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RapidPro is acting as a GovStack building block software, meaning it is a modular solution designed to be reused across different government services and digital infrastructure projects. It has the potential to be leveraged in various GovStack implementations to streamline communication, citizen engagement, and service delivery across digital platforms.
Notable issues with RapidPro in Kubernetes:
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Custom Domain Name Limitation:
RapidPro doesn't support setting a custom domain name purely through environment variables. This limitation requires modification of the source code to define a custom domain, making deployments less flexible and complicating setup in cloud environments like Kubernetes.
Hardcoded Environment Variables:
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RapidPro deployment experience:
We explored three different approaches:
Deploying the app on a bare virtual privet server or personal laptop: This involved manually installing all dependencies, but it failed due to dependency conflicts and difficulties of managing/cleaning dependencies.
Creating custom Kubernetes manifests: We attempted to build our own manifests based on the provided Dockerfiles. However, this approach also failed because some internal variables were hardcoded, making it impossible to override them externally. Potential work require good internal knowledge of the system.
Using the provided docker-compose file (intended for development): Initially, it seemed to work, but when we started integrating it with our system, it failed.
The RapidPro team suggested adjusting the database connection pool, but this solution is problematic.
It requires us to decompose the application, dive into the source code, and have a deep understanding of the internal workings of the system.
#3 Software choice for Information Mediator Building Block: Kafka
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