---
title: Running Calico Node Container as a Service
---

This guide explains how to run Calico as a system process or service,
with a focus on running in a Dockerized deployment. We include
examples for Systemd, but the commands can be applied to other init
daemons such as upstart as well.

## Running the Calico Node Container as a Service
This section describes how to run the Calico node as a Docker container
in Systemd.  Included here is an EnvironmentFile that defines the Environment
variables for Calico and a sample systemd service file that uses the
environment file and starts the Calico node image as a service.

`calico.env` - the EnvironmentFile:

```shell
ETCD_ENDPOINTS=http://localhost:2379
ETCD_CA_FILE=""
ETCD_CERT_FILE=""
ETCD_KEY_FILE=""
CALICO_NODENAME=""
CALICO_NO_DEFAULT_POOLS=""
CALICO_IP=""
CALICO_IP6=""
CALICO_AS=""
CALICO_LIBNETWORK_ENABLED=true
CALICO_NETWORKING_BACKEND=bird
```

Be sure to update this environment file as necessary, such as modifying
ETCD_ENDPOINTS to point at the correct etcd cluster endpoints.

> Note: The ETCD_CA_FILE, ETCD_CERT_FILE, and ETCD_KEY_FILE
> environment variables are required when using Etcd with SSL/TLS.  The values
> here are standard values for a non-SSL version of Etcd, but you can use this
> template to define your SSL values if desired.
>
> If CALICO_NODENAME is blank, the compute server hostname will be used
> to identify the Calico node.
>
> If CALICO_IP or CALICO_IP6 are left blank, Calico will use the currently
> configured values for the next hop IP addresses for this node - these can
> be configured through the node resource.  If no next hop addresses have
> been configured, Calico will automatically determine an IPv4 next hop address
> by querying the host interfaces (and it will configure this value in the
> node resource).  You may set CALICO_IP to `autodetect` to force
> auto-detection of IP address every time the node starts.  If you set IP
> addresses through these environments it will reconfigure any values currently
> set through the node resource.
>
> If CALICO_AS is left blank, Calico will use the currently configured value
> for the AS Number for the node BGP client - this can be configured through
> the node resource.  If no value is set,  Calico will inherit the AS Number
> from the global default value.  If you set a value through this environment
> it will reconfigure any value currently set through the node resource.
>
> The CALICO_NETWORKING_BACKEND defaults to use Bird as the routing daemon.
> This may also be set to gobgp (to use gobgp as the routing daemon, but note
> that this does not support IP in IP), or none (if routing is handled by an
> alternative mechanism).

### Systemd Service Example

`calico-node.service` - the Systemd service:

```shell
[Unit]
Description=calico-node
After=docker.service
Requires=docker.service

[Service]
EnvironmentFile=/etc/calico/calico.env
ExecStartPre=-/usr/bin/docker rm -f calico-node
ExecStart=/usr/bin/docker run --net=host --privileged \
 --name=calico-node \
 -e NODENAME=${CALICO_NODENAME} \
 -e IP=${CALICO_IP} \
 -e IP6=${CALICO_IP6} \
 -e CALICO_NETWORKING_BACKEND=${CALICO_NETWORKING_BACKEND} \
 -e AS=${CALICO_AS} \
 -e NO_DEFAULT_POOLS=${CALICO_NO_DEFAULT_POOLS} \
 -e CALICO_LIBNETWORK_ENABLED=${CALICO_LIBNETWORK_ENABLED} \
 -e ETCD_ENDPOINTS=${ETCD_ENDPOINTS} \
 -e ETCD_CA_CERT_FILE=${ETCD_CA_CERT_FILE} \
 -e ETCD_CERT_FILE=${ETCD_CERT_FILE} \
 -e ETCD_KEY_FILE=${ETCD_KEY_FILE} \
 -v /var/log/calico:/var/log/calico \
 -v /run/docker/plugins:/run/docker/plugins \
 -v /lib/modules:/lib/modules \
 -v /var/run/calico:/var/run/calico \
 quay.io/calico/node:{{site.data.versions[page.version].first.components["calico/node"].version}}

ExecStop=-/usr/bin/docker stop calico-node

Restart=on-failure
StartLimitBurst=3
StartLimitInterval=60s

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
```

The Systemd service above does the following on start:
  - Confirm docker is installed under the `[Unit]` section
  - Get environment variables from the environment file above
  - Remove existing `calico-node` container (if it exists)
  - Start `calico/node`

The script will also stop the calico-node container when the service is stopped.

**Note**: Depending on how you've installed Docker, the name of the Docker service
under the `[Unit]` section may be different (such as `docker-engine.service`).
Be sure to check this before starting the service.
