How-To: Run Dapr in self-hosted mode without Docker

Prerequisites

• Install the Dapr CLI

Initialize Dapr without containers

The Dapr CLI provides an option to initialize Dapr using slim init, without the default creation of a development environment with a dependency on Docker. To initialize Dapr with slim init, after installing the Dapr CLI, use the following command:

dapr init --slim

Two different binaries are installed:

• daprd
• placement

The placement binary is needed to enable actors in a Dapr self-hosted installation.

In slim init mode, no default components (such as Redis) are installed for state management or pub/sub. This means that, aside from service invocation, no other building block functionality is available “out-of-the-box” on install. Instead, you can set up your own environment and custom components.

Actor-based service invocation is possible if a state store is configured, as explained in the following sections.

Perform service invocation

See the Hello Dapr slim sample for an example on how to perform service invocation in slim init mode.

Enable state management or pub/sub

See documentation around configuring Redis in self-hosted mode without Docker to enable a local state store or pub/sub broker for messaging.

Enable actors

To enable actor placement:

• Run the placement service locally.
• Enable a transactional state store that supports ETags to use actors. For example, Redis configured in self-hosted mode.

By default, the placement binary is installed in:

• For Linux/MacOS: /$HOME/.dapr/bin
• For Windows: %USERPROFILE%\.dapr\bin

• Linux/MacOS
• Windows

$ $HOME/.dapr/bin/placement

INFO[0000] starting Dapr Placement Service -- version 1.0.0-rc.1 -- commit 13ae49d  instance=Nicoletaz-L10.redmond.corp.microsoft.com scope=dapr.placement type=log ver=1.0.0-rc.1
INFO[0000] log level set to: info                        instance=Nicoletaz-L10.redmond.corp.microsoft.com scope=dapr.placement type=log ver=1.0.0-rc.1
INFO[0000] metrics server started on :9090/              instance=Nicoletaz-L10.redmond.corp.microsoft.com scope=dapr.metrics type=log ver=1.0.0-rc.1
INFO[0000] Raft server is starting on 127.0.0.1:8201...  instance=Nicoletaz-L10.redmond.corp.microsoft.com scope=dapr.placement.raft type=log ver=1.0.0-rc.1
INFO[0000] placement service started on port 50005       instance=Nicoletaz-L10.redmond.corp.microsoft.com scope=dapr.placement type=log ver=1.0.0-rc.1
INFO[0000] Healthz server is listening on :8080          instance=Nicoletaz-L10.redmond.corp.microsoft.com scope=dapr.placement type=log ver=1.0.0-rc.1
INFO[0001] cluster leadership acquired                   instance=Nicoletaz-L10.redmond.corp.microsoft.com scope=dapr.placement type=log ver=1.0.0-rc.1
INFO[0001] leader is established.                        instance=Nicoletaz-L10.redmond.corp.microsoft.com scope=dapr.placement type=log ver=1.0.0-rc.1

%USERPROFILE%/.dapr/bin/placement.exe -port 6050

time="2022-10-17T14:56:55.4055836-05:00" level=info msg="starting Dapr Placement Service -- version 1.9.0 -- commit fdce5f1f1b76012291c888113169aee845f25ef8" instance=LAPTOP-OMK50S19 scope=dapr.placement type=log ver=1.9.0
time="2022-10-17T14:56:55.4066226-05:00" level=info msg="log level set to: info" instance=LAPTOP-OMK50S19 scope=dapr.placement type=log ver=1.9.0
time="2022-10-17T14:56:55.4067306-05:00" level=info msg="metrics server started on :9090/" instance=LAPTOP-OMK50S19 scope=dapr.metrics type=log ver=1.9.0
time="2022-10-17T14:56:55.4077529-05:00" level=info msg="Raft server is starting on 127.0.0.1:8201..." instance=LAPTOP-OMK50S19 scope=dapr.placement.raft type=log ver=1.9.0
time="2022-10-17T14:56:55.4077529-05:00" level=info msg="placement service started on port 6050" instance=LAPTOP-OMK50S19 scope=dapr.placement type=log ver=1.9.0
time="2022-10-17T14:56:55.4082772-05:00" level=info msg="Healthz server is listening on :8080" instance=LAPTOP-OMK50S19 scope=dapr.placement type=log ver=1.9.0
time="2022-10-17T14:56:56.8232286-05:00" level=info msg="cluster leadership acquired" instance=LAPTOP-OMK50S19 scope=dapr.placement type=log ver=1.9.0
time="2022-10-17T14:56:56.8232286-05:00" level=info msg="leader is established." instance=LAPTOP-OMK50S19 scope=dapr.placement type=log ver=1.9.0

Now, to run an application with actors enabled, you can follow the sample example created for:

• java-sdk
• python-sdk
• dotnet-sdk

Update the state store configuration files to match the Redis host and password with your setup.

Enable it as a actor state store by making the metadata piece similar to the sample Java Redis component definition.

  - name: actorStateStore
    value: "true"

Clean up

When finished, remove the binaries by following Uninstall Dapr in a self-hosted environment to remove the binaries.

Next steps

• Run Dapr with Podman, using the default Docker, or in an airgap environment
• Upgrade Dapr in self-hosted mode