Request - Docker Compose Stack

[tomtom215]

Hello!

This project looks very impressive and fits the need for a lot of use cases.

Would it be possible for you to containerize this and publish an official docker image?

I think this will attract a much bigger audience to the project and allow people to quickly spin up something locally to test out.

[Giannoudis]

Thank you very much for your contribution.

I have also been thinking about offering it as a Docker image. I will tackle your idea shortly.

[Giannoudis]

I have made a sketch of the possible docker composition:
https://github.com/Payroll-Engine/PayrollEngine/blob/main/images/DockerMap.png
For the database, there is a T-SQL setup/update script that is installed using the Db Query Tool.

What is the most useful docker composition for production use?

[gsayer]

👋 Hello!

I propose the following modifications for a simplified docker-compose setup in the /PayrollEngine repository:

• PayrollEngine.Backend
• PayrollEngine.WebApp
• PayrollEngine.SqlServer.DbQuery
• PayrollEngine

---

Notes:

1. The 4 repositories must be placed at the same level in the folder hierarchy so that the images can be built correctly using docker-compose.
2. The docker-compose file launches a db-init container, which initializes the database and then stops itself.

---

Next step: We could automate the image builds using GitHub Actions.

---

@Giannoudis – I'm currently working on an embedded payroll platform project, so I don’t have full visibility on yours yet, but it looks incredible what you’ve built so far. Really impressive work!

[Giannoudis]

@gsayer - Welcome to the Payroll Engine Community! Thank you very much for your collaboration. 👍

I tested your extensions and found the following:

1. The db-init action does not work if I use a different password in the .env file. An error message stating that the password did not match the one provided appears.

2025-07-11 09:40:29.88 spid42s     Recovery is complete. This is an informational message only. No user action is required.
payrollengine-db-init  | Creating database...
2025-07-11 09:40:44.63 Logon       Error: 18456, Severity: 14, State: 8.
2025-07-11 09:40:44.63 Logon       Login failed for user 'sa'. Reason: Password did not match that for the login provided. [CLIENT: 172.18.0.3]

2. When I run 'dotnet publish' with the '--no-restore' option, I receive an error message saying that the NuGets cannot be resolved. This works without this option. Please note that the C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\Shared\NuGetPackages package fallback folder exists locally.

 => ERROR [backend-api build 20/20] RUN dotnet publish "PayrollEngine.Backend.Server.csproj" -c Release -o /app/publish --no-restore                                                                                                                                                        1.1s
------
 > [backend-api build 20/20] RUN dotnet publish "PayrollEngine.Backend.Server.csproj" -c Release -o /app/publish --no-restore:
1.051 /usr/share/dotnet/sdk/9.0.302/Sdks/Microsoft.NET.Sdk/targets/Microsoft.PackageDependencyResolution.targets(266,5): error MSB4018: The "ResolvePackageAssets" task failed unexpectedly. [/src/Backend.Server/PayrollEngine.Backend.Server.csproj]
1.051 /usr/share/dotnet/sdk/9.0.302/Sdks/Microsoft.NET.Sdk/targets/Microsoft.PackageDependencyResolution.targets(266,5): error MSB4018: NuGet.Packaging.Core.PackagingException: Unable to find fallback package folder 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\Shared\NuGetPackages'. [/src/Backend.Server/PayrollEngine.Backend.Server.csproj]

3. I cannot log in to the database on the server localhost:1433 using the sa/.env-password account in my SQL Server Management Console. Access to the backend and web app servers works fine.

4. The PayrollEngine.SqlServer.DbQuery tool is not needed anymore, the Container support is not required.

[Giannoudis]

@gsayer - Thank your for the update.

I have now the following database connection error in db-init:

Waiting for database to be ready...
/bin/sh: 5: /opt/mssql-tools18/bin/sqlcmd: not found
Testing database connection...
Database connection failed

The error occurs with every admin password.

[gsayer]

@Giannoudis

I think that the error /bin/sh: 5: /opt/mssql-tools18/bin/sqlcmd: not found is misleading. The real cause is probably the ! character in your SQL Server password causing authentication failures that get masked as "command not found" errors.

Solution

Fix the password in .env:

# Remove the ! character
DB_PASSWORD=XXXXX

Reset Docker environment:

docker-compose down
docker volume rm payrollengine_mssql-data
docker-compose up -d

Commit c2f25b1

[Giannoudis]

@gsayer

Thanks for the update. Even after fixing the password and resetting Docker, I'm still getting the /bin/sh: 5: /opt/mssql-tools18/bin/sqlcmd: not found error 30 seconds later.

