Launching App Workbench

A workspace is a directory that contains all of the files relevant for application development. The App Workbench web interface is launched and managed on a per-workspace basis. All of the lifecycle commands on this page should be executed from the workspace directory.

This article contains the following sections:

Lifecycle describes the high-level App Workbench lifecycle.
Launching the App Workbench Interface provides the detailed procedure for launching and then accessing the web interface.
Stopping and Relaunching describes how to stop and then relaunch the interface.

The diagram at the bottom of this article illustrates these processes as they may appear on your workstation.

Lifecycle

App Workbench runs as a container service. The basic lifecycle is:

Change directory into your workspace by executing the following command:
```
cd <path_to_workspace>
```
Launch the App Workbench container service by executing the following command:
```
bdwb --launchui --port <port_#>
```
(If no port is specified, the default is 5002.)
An App Workbench interface sessions starts for the current workspace.
Launch a web browser to design or edit your application. Data will be saved to your workspace.
If necessary, log in to the Docker registry that you will use to pull or push images during the application build process:
```
docker login <registry_url>
```
After the application has been built, stop the container or workspace session, execute the following command from the workspace from which the session was started:
```
bdwb --stopui
```
If necessary, log out of the Docker registry:
```
docker logout <registry_url>
```

The following sections of this article describe each step of the lifecycle in detail.

Launching the App Workbench Interface

To launch the App Workbench interface:

Create a new workspace directory:
mkdir <workspace>
Switch to that directory:
```
cd <workspace>
```
Launch the interface:
```
bdwb --launchui --port <port_#>
```
(If no port is specified, the default is 5002.)
Launch a web browser, and then navigate to the URL that indicated via the line:
```
HPE Workbench WebUI is running: open your browser to http://<host>:<port>
```

The web interface Application Status screen appears (see The Application Status Screen). You may now begin building your application.

Stopping & Relaunching

To stop the App Workbench interface, execute the following command in the same workspace directory from which the interface was started:
```
bdwb --stopui
```
If you are not in the correct directory when you execute the command, an error similar to the following is displayed:
```
HPE Workbench WebUI is not running for the current workspace.
```
To relaunch App Workbench, execute the following command in the existing workspace directory:
```
bdwb --launchui -port <port_#>
```
(If no port is specified, the default is 5002.)

Lifecycle Example

This diagram illustrates the App Workbench lifecycle described above:

 [sampleuser@prod21 AWB5.1]$ sudo cp bdwb /usr/bin/bdwb
 [sampleuser@prod21 AWB5.1]$ sudo chmod +x /usr/bin/bdwb
 [sampleuser@prod21 AWB5.1]$ mkdir ../workspace
 [sampleuser@prod21 AWB5.1]$ cd ../workspace
 [sampleuser@prod21 AWB5.1]$ bdwb --launchui --port 8080
 b6c976476a0fed2e4ad54a2b3c1d3c8b23b299f0a23ddb9cda11fbb8c0e08f5c
 HPE Application Workbench WebUI is running: open your browser to http://prod21.sds.local:8080
 [sampleuser@prod21 AWB5.1]$ bdwb --stopui
 b6c976476a0fed2e4ad54a2b3c1d3c8b23b299f0a23ddb9cda11fbb8c0e08f5c
 HPE Application Workbench WebUI stopped.
 [sampleuser@prod21 AWB5.1]$ bdwb --launchui --port 8080
 d080e3ba3870a85201b3919836921dd1faf8ab7090f46d0e0876dd443af25ba2
 HPE Application Workbench WebUI is running: open your browser to http://prod21.sds.local:8080
 [sampleuser@prod21 AWB5.1]$