AEM as a Cloud Service SDK - Dispatcher Tools - Docker image

[Rama_KrishnaNy]

Hi all,

AEM as a Cloud Service SDK has Dispatcher Tools and Docker image as a part of it.

What exactly is the Docker image and its role? 

Is it optional or mandatory? What happens if we do not use Docker image?

I appreciate all your replies.

Thanks,

Rama.

[EstebanBustamante]

Hi, 

The Docker image serves as a local dispatcher for your development work. While using the dispatcher Docker image is optional, it is highly recommended that you test your code using a dispatcher before pushing any changes to AEM as a Cloud Service (AEMaaCS). One notable difference from on-premise environments is that in AEMaaCS, there is no direct access to the dispatcher server to check configurations. Therefore, testing your dispatcher changes locally becomes crucial. Even before AEMaaCS, it was expected that changes would be tested locally; however, with AEMaaCS, this becomes essential. That's why Adobe provides a ready-to-use dispatcher through a Docker image for this purpose as part of the SDK.

If you are working on changes that do not involve dispatcher configurations, you could avoid using and testing your changes in the local dispatcher. However, I think it is a good practice to verify that everything functions correctly, even with the dispatcher, but it is up to you in the end to use it or not.

You can read more here: https://experienceleague.adobe.com/en/docs/experience-manager-learn/cloud-service/local-development-... 

https://experienceleague.adobe.com/en/docs/experience-manager-cloud-service/content/implementing/con...

Hope this helps.

[h_kataria · Accepted solution]

SDK dispatcher tools and the docker image are means to setup the dispatcher locally on your system in order to have your local setup as close to the actual cloud instance as possible.
This helps in validating/debugging your actual project dispatcher setup.
The docker image saves you the hassle of setting Apache web server with the dispatcher module manually. Prior to the docker approach, you would have to do all these steps manually as mentioned here : https://experienceleague.adobe.com/en/docs/experience-manager-dispatcher/using/getting-started/dispa... The docker approach is less error prone and maintains consistency in your setup.