Chapter 1. Architecture overview

The workspaces controller manages the container-based development environments: CodeReady Workspaces workspaces. To secure the development environments with authentication, the deployment is always multiuser and multitenant.

The following diagram shows the different services that are a part of the CodeReady Workspaces workspaces controller.

Figure 1.4. CodeReady Workspaces workspaces controller

The CodeReady Workspaces server is the central service of CodeReady Workspaces server-side components. It is a Java web service exposing an HTTP REST API to manage CodeReady Workspaces workspaces and users. It is the default workspace engine.

The user dashboard is the landing page of Red Hat CodeReady Workspaces. It is a React application. CodeReady Workspaces users navigate the user dashboard from their browsers to create, start, and manage CodeReady Workspaces workspaces.

The CodeReady Workspaces devfile registry is a service that provides a list of CodeReady Workspaces samples to create ready-to-use workspaces. This list of samples is used in the Dashboard → Create Workspace window. The devfile registry runs in a container and can be deployed wherever the user dashboard can connect.

The CodeReady Workspaces plug-in registry is a service that provides the list of plug-ins and editors for CodeReady Workspaces workspaces. A devfile only references a plug-in that is published in a CodeReady Workspaces plug-in registry. It runs in a container and can be deployed wherever CodeReady Workspaces server connects.

The CodeReady Workspaces administrator can choose to:

Services use the database for the following purposes:

RH-SSO is a prerequisite to configure CodeReady Workspaces. The CodeReady Workspaces administrator can choose to connect CodeReady Workspaces to an existing RH-SSO instance or let the CodeReady Workspaces deployment start a new dedicated RH-SSO instance.

The CodeReady Workspaces server uses RH-SSO as an OpenID Connect (OIDC) provider to authenticate CodeReady Workspaces users and secure access to CodeReady Workspaces resources.

A CodeReady Workspaces deployment on the cluster consists of the CodeReady Workspaces server component, a database for storing user profile and preferences, and several additional deployments hosting workspaces. The CodeReady Workspaces server orchestrates the creation of workspaces, which consist of a deployment containing the workspace containers and enabled plug-ins, plus the related components, such as:

The CodeReady Workspaces workspace is a web application. It is composed of microservices running in containers that provide all the services of a modern IDE such as an editor, language auto-completion, and debugging tools. The IDE services are deployed with the development tools, packaged in containers and user runtime applications, which are defined as OpenShift resources.

The source code of the projects of a CodeReady Workspaces workspace is persisted in a OpenShift PersistentVolume. Microservices run in containers that have read-write access to the source code (IDE services, development tools), and runtime applications have read-write access to this shared directory.

The following diagram shows the detailed components of a CodeReady Workspaces workspace.

Figure 1.5. CodeReady Workspaces workspace components

In the diagram, there are four running workspaces: two belonging to User A, one to User B and one to User C.

Use the devfile format to specify the tools and runtime applications of a CodeReady Workspaces workspace.

This section describes the components of a CodeReady Workspaces workspace.

The following is a CodeReady Workspaces workspace creation flow:

The CodeReady Workspaces operator ensure full lifecycle management of the CodeReady Workspaces server components. It introduces:

The Dev Workspace operator extends OpenShift to provide Dev Workspace support. It introduces:

The CodeReady Workspaces gateway is a Traefik instance applying OpenShift Role based access control (RBAC) policies to control access to any CodeReady Workspaces resource. The CodeReady Workspaces operator manages it as the che-gateway Deployment.

It controls access to:

Figure 1.8. CodeReady Workspaces gateway interactions with other components

The user dashboard is the landing page of Red Hat CodeReady Workspaces. CodeReady Workspaces end-users browse the user dashboard to access and manage their workspaces. It is a React application. The CodeReady Workspaces deployment starts it in the codeready-dashboard Deployment.

It need access to:

Figure 1.9. User dashboard interactions with other components

When the user requests the user dashboard to start a workspace, the user dashboard executes this sequence of actions:

The CodeReady Workspaces devfile registries are services providing a list of sample devfiles to create ready-to-use workspaces. The Section 1.5.4, “User dashboard” displays the samples list on the Dashboard → Create Workspace page. Each sample includes a Devfile v2. The CodeReady Workspaces deployment starts one devfile registry instance in the devfile-registry deployment.

Figure 1.10. Devfile registries interactions with other components

The CodeReady Workspaces server main functions are:

The CodeReady Workspaces server is a Java web service exposing an HTTP REST API and needs access to:

Figure 1.11. CodeReady Workspaces server interactions with other components

CodeReady Workspaces server uses the PostgreSQL database to persist user configurations such as workspaces metadata.

The CodeReady Workspaces deployment starts a dedicated PostgreSQL instance in the postgres Deployment. You can use an external database instead.

Figure 1.12. PostgreSQL interactions with other components

Each CodeReady Workspaces workspace starts with a specific editor and set of associated extensions. The CodeReady Workspaces plug-in registry provides the list of available editors and editor extensions. A Devfile v2 describes each editor or extension.

The Section 1.5.4, “User dashboard” is reading the content of the registry.

Figure 1.13. Plug-in registries interactions with other components