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Set up a discovery helper node

When deploying Actyx in a production environment, the way you operate your solution is up to you. However, we strongly recommend setting up a discovery helper node.

Conceptual guide on node discovery

For an explanation of how node discovery works, check out our conceptual guide.

A discovery helper node is just a normal Actyx node and, technically, any physical or virtual device can be used for it. The only difference is its purpose–instead of running apps, the discovery helper node is used to enable and facilitate discovery between nodes.

From an operations point of view, your discovery helper node should be deployed so that it is

  • always reachable,
  • there is no NAT between the discovery helper node and your other nodes.

Therefore we advise setting it up as follows:

  1. Install Actyx in your local data center, and
  2. Configure your VM or server so that Actyx keeps running
  3. Configure all nodes to connect to the discovery helper node

There is one limitation with regard to discovery helper nodes that only manifests if both of the following statements are true:

  • there is NAT between the discovery helper node and your other nodes, and
  • one (or more) of your nodes is a Docker node, and the Actyx container is running without the --network=host option

In this case, you have to manually configure the announceAddress property.