Docker Image

What is Docker?

Think of a Docker container as a minimal virtual machine that runs only the processes that are needed for a given application, here POPScomp. The advantage of using Docker is that you can run the software on your own computer without having to go through a multi-step installation procedure. It suffices to download and run the Docker image.

Prerequisites

You need to have Docker installed on your computer.

Downloading the POPScomp Docker image

You can now pull the POPScomp image from the Docker Hub (https://hub.docker.com/u/popscomp) to your computer. Tag '3.1.4' is an example, please replace that with the latest release version number!

docker pull popscomp/popscomp:3.1.4

List local Docker images

docker images
## REPOSITORY          TAG     IMAGE ID       CREATED         SIZE
## popscomp/popscomp   3.1.4   4326210b7293   6 minutes ago   1.94GB

Initialise the POPScomp Docker container

docker run -e USERID=1000 -e PASSWORD=<my_passwd> --rm -p 8787:8787 4326210b7293

Use your own USERID and choose your own password as <my_passwd>. The '8787' is the port number under which the application runs on your computer. The last number (here '4326210b7293') is the 'IMAGE ID' that has been listed under 'docker images'.

Accessing the POPScomp Shiny App

Open a Web browser and enter the following URL address:

http://localhost:8787/

That opens a login screen on the browser. Type rstudio in the user field and your above <my_passwd> in the password field.

Running the POPScomp Shiny App

The top left window of RStudio should show the code of 'app.R'. If not, open the file 'POPScomp/POPSR/inst/popsr/app.R'. Press the 'Run App' field on the top right side of that window. You should see the POPScomp interface. If in doubt, compare your Shiny App to that of the POPScomp server, which runs the same software.