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dhi.io/temporalio-admin-tools

Temporal Admin Tools

CIS

FIPS

STIG

linux/amd64

linux/arm64

Administrative CLI tools for Temporal workflow engine, including tctl, temporal CLI, and database management utilities.

Overview Guides Images

How to use this image

All examples in this guide use the public image. If you’ve mirrored the repository for your own use (for example, to your Docker Hub namespace), update your commands to reference the mirrored image instead of the public one.

For example:

Public image: dhi.io/<repository>:<tag>
Mirrored image: dhi.io/<repository>:<tag>

For the examples, you must first use docker login dhi.io to authenticate to the registry to pull the images.

Pull a Stakater Reloader container

To pull a temporalio-admin-tools container, run the following command. Replace <tag> with the image variant you want to run.

$ docker pull dhi.io/temporalio-admin-tools:<tag>

Quick Start with Docker Compose

The admin tools image is designed to work alongside the Temporal server and can be used for management tasks.

To test locally use a docker-compose.yml file like the following, based on the temporal.io examples: https://github.com/temporalio/docker-compose⁠. This example is for versions up to 1.29.

services:
  elasticsearch:
    container_name: temporal-elasticsearch
    environment:
      - cluster.routing.allocation.disk.threshold_enabled=true
      - cluster.routing.allocation.disk.watermark.low=512mb
      - cluster.routing.allocation.disk.watermark.high=256mb
      - cluster.routing.allocation.disk.watermark.flood_stage=128mb
      - discovery.type=single-node
      - ES_JAVA_OPTS=-Xms256m -Xmx256m
      - xpack.security.enabled=false
    image: elasticsearch:${ELASTICSEARCH_VERSION}
    networks:
      - temporal-network
    expose:
      - 9200
      - 9300
    ports:
      - 9200:9200
      - 9300:9300
    volumes:
      - /var/lib/elasticsearch/data
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD-SHELL", "curl -f http://localhost:9200/_cluster/health || exit 1"]
      interval: 30s
      timeout: 10s
      retries: 5
  postgresql:
    container_name: temporal-postgresql
    environment:
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: ${POSTGRES_PASSWORD}
      POSTGRES_USER: ${POSTGRES_USER}
      POSTGRES_INITDB_ARGS: ${POSTGRES_INITDB_ARGS}
    image: ${POSTGRES_IMAGE}:${POSTGRES_VERSION}
    networks:
      - temporal-network
    expose:
      - 5432
    volumes:
      - postgres_data:/var/lib/postgresql/data
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD-SHELL", "pg_isready -U temporal"]
      interval: 10s
      timeout: 5s
      retries: 5
  temporal:
    container_name: temporal
    depends_on:
      postgresql:
        condition: service_healthy
      elasticsearch:
        condition: service_healthy
    environment:
      - DB=postgres12
      - DB_PORT=5432
      - POSTGRES_USER=${POSTGRES_USER}
      - POSTGRES_PWD=${POSTGRES_PASSWORD}  # NOTE: env var ends in _PWD not _PASSWORD like on the server.
      - POSTGRES_SEEDS=${POSTGRES_SEEDS}
      - DYNAMIC_CONFIG_FILE_PATH=/etc/temporal/config/dynamicconfig/development-sql.yaml
      - ENABLE_ES=true
      - ES_SEEDS=elasticsearch
      - ES_VERSION=v7
      - SKIP_SCHEMA_SETUP=false # DHI does this independently to keep vulnerable tools off the server
      - TEMPORAL_ADDRESS=temporal:7233
      - TEMPORAL_CLI_ADDRESS=temporal:7233
    image: ${TEMPORAL_IMAGE}:${TEMPORAL_VERSION}
    networks:
      - temporal-network
    ports:
      - 7233:7233
    volumes:
      - ./dynamicconfig:/etc/temporal/config/dynamicconfig
    entrypoint: "/etc/temporal/entrypoint.sh autosetup"
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD-SHELL", "tctl cluster health | grep -q SERVING || exit 1"]
      interval: 30s
      timeout: 10s
      retries: 10
      start_period: 60s
  temporal-admin-tools:
    container_name: temporal-admin-tools
    depends_on:
      temporal:
        condition: service_healthy
    environment:
      - TEMPORAL_ADDRESS=temporal:7233
      - TEMPORAL_CLI_ADDRESS=temporal:7233
    image: ${TEMPORAL_ADMIN_TOOLS_IMAGE}:${TEMPORAL_ADMIN_TOOLS_VERSION}
    networks:
      - temporal-network
    stdin_open: true
    tty: true
  temporal-ui:
    container_name: temporal-ui
    depends_on:
      temporal:
        condition: service_healthy
    environment:
      - TEMPORAL_ADDRESS=temporal:7233
      - TEMPORAL_CORS_ORIGINS=http://localhost:3000
    image: ${TEMPORAL_UI_IMAGE}:${TEMPORAL_UI_VERSION}
    networks:
      - temporal-network
    ports:
      - 8080:8080
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD-SHELL", "curl -f http://localhost:8080/health || exit 1"]
      interval: 30s
      timeout: 10s
      retries: 5

