How to workaround "mutually exclusive 'network_mode' and 'networks'"?

[Lockszmith-GH]

When I run docker-compose based services that need 'full reign' of a host's port range, I prefer using ipvlan over network_mode: host.
On my runtipi machine, I've tried and tested a manual docker-compose file and it worked perfectly.

I tried doing that with the runtipi plex and user-config mod and got the following error:

worker: 2024-11-14T20:00:35.431Z - info >       Starting app plex
worker: 2024-11-14T20:00:35.457Z - info >       Regenerating app.env file for app plex
worker: 2024-11-14T20:00:35.470Z - info >       Running docker compose with args --env-file /app-data/plex/app.env --env-file /data/user-config/plex/app.env --project-name plex -f /data/apps/plex/docker-compose.yml -f /data/repos/29ca930bfdaffa1dfabf5726336380ede7066bc53297e3c0c868b27c97282903/apps/docker-compose.common.yml --file /data/user-config/plex/docker-compose.yml up --detach --force-recreate --remove-orphans --pull always
worker: 2024-11-14T20:00:35.684Z - error >      An error occurred: Error with your custom app: Command failed: docker-compose --env-file /app-data/plex/app.env --env-file /data/user-config/plex/app.env --project-name plex -f /data/apps/plex/docker-compose.yml -f /data/repos/29ca930bfdaffa1dfabf5726336380ede7066bc53297e3c0c868b27c97282903/apps/docker-compose.common.yml --file /data/user-config/plex/docker-compose.yml up --detach --force-recreate --remove-orphans --pull always
time="2024-11-14T20:00:35Z" level=warning msg="/data/apps/plex/docker-compose.yml: the attribute `version` is obsolete, it will be ignored, please remove it to avoid potential confusion"
time="2024-11-14T20:00:35Z" level=warning msg="/data/repos/29ca930bfdaffa1dfabf5726336380ede7066bc53297e3c0c868b27c97282903/apps/docker-compose.common.yml: the attribute `version` is obsolete, it will be ignored, please remove it to avoid potential confusion"
service plex declares mutually exclusive `network_mode` and `networks`: invalid compose project
. Before opening an issue try to remove any user-config files or any custom app-store repo and try again.
worker: 2024-11-14T20:00:35.685Z - error >      Error starting app plex

My user-config/plex/docker-compose.yml - click to expand

services:
  plex:
    networks:
      lan:
        ipv4_address: 192.168.<redacted>
    environment:
      PUID: "${MY_USER_UID}"
      PGID: "${MY_USER_GID}"
   <volumes definition>

networks:
  lan:
    driver: ipvlan
    ipam:
      config:
        - subnet: ${MY_SUBNET}
          gateway: ${MY_IPv4_GW}
    driver_opts:
      com.docker.network.enable_ipv6: "false"
      parent: ${MY_NET_IF}

My question

Is there a way to override the network_mode: host entry and specify networks in the custom compose yaml file?

[Lockszmith-GH]

Update: I believe I managed to answer myself eventually.

A detour - somewhat educational

I found a relevant question in SO (even before I asked the question here), but for some reason the answers didn't work for me at first.
Then I went on a wild goose-chase after reading @meienberger's suggestion here. (I've added it as a reply under this thread, as I still learned some stuff there, so it might be of interest.

I circled back to the SO question, specifically this comment, and indeed adding network_host: "" allowed me to spin plex up and have it attached to the relevant network I've setup using sleeping-beauty AND assign the static IP I wanted.

My sleeping-beauty based compose.yml - click to expand

services:
  plex-network:
    image: tianon/sleeping-beauty
    container_name: plexnet
    networks:
      lan:
        ipv4_address: 192.168.<redacted> # (different than the one assigned to Plex)
    restart: unless-stopped

networks:
  lan:
    driver: ipvlan
    ipam:
      config:
        - subnet: ${MY_SUBNET}
          gateway: ${MY_IPv4_GW}
    driver_opts:
      com.docker.network.enable_ipv6: "false"
      parent: ${MY_NET_IF}

My user-config/plex/docker-compose.yml - click to expand

services:
  plex:
    network_mode: ""
    networks:
      lan:
        ipv4_address: 192.168.<redacted> # (different than the one assigned to Plex)
    environment:
      PUID: "${MY_USER_UID}"
      PGID: "${MY_USER_GID}"
   <volumes definition>

networks:
  lan:
    external: true

[Lockszmith-GH]

The pre-update post, aka the detour:

Below is what I thought would be the solution, but failed me upon testing. Still might be of interest.

---

I couldn't figure out what would be the docker compose overriding of network_mode is, maybe this should be handled by runtipi's template engine?

For the time-being, I'm going to spin up a dummy plexnet service with the tianon/sleeping-beauty and then use network_mode: container:plexnet similar to @meienberger's suggesting here - this at least overwrites the existing network_mode.

(I think this is what I like most about runtipi, the fact that after all, it's plain docker-compose and there is usually a solution in that realm that will still allow us to use the awesome runtipi infrastructure with our modifications)

My sleeping-beauty based compose.yml - click to expand

services:
  plex-network:
    image: tianon/sleeping-beauty
    container_name: plexnet
    networks:
      lan:
        ipv4_address: 192.168.<redacted>
    restart: unless-stopped

networks:
  lan:
    driver: ipvlan
    ipam:
      config:
        - subnet: ${MY_SUBNET}
          gateway: ${MY_IPv4_GW}
    driver_opts:
      com.docker.network.enable_ipv6: "false"
      parent: ${MY_NET_IF}

My user-config/plex/docker-compose.yml - click to expand

services:
  plex:
    network_mode: container:plexnet
    environment:
      PUID: "${MY_USER_UID}"
      PGID: "${MY_USER_GID}"
   <volumes definition>

[nicotsx]

Glad you found a way to solve your issue!

[Lockszmith-GH]

Thanks, @meienberger - an awesome project you're running here.

Before TrueNAS SCALE, I had a makeshift multi-layered docker-compose setup, similar to how you structured it for runtipi + a bunch of scripts that would shorthand my common tasks. So choosing runtipi and maintaining it feels very natural - a "this is how it should be done!" feeling.

I really love what you did here.
In a way I wish it would keep on doing what it does now + have an 'open-ended' interface to it, like dockge, which is what I have today as I'm migrating off TrueCharts. (My new base system = runtipi + code-server + dockge)

[nicotsx]

Please feel free to suggest in more details what you mean by open-ended interface! We can work towards it! We try as much as possible to not lock users behind a specific concept and allow an escape path if needed.

[Lockszmith-GH]

Oh, don't feel locked at all.
Just thinking of quality-of-life. I'll do that. Just want to focus on getting the system 'just right' for me, then I'll be happy to share how I do things, and what might improve this process.

I would also like to contribute some apps to the runtipi-appstore. Promise not to go away anytime soon 🙂