[gsayer]

I can't reproduce the error when running db-init.

My scenario

I have done:

docker-compose down
docker volume rm payrollengine_mssql-data
echo "DB_PASSWORD=PayrollStrongPass789" > .env
docker-compose up --build

My terminal output (container payrollengine-db-init):

payrollengine-db-init  | Testing database connection...
payrollengine-db-init  |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             
payrollengine-db-init  | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
payrollengine-db-init  | Microsoft SQL Server 2022 (RTM-CU20) (KB5059390) - 16.0.4205.1 (X64) 
payrollengine-db-init  |        Jun 13 2025 13:38:45 
payrollengine-db-init  |        Copyright (C) 2022 Microsoft Corporation
payrollengine-db-init  |        Developer Edition (64-bit) on Linux (Ubuntu 22.04.5 LTS) <X64>                                                                                                      
payrollengine-db-init  | 
payrollengine-db-init  | (1 rows affected)
payrollengine-db-init  | Creating database...
2025-07-16 17:33:43.71 spid62      [5]. Feature Status: PVS: 0. CTR: 0. ConcurrentPFSUpdate: 1. ConcurrentGAMUpdate: 1. ConcurrentSGAMUpdate: 1, CleanupUnderUserTransaction: 0. TranLevelPVS: 0
2025-07-16 17:33:43.71 spid62      Starting up database 'PayrollEngine'.
2025-07-16 17:33:43.71 spid62      RemoveStaleDbEntries: Cleanup of stale DB entries called for database ID: [5]
2025-07-16 17:33:43.71 spid62      RemoveStaleDbEntries: Cleanup of stale DB entries skipped because master db is not memory optimized. DbId: 5.
2025-07-16 17:33:43.74 spid62      Parallel redo is started for database 'PayrollEngine' with worker pool size [5].
2025-07-16 17:33:43.74 spid62      Parallel redo is shutdown for database 'PayrollEngine' with worker pool size [5].
payrollengine-db-init  | Executing SQL script...
payrollengine-db-init  | The module 'DeleteAllCaseValues' depends on the missing object 'dbo.DeleteAllGlobalCaseValues'. The module will still be created; however, it cannot run successfully until the object exists.
payrollengine-db-init  | The module 'DeleteAllCaseValues' depends on the missing object 'dbo.DeleteAllNationalCaseValues'. The module will still be created; however, it cannot run successfully until the object exists.
payrollengine-db-init  | The module 'DeleteAllCaseValues' depends on the missing object 'dbo.DeleteAllCompanyCaseValues'. The module will still be created; however, it cannot run successfully until the object exists.
payrollengine-db-init  | The module 'DeleteAllCaseValues' depends on the missing object 'dbo.DeleteAllEmployeeCaseValues'. The module will still be created; however, it cannot run successfully until the object exists.
payrollengine-db-init  | 
payrollengine-db-init  | (1 rows affected)
payrollengine-db-init  | Payroll Engine database version successfully updated to release 0.9.2
payrollengine-db-init  | Database initialization completed.
payrollengine-db-init exited with code 0

Check

docker exec payroll-db /opt/mssql-tools18/bin/sqlcmd -S localhost -U sa -P "PayrollStrongPass789" -C -Q "SELECT @@VERSION"

Output

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Microsoft SQL Server 2022 (RTM-CU20) (KB5059390) - 16.0.4205.1 (X64) 
       Jun 13 2025 13:38:45 
       Copyright (C) 2022 Microsoft Corporation
       Developer Edition (64-bit) on Linux (Ubuntu 22.04.5 LTS) <X64>                                                                                                      

(1 rows affected)

[Giannoudis]

It appears to be a quoting issue. Setting the password without quotation marks now works on my system (Win10Pro).

docker-compose down
docker volume rm payrollengine_mssql-data
echo DB_PASSWORD=PayrollStrongPass789 > .env
docker-compose up --build

[Giannoudis]

@gsayer

Your merge requests have now been incorporated into the main branches. There is now a wiki page Container Setup that explains how to use the Payroll Engine with Docker.

Thank you very much for your contribution — it is much appreciated!

@tomtom215 Thanks to @gsayer, the Payroll Engine now also supports Docker images.