networks:
  temporal-network:
    driver: bridge
    name: temporal-network

volumes:
  postgres_data:

Create a dynamicconfig directory and the required configuration file:

mkdir -p dynamicconfig

Create dynamicconfig/development-sql.yaml with the following content:

limit.maxIDLength:
  - value: 255
    constraints: {}

system.forceSearchAttributesCacheRefreshOnRead:
  - value: true # Dev setup only. Please don't turn this on in production.
    constraints: {}

Use one of these env-files for DHI:

For hardened images (env-dhi):

TEMPORAL_IMAGE=dhi.io/temporalio-server
TEMPORAL_UI_IMAGE=dhi.io/temporalio-ui
TEMPORAL_ADMIN_TOOLS_IMAGE=dhi.io/temporalio-admin-tools
POSTGRES_IMAGE=postgres

TEMPORAL_VERSION=1.28
TEMPORAL_UI_VERSION=2.39.0
TEMPORAL_ADMIN_TOOLS_VERSION=1.28.1-tctl-1.18.2-cli-1.3.0
POSTGRES_VERSION=17

COMPOSE_PROJECT_NAME=temporal
CASSANDRA_VERSION=3.11.9
ELASTICSEARCH_VERSION=7.17.27
MYSQL_VERSION=8
POSTGRES_PASSWORD=hobbinnobbinsipsytipsyapplecartonrippledoven
POSTGRES_USER=temporal
POSTGRES_DEFAULT_PORT=5432
POSTGRES_INITDB_ARGS=--auth-host=scram-sha-256
POSTGRES_SEEDS=postgresql
OPENSEARCH_VERSION=2.5.0
TEMPORAL_NETWORK=temporal-test_temporal-network

For hardened images that are FIPS and STIG compliant (env-dhi-fips):

TEMPORAL_IMAGE=dhi.io/temporalio-server
TEMPORAL_UI_IMAGE=dhi.io/temporalio-ui
TEMPORAL_ADMIN_TOOLS_IMAGE=dhi.io/temporalio-admin-tools
POSTGRES_IMAGE=postgres

TEMPORAL_VERSION=1.28-fips
TEMPORAL_UI_VERSION=2.39.0-fips
TEMPORAL_ADMIN_TOOLS_VERSION=1.28.1-tctl-1.18.2-cli-1.3.0-fips
POSTGRES_VERSION=17

COMPOSE_PROJECT_NAME=temporal
CASSANDRA_VERSION=3.11.9
ELASTICSEARCH_VERSION=7.17.27
MYSQL_VERSION=8
POSTGRES_PASSWORD=hobbinnobbinsipsytipsyapplecartonrippledoven
POSTGRES_USER=temporal
POSTGRES_DEFAULT_PORT=5432
POSTGRES_INITDB_ARGS=--auth-host=scram-sha-256
POSTGRES_SEEDS=postgresql
OPENSEARCH_VERSION=2.5.0
TEMPORAL_NETWORK=temporal-test_temporal-network

Start the services:

$ docker compose up
$ docker compose --env-file env-dhi up -d

Open the web server in a browser:

open http://localhost:8080

Running Admin Commands

The examples below use the docker-compose.yml above and the env-dhi environment above. Adjusted versions can be used with your k8s cluster.

