Aether Framework - Docker Environment (Unified V3)

This repository provides the unified Docker orchestration and configuration for the Aether Platform. It manages the lifecycle of the Aether API (FastAPI), Aether App (SvelteKit), and supporting infrastructure (MariaDB, Redis, Nginx).

🌐 Traffic Architecture

The V3 environment uses a Dual-Network strategy to support multiple isolated stacks (test, bak, prod) on a single host while sharing core services like MariaDB or Redis.

External Internet
      ↓
Home Server Nginx  (SSL termination, domain routing)
      ↓                          ↓
workstation:3001           workstation:5060
(AE_APP_GATEWAY_PORT)      (AE_API_GATEWAY_PORT)
      ↓                          ↓
         ae_web_dev (Docker nginx, port 80)
      ↓                          ↓
  svelte_backend           fastapi_backend
  (Docker DNS round-robin)  (Docker DNS round-robin)
      ↓                          ↓
 ae_app replicas          ae_api replicas

Key Improvements:

• Scalable Routing: Nginx uses Regex (~^(dev|test|bak|sr|prod)?-?...) to automatically handle any environment prefix without configuration changes.
• Isolated Stacks: Each deployment uses a unique AE_NETWORK_NAME and CONTAINER_ prefix to prevent collisions.
• Shared Services: Core infrastructure (DB/Redis) resides on the aether_shared_net which must be created manually once.

---

🚀 Quick Start

1. Initialize Host Network

Before starting your first stack, create the shared internal network:

docker network create aether_shared_net

2. Initialize Directory Structure

Create the base directory and clone this environment:

sudo mkdir -p /srv/env/aether
sudo chown -R $USER:$USER /srv/env/aether
git clone https://bitbucket.org/oneskyit/one-sky-it-container-environment.git /srv/env/aether/container_env

3. Configure Environment Settings

Copy the template and update it with your unique stack identifiers:

cd /srv/env/aether/container_env
cp env.default .env
# CRITICAL: Set unique CONTAINER_ prefixes and AE_NETWORK_NAME for each stack
vim .env

3. Configure Data & Source Paths

The containers locate data and source code using absolute paths defined in your .env file. Ensure these variables point to the correct locations on your host system:

• AE_API_SRC: Path to your aether_api_fastapi repository.
• AE_APP_SRC: Path to your aether_app_sveltekit repository.
• HOSTED_FILES_SRC: Path to the physical storage for images/documents.
• HOSTED_TMP_SRC: Path for temporary file processing.

4. Certificates & Database

• SSL: Place your wild-card certificates in conf/certs/ (matching the filenames in docker-compose.yml).
• Database: Use the restoration scripts (see below) to import a MariaDB snapshot.

---

🛠️ Management Commands

Orchestration (Unified Stack)

docker compose up -d --build   # Build and start all services (Autonomous SvelteKit build)
docker compose down            # Stop all services
docker compose restart ae_app  # Restart the SvelteKit UI
docker compose restart ae_api  # Restart the FastAPI Backend

Deployment Workflow

The SvelteKit application is built inside the container. You can control the build mode (which bakes in the correct PUBLIC_ variables) via the .env file:

• Set AE_APP_BUILD_MODE=staging for development/testing.
• Set AE_APP_BUILD_MODE=prod for production.

Then run:

docker compose up -d --build ae_app

---

🗄️ Database Management (Physical Backups)

... (rest of the file remains the same) ...

The system uses physical hot backups via mariabackup for maximum speed and data integrity.

User-Facing Scripts

These scripts are located in the root directory:

• ./backup_db.sh: Triggers an immediate hot backup. Results are stored in backups/.
• ./export_db.sh: Creates a "Conference Ready" backup in backups/conference_export/ with host-user ownership.
• ./restore_db.sh [backup_file.gz]: Performs a full "Clean Slate" restoration.
  • Warning: This stops MariaDB, archives current data, and resets root passwords to match your .env.
• ./check_and_import.sh: A watchdog script that monitors backups/import/ for new snapshots and triggers automated restoration.

---

📂 Directory Map

• conf/: Configuration templates for Nginx and Gunicorn. API config now lives in the aether_api_fastapi repo as app/config.py and reads settings directly from env vars.
• logs/: Centralized logging for all containers.
• srv/: Mount points for data and source code (managed via symlinks).
• scripts/: Internal automation logic.
• backups/: Storage for MariaDB snapshots.

---

📝 Configuration Guidelines

Environment Profiles (COMPOSE_PROFILES)

• database: Includes MariaDB, phpMyAdmin, and the ae_ops maintenance service.
• App-Only: Leave empty if connecting to a remote/shared database server.

Aether Config ID (AE_CFG_ID)

Specifies the record from the cfg table to load during the API bootstrap process:

• 1: Default / Template
• 5: Home Development
• 7: Live Testing

---

⚠️ Security Notes

• Never commit the .env file (it is ignored by git).
• Ensure AE_API_JWT_KEY is a unique, high-entropy string in production.
• The API prioritizes .env credentials over DB settings for core infrastructure (SMTP/DB) to prevent accidental lockouts.