Decision Control Tower

Copy-paste quickstart. Tower requires a companion Sidecar — both are deployed together, with their own PostgreSQL databases. For production hardening, OIDC providers, RBAC tuning, and operational diagnostics, follow the per-topic chapters in the nav.

Local — Container

Tower + Sidecar + 2 Postgres (one per component) on the same host. Substitute <your-registry> and tags for the images you pull from. First, generate a shared callback secret. Tower and the Sidecar must hold the same value — any sufficiently-random string works. A 32-byte hex string is plenty:

export CALLBACK_SECRET=$(openssl rand -hex 32)

Then bring up the stack:

# 1. Networks
docker network create aletyx-tower 2>/dev/null || true

# 2. Tower Postgres
docker run -d --name tower-postgres --network aletyx-tower \
  -e POSTGRES_DB=decision_tower_db \
  -e POSTGRES_USER=tower \
  -e POSTGRES_PASSWORD=tower \
  -p 5432:5432 \
  postgres:18

# 3. Sidecar Postgres
docker run -d --name sidecar-postgres --network aletyx-tower \
  -e POSTGRES_DB=decision_tower_sidecar \
  -e POSTGRES_USER=sidecar \
  -e POSTGRES_PASSWORD=sidecar \
  -p 5433:5432 \
  postgres:18

# 4. Sidecar
docker run -d --name tower-sidecar --network aletyx-tower \
  -p 8181:8080 \
  -e APP_HOST=0.0.0.0 \
  -e BACKEND_PORT=8080 \
  -e SPRING_PROFILES_ACTIVE=prod \
  -e ALETYX_DC_TOWER_SIDECAR_DB_URL=jdbc:postgresql://sidecar-postgres:5432/decision_tower_sidecar \
  -e ALETYX_DC_TOWER_SIDECAR_DB_USERNAME=sidecar \
  -e ALETYX_DC_TOWER_SIDECAR_DB_PASSWORD=sidecar \
  -e ALETYX_DC_TOWER_SIDECAR_TOWER_CALLBACK_URL=http://decision-control-tower:8080 \
  -e ALETYX_OIDC_CALLBACK_SECRET="$CALLBACK_SECRET" \
  <your-registry>/aletyx/decision-control-tower-sidecar:<sidecar-version>

# 5. Tower
docker run --rm --name decision-control-tower --network aletyx-tower \
  -p 8080:8080 \
  -e APP_HOST=http://localhost:8080 \
  -e SPRING_PROFILES_ACTIVE=postgres \
  -e ALETYX_DC_TOWER_DB_URL=jdbc:postgresql://tower-postgres:5432/decision_tower_db \
  -e ALETYX_DC_TOWER_DB_USERNAME=tower \
  -e ALETYX_DC_TOWER_DB_PASSWORD=tower \
  -e ALETYX_DC_TOWER_SIDECAR_URL=http://tower-sidecar:8080 \
  -e ALETYX_DC_TOWER_DATA_INDEX_URL=http://tower-sidecar:8080 \
  -e ALETYX_DC_TOWER_USE_MOCKS=false \
  -e ALETYX_OIDC_PROVIDER=none \
  -e ALETYX_OIDC_CALLBACK_SECRET="$CALLBACK_SECRET" \
  <your-registry>/aletyx/decision-control-tower:<version>

Open http://localhost:8080. ALETYX_OIDC_PROVIDER=none bypasses authentication for local diagnostics. For real OIDC, see Identity & Access Management.

Kubernetes — minimal manifest

Tower + Sidecar in one file: Namespace, ConfigMaps, Secrets, Deployments, Services, Ingress for Tower. The Sidecar stays in-cluster (no Ingress). The two Secrets below reference ALETYX_OIDC_CALLBACK_SECRET — Tower and the Sidecar verify each other’s callbacks with this value, so it must be identical on both. Generate one with openssl rand -hex 32 and paste the same string into each. ALETYX_OIDC_INTERNAL_SECRET (Tower Secret) follows the same shape — same random string on Tower and on every Decision Control instance Tower aggregates. openssl rand -hex 32 again.