Get a shell in the running admin tools container:

docker compose --env-file env-dhi exec -it temporal-admin-tools /bin/bash

# Check server health
$ docker compose --env-file env-dhi exec temporal-admin-tools \
  temporal operator cluster health

# List namespaces
$ docker compose --env-file env-dhi exec temporal-admin-tools\
  temporal operator namespace list

# Create a namespace
$ docker compose --env-file env-dhi exec temporal-admin-tools \
  temporal operator namespace create my-namespace

Database Schema Management

Manage database schemas for Temporal:

# Create database schemas
$ docker compose --env-file env-dhi exec temporal-admin-tools \
  temporal-sql-tool --plugin postgres --ep your-postgres-host create-database

# Apply schema updates
$ docker compose --env-file env-dhi exec temporal-admin-tools \
  temporal-sql-tool --plugin postgres --ep your-postgres-host setup-schema

Workflow and Activity Management

Debug and manage workflows:

# List running workflows in a namespace
$ docker compose --env-file env-dhi exec temporal-admin-tools \
  temporal workflow list --namespace my-namespace

# Show workflow details
$ docker compose --env-file env-dhi exec temporal-admin-tools \
  temporal workflow show \
  --workflow-id my-workflow-id \
  --namespace my-namespace

# Cancel a workflow
$ docker compose --env-file env-dhi exec temporal-admin-tools \
  temporal workflow cancel \
  --workflow-id my-workflow-id \
  --namespace my-namespace

Using as Kubernetes Sidecar

Deploy as a sidecar container in Kubernetes:

apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: temporal-admin-tools
spec:
  replicas: 1
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: temporal-admin-tools
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: temporal-admin-tools
    spec:
      containers:
      - name: admin-tools
        image: dhi.io/temporalio-admin-tools:1.28
        env:
        - name: TEMPORAL_ADDRESS
          value: "temporal-frontend:7233"
        command: ["sleep", "infinity"]  # Keep container running
        resources:
          limits:
            memory: "256Mi"
            cpu: "200m"
          requests:
            memory: "128Mi"
            cpu: "100m"

Then execute commands:

$ kubectl exec -it deployment/temporal-admin-tools -- temporal operator cluster health

Environment Variables

TEMPORAL_ADDRESS: Temporal server address (default: localhost:7233)
TEMPORAL_NAMESPACE: Default namespace for operations
POSTGRES_SEEDS: PostgreSQL host(s) for database operations
POSTGRES_USER: Database username
POSTGRES_PWD: Database password

Exposed Ports

The server has the following exposed ports:

7233: Frontend gRPC (main client port)
7234: Frontend HTTP
6933: Frontend gRPC (alternative)
6934: Frontend HTTP (alternative)
7235: History membership
7239: History metrics

Available Tools

The image includes these administrative tools:

temporal: Modern Temporal CLI for all operations
tctl: Legacy Temporal CLI (for backwards compatibility)
temporal-sql-tool: Database schema management
temporal-cassandra-tool: Cassandra-specific database operations

Image variants

Docker Hardened Images come in different variants depending on their intended use.

Runtime variants are designed to run your application in production. These images are intended to be used either directly or as the FROM image in the final stage of a multi-stage build. These images typically:
- Run as the nonroot user
- Do not include a shell or a package manager
- Contain only the minimal set of libraries needed to run the app
Build-time variants typically include dev in the variant name and are intended for use in the first stage of a multi-stage Dockerfile. These images typically:
- Run as the root user
- Include a shell and package manager
- Are used to build or compile applications

Migrate to a Docker Hardened Image

To migrate your application to a Docker Hardened Image, you must update your Dockerfile. At minimum, you must update the base image in your existing Dockerfile to a Docker Hardened Image. This and a few other common changes are listed in the following table of migration notes.

