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Building RR with a custom plugin | RoadRunner

Building RR with a custom plugin

Developers can take advantage of the customization options available with RoadRunner to create a server optimized for their particular project.

This can include:

  • Forking existing ones to make changes.

  • Building a lightweight server with only the necessary plugins.

We created a tool called Velox that lets developers build a RoadRunner server binary. It uses a configuration file to determine which plugins and repositories are required for building a RoadRunner server binary.

The configuration file is written in TOML format and contains a list of repositories to add to the build. For each repository, you can specify the owner and version. You can also add private repositories from GitHub or GitLab and authenticate with access tokens.

To download all the required plugins for RoadRunner, you need a GitHub token. If you try to download plugins without a token, anonymous access is limited to 50 requests per hour. You can read more about these limits on the Rate limits for GitHub Appsarrow-up-right page.

Here is an example of a configuration file:

[roadrunner]
# ref -> reference, tag, commit or branch
ref = "master"

# the debug option is used to build RR with debug symbols to profile it with pprof
[debug]
enabled = true

[github]
[github.token]
token = "${RT_TOKEN}"

# ref -> master, commit or tag
[github.plugins]
# LOGS
appLogger = { ref = "v5.0.2", owner = "roadrunner-server", repository = "app-logger" }
logger = { ref = "v5.0.2", owner = "roadrunner-server", repository = "logger" }
lock = { ref = "v5.0.2", owner = "roadrunner-server", repository = "lock" }
rpc = { ref = "v5.0.2", owner = "roadrunner-server", repository = "rpc" }

# CENTRIFUGE BROADCASTING PLATFORM
centrifuge = { ref = "v5.0.2", owner = "roadrunner-server", repository = "centrifuge" }

# WORKFLOWS ENGINE
temporal = { ref = "v5.1.0", owner = "temporalio", repository = "roadrunner-temporal" }

# METRICS
metrics = { ref = "v5.0.2", owner = "roadrunner-server", repository = "metrics" }

# HTTP + MIDDLEWARE
http = { ref = "v5.0.2", owner = "roadrunner-server", repository = "http" }
gzip = { ref = "v5.0.2", owner = "roadrunner-server", repository = "gzip" }
prometheus = { ref = "v5.0.1", owner = "roadrunner-server", repository = "prometheus" }
headers = { ref = "v5.0.2", owner = "roadrunner-server", repository = "headers" }
static = { ref = "v5.0.1", owner = "roadrunner-server", repository = "static" }
proxy = { ref = "v5.0.2", owner = "roadrunner-server", repository = "proxy_ip_parser" }
send = { ref = "v5.0.1", owner = "roadrunner-server", repository = "send" }

# OpenTelemetry
otel = { ref = "v5.0.1", owner = "roadrunner-server", repository = "otel" }

# SERVER
server = { ref = "v5.0.2", owner = "roadrunner-server", repository = "server" }

# SERVICE aka lightweight systemd
service = { ref = "v5.0.2", owner = "roadrunner-server", repository = "service" }

# JOBS
jobs = { ref = "v5.0.2", owner = "roadrunner-server", repository = "jobs" }
amqp = { ref = "v5.0.2", owner = "roadrunner-server", repository = "amqp" }
sqs = { ref = "v5.0.2", owner = "roadrunner-server", repository = "sqs" }
beanstalk = { ref = "v5.0.2", owner = "roadrunner-server", repository = "beanstalk" }
nats = { ref = "v5.0.2", owner = "roadrunner-server", repository = "nats" }
kafka = { ref = "v5.0.2", owner = "roadrunner-server", repository = "kafka" }
googlepubsub = { ref = "v5.0.2", owner = "roadrunner-server", repository = "google-pub-sub" }

# KV
kv = { ref = "v5.0.2", owner = "roadrunner-server", repository = "kv" }
boltdb = { ref = "v5.0.2", owner = "roadrunner-server", repository = "boltdb" }
memory = { ref = "v5.0.2", owner = "roadrunner-server", repository = "memory" }
redis = { ref = "v5.0.2", owner = "roadrunner-server", repository = "redis" }
memcached = { ref = "v5.0.2", owner = "roadrunner-server", repository = "memcached" }

# FILESERVER (static files)
fileserver = { ref = "v5.0.1", owner = "roadrunner-server", repository = "fileserver" }

# gRPC plugin
grpc = { ref = "v5.0.2", owner = "roadrunner-server", repository = "grpc" }

# HEALTHCHECKS + READINESS CHECKS
status = { ref = "v5.0.2", owner = "roadrunner-server", repository = "status" }

# TCP for the RAW TCP PAYLOADS
tcp = { ref = "v5.0.2", owner = "roadrunner-server", repository = "tcp" }

[gitlab]
[gitlab.token]
# api, read-api, read-repo
token = "${GL_TOKEN}"

[gitlab.endpoint]
endpoint = "https://gitlab.com"

[gitlab.plugins]
# ref -> master, commit or tag
test_plugin_1 = { ref = "main", owner = "rustatian", repository = "36405203" }
test_plugin_2 = { ref = "main", owner = "rustatian", repository = "36405235" }

[log]
level = "info"
mode = "production"

When using official plugins for RoadRunner, it is recommended avoid using the master branch as it may contain unstable code. Instead, use tags with the same major version (e.g., logger:v4.x.x + amqp:v4.x.x, but not logger:v4.0.0 + amqp:v3.0.5). Please note that the currently supported plugin version is v5.x.x, and the supported RoadRunner version is >=v2024.2.x.

Failure to follow these guidelines may result in compatibility issues and other problems. Please pay close attention to your configuration file to ensure proper use of plugins.

You can use environment variables in the configuration file. This is useful when you want to keep the configuration file in the repository, but you don't want to expose your tokens or just want to pass them as arguments to the vx command.

Here is the list of environment variables from the example above:

Keep in mind to set the latest stable version in the ${VERSION} environment variable. You may also use the ${TIME} environment variable to write the build time in the output binary.

To replace the module with the local copy or some remote module, use the following velox.toml configuration:

Or with your local copy:

  • Exclude your organization package prefix from the Go environment variables:

Using the Docker image simplifies the build process by automatically building the RoadRunner binary and storing it in the /usr/bin/ folder. This eliminates the need to install Golang or other dependencies on your computer. Once the build is complete, Docker will automatically start the RoadRunner server.

Here is an example of Dockerfile:

Third-party and deprecated plugins

  • At the moment, only GitHub and GitLab repositories are supported.

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