com/linux/fedora/docker-ce.repo
sudo dnf install docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io docker-buildx-plugin docker-compose-plugin

  1. Start Docker service 

    sudo systemctl start docker
sudo systemctl enable docker

  2. Add user to docker group 

    sudo usermod -aG docker $USER

Option 2: Docker Desktop for Linux

  1. Download from https://www.docker.com/products/docker-desktop/
  2. Install the package 
    # Ubuntu/Debian
sudo dpkg -i docker-desktop-<version>-<arch>.deb

# RHEL/Fedora
sudo rpm -i docker-desktop-<version>-<arch>.rpm

Option 3: Quick Install Script

curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com -o get-docker.sh
sudo sh get-docker.sh
sudo usermod -aG docker $USER

System Requirements (Linux)

  • 64-bit kernel and CPU support for virtualization
  • KVM virtualization support
  • QEMU must be version 5.2 or newer
  • systemd init system
  • At least 4GB RAM (8GB recommended)

Verify Installation (All Platforms)

After installation on any platform, verify Docker is working: 

docker --version
docker run hello-world
docker ps

You should see: - Docker version information - “Hello from Docker!” message - Empty container list (initially)

Step 2 - Download and run RealTestData docker images

RealTestData has 2 docker images and several docker volumes with data.
In order to install and run the images as containers we provide a Windows and Mac/Linux script.

When you downloaded our API-WEB package there are 4 files included:

  • rtdall-start.bat for Windows
  • rtdall-start.sh for Mac/Linux

When you run this script the images will be downloaded or updated from dockerhub. RTDVOLS images download/update all volumes necessary and add them to the local volume repository or update them in the local repository

  • rtdall-start-container.bat for Windows
  • rtdall-start-container.sh for Mac/Linux

These scripts are for starting the containers only in case they stopped. You don’t need to run rtdall-start a second time, when everything is locally and upto date available.

Update all volumes regulary.

Check locally available Docker resources

Before running the scripts, you can check what Docker images and volumes are already available locally:

Check Docker Images

# List all local Docker images
docker images

# Check specific image
docker images realtestdata/rtdapi
docker images realtestdata/rtdweb
docker images realtestdata/rtdvols

Check Docker Volumes

# List all local Docker volumes
docker volume ls

# Get detailed information about a specific volume
docker volume inspect configdata
docker volume inspect resultdata

Check Running Containers

# List all running containers
docker ps

# List all containers (running and stopped)
docker ps -a

Check Docker Networks

# List all networks
docker network ls

Complete System Overview

# Get complete Docker system information
docker system df

# Show disk usage by Docker components
docker system df -v

# Show detailed system information
docker info

Expected Local Resources

After running the setup scripts successfully, you should see:

Images: - realtestdata/rtdapi:latest - realtestdata/rtdweb:latest - realtestdata/rtdvols:latest

Volumes: - configdata - resultdata - database - full - trial - doc

Network: - rtdnet

Running Containers: - rtdapi-container (port 8000) - rtdweb-container (port 5000)

Step 3 - Run the RealTestData Webclient

Before accessing the WebUI check whether the API is running: localhost:8000 should show “This is RealTestData API”

Now open a Web browser of your choice and enter localhost:5000 as URL.
You should see the homepage of RealTestData.
In order to login you must apply with “Register”. A trial user will be created for you.

2 trial users do already exist: trial/trial test/test

You can create up to more 2 trial users.

With “Generate” you can generate the result file which is downloaded.
Once this is working check out the different settings.

Step 4 - Using the API without the web client.

You can use the API without the webclient.
You can find a Python example in the Zip file: RealTestData_API_Generate.py.
When you call the API in a Web browser and enter localhost:8000/docs/en you will find the english (or de - German or cz - Czech API documentation.).

Calling localhost:8000/generate_live will generate the data you have specified in the web client as a JSON stream. You can integrate this stream in your CI/CD pipeline.