Item	Migration note
Base image	Replace your base images in your Dockerfile with a Docker Hardened Image.
Package management	Non-dev images, intended for runtime, don't contain package managers. Use package managers only in images with a `dev` tag.
Non-root user	By default, non-dev images, intended for runtime, run as the nonroot user. Ensure that necessary files and directories are accessible to the nonroot user.
Multi-stage build	Utilize images with a `dev` tag for build stages and non-dev images for runtime. For binary executables, use a `static` image for runtime.
TLS certificates	Docker Hardened Images contain standard TLS certificates by default. There is no need to install TLS certificates.
Ports	Non-dev hardened images run as a nonroot user by default. As a result, applications in these images can't bind to privileged ports (below 1024) when running in Kubernetes or in Docker Engine versions older than 20.10. To avoid issues, configure your application to listen on port 1025 or higher inside the container.
Entry point	Docker Hardened Images may have different entry points than images such as Docker Official Images. Inspect entry points for Docker Hardened Images and update your Dockerfile if necessary.
No shell	By default, non-dev images, intended for runtime, don't contain a shell. Use dev images in build stages to run shell commands and then copy artifacts to the runtime stage.

The following steps outline the general migration process.

Find hardened images for your app.
A hardened image may have several variants. Inspect the image tags and find the image variant that meets your needs.
Update the base image in your Dockerfile.
Update the base image in your application's Dockerfile to the hardened image you found in the previous step. For framework images, this is typically going to be an image tagged as dev because it has the tools needed to install packages and dependencies.
For multi-stage Dockerfiles, update the runtime image in your Dockerfile.
To ensure that your final image is as minimal as possible, you should use a multi-stage build. All stages in your Dockerfile should use a hardened image. While intermediary stages will typically use images tagged as dev, your final runtime stage should use a non-dev image variant.
Install additional packages
Docker Hardened Images contain minimal packages in order to reduce the potential attack surface. You may need to install additional packages in your Dockerfile. Inspect the image variants to identify which packages are already installed.
Only images tagged as dev typically have package managers. You should use a multi-stage Dockerfile to install the packages. Install the packages in the build stage that uses a dev image. Then, if needed, copy any necessary artifacts to the runtime stage that uses a non-dev image.
For Alpine-based images, you can use apk to install packages. For Debian-based images, you can use apt-get to install packages.

Troubleshooting migration

The following are common issues that you may encounter during migration.

General debugging

The hardened images intended for runtime don't contain a shell nor any tools for debugging. The recommended method for debugging applications built with Docker Hardened Images is to use Docker Debug⁠ to attach to these containers. Docker Debug provides a shell, common debugging tools, and lets you install other tools in an ephemeral, writable layer that only exists during the debugging session.

Permissions

By default image variants intended for runtime, run as the nonroot user. Ensure that necessary files and directories are accessible to the nonroot user. You may need to copy files to different directories or change permissions so your application running as the nonroot user can access them.

Privileged ports

Non-dev hardened images run as a nonroot user by default. As a result, applications in these images can't bind to privileged ports (below 1024) when running in Kubernetes or in Docker Engine versions older than 20.10. To avoid issues, configure your application to listen on port 1025 or higher inside the container, even if you map it to a lower port on the host. For example, docker run -p 80:8080 my-image will work because the port inside the container is 8080, and docker run -p 80:81 my-image won't work because the port inside the container is 81.

No shell

By default, image variants intended for runtime don't contain a shell. Use dev images in build stages to run shell commands and then copy any necessary artifacts into the runtime stage. In addition, use Docker Debug to debug containers with no shell.

Entry point

Docker Hardened Images may have different entry points than images such as Docker Official Images. Use docker inspect to inspect entry points for Docker Hardened Images and update your Dockerfile if necessary.

How to use this image Pull a Stakater Reloader container Quick Start with Docker Compose Running Admin Commands Database Schema Management Workflow and Activity Management Using as Kubernetes Sidecar Environment Variables Exposed Ports Available Tools Image variants Migrate to a Docker Hardened Image Troubleshooting migration General debugging Permissions Privileged ports No shell Entry point