# decision-control-tower.yaml
apiVersion: v1
kind: Namespace
metadata:
  name: tower
---
# ---------- Tower ----------
apiVersion: v1
kind: ConfigMap
metadata:
  name: decision-control-tower-config
  namespace: tower
data:
  APP_HOST: "https://<your-tower-host>"
  APP_PORT: "8080"
  BACKEND_PORT: "8080"
  SPRING_PROFILES_ACTIVE: "postgres"
  ALETYX_DC_TOWER_CORS_ALLOWED_ORIGINS: "https://<your-tower-host>"
  ALETYX_DC_TOWER_DB_URL: "jdbc:postgresql://<db-host>:5432/<tower-db>"
  ALETYX_DC_TOWER_DB_USERNAME: "<tower-db-user>"
  ALETYX_DC_TOWER_SIDECAR_URL: "http://decision-control-tower-sidecar.tower.svc.cluster.local"
  ALETYX_DC_TOWER_DATA_INDEX_URL: "http://decision-control-tower-sidecar.tower.svc.cluster.local"
  ALETYX_DC_TOWER_USE_MOCKS: "false"
  ALETYX_DC_TOWER_ENVIRONMENTS_FILE: "/app/config/environments.json"
  ALETYX_DC_TOWER_SEED_TENANT_ID: "<your-entra-tenant-id>"
  ALETYX_OIDC_PROVIDER: "entra"
  ALETYX_OIDC_CLIENT_ID: "<your-entra-client-id>"
  ALETYX_OIDC_SCOPES: "openid,profile,email"
  ALETYX_OIDC_ROLE_CLAIM_PATH: "roles"
  ALETYX_OIDC_TENANT_CLAIM_NAME: "tid"
  ALETYX_OIDC_ENTRA_TENANT_ID: "<your-entra-tenant-id>"
  ALETYX_OIDC_ENTRA_AUDIENCE: "<your-entra-client-id>"
  ALETYX_OIDC_RBAC_ENABLED: "false"
---
apiVersion: v1
kind: Secret
metadata:
  name: decision-control-tower-secret
  namespace: tower
type: Opaque
stringData:
  ALETYX_DC_TOWER_DB_PASSWORD: "<your-tower-db-password>"
  ALETYX_OIDC_ENTRA_CLIENT_SECRET: "<your-entra-client-secret>"
  ALETYX_OIDC_CALLBACK_SECRET: "<shared-with-sidecar>"
  ALETYX_OIDC_INTERNAL_SECRET: "<shared-with-DC-instances>"
---
apiVersion: v1
kind: ConfigMap
metadata:
  name: decision-control-tower-static-config
  namespace: tower
data:
  environments.json: |
    [
      {
        "id": "<env-slug>",
        "display-name": "<env-display>",
        "description": "<env-description>",
        "dc-internal-url": "http://<dc-service>.<dc-namespace>.svc.cluster.local",
        "dc-external-url": "https://<dc-public-host>",
        "display-order": 1
      }
    ]
  notification-groups.json: |
    {
      "groups": {
        "tower-approvers": {
          "displayName": "Tower Approvers",
          "emails": [ "<approver-email>" ]
        }
      }
    }
  email-template.json: |
    [{"locale":"en","subject":"Promotion request: {{taskName}}","bodyFile":"email-template.html"}]
---
apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: decision-control-tower
  namespace: tower
spec:
  replicas: 1
  selector:
    matchLabels: { app: decision-control-tower }
  template:
    metadata:
      labels: { app: decision-control-tower }
    spec:
      containers:
        - name: decision-control-tower
          image: <your-registry>/aletyx/decision-control-tower:<version>
          ports:
            - containerPort: 8080
          envFrom:
            - configMapRef: { name: decision-control-tower-config }
            - secretRef:    { name: decision-control-tower-secret }
          volumeMounts:
            - name: static-config
              mountPath: /app/config
              readOnly: true
          readinessProbe:
            httpGet: { path: /actuator/health, port: 8080 }
            initialDelaySeconds: 30
          livenessProbe:
            httpGet: { path: /actuator/health, port: 8080 }
            initialDelaySeconds: 60
          resources:
            requests: { cpu: 500m,  memory: 2Gi }
            limits:   { cpu: "2",   memory: 3Gi }
      volumes:
        - name: static-config
          configMap: { name: decision-control-tower-static-config }
---
apiVersion: v1
kind: Service
metadata:
  name: decision-control-tower
  namespace: tower
spec