The tix-time-server is a micro-service that is expected to receive all the packets coming from the tix-clients. There are two modes in which it operates.
If the packet is a normal packet, it simply returns with the added reception and sent timestamps.
If the packet is a data packet, it also serializes this packet into a queue. This is to make further processing later.
The server provides a health check endpoint that can be used to assert it's health.
The tix-time-server is currently in CD, by using Travis and DockerHub. So to install it you only need to download the latest container from the repository.
This micro-service is not made with special framework, but it uses a custom solution for externalized configuration that is loosely based in SpringBoot Profiles.
It can use either the variables held in the application.yml or replace any value by using the environment variables.
As previously stated, the tix-time-server uses a custom configuration service that uses primarily the application.yml file. There you can find all the configurations variables and default settings for each profile.
If you need to override any variable, you can simply use an environment variable for that. The environment variable must start with the TIX prefix.
Then, for each property category, the environment variable must use double underscore (__). The category name must use underscores. So, for example, if you want to override the host where the RabbitMQ service is running, the environment variable name must be TIX__QUEUE__HOST. If you want to override the number of working threads, the environment variable name must be TIX__WORKER_THREADS_QUANTITY.
The evironment keyword is reserved. So if you want to use a particular environment/profile, you must override the variable by giving the environment variable TIX__ENVIRONMENT the value you need.
Since this is a standalone micro-service with no framework support whatsoever, created using gradle, to run it outside the container you only need to run:
$> ./gradlew fatJar
$> java -jar build/libs/tix-time-server-all-<VERSION>.jar
On the other hand, if you want to use the service in a container, you simply need to run
$> docker run -dit tixmeasurements/tix-time-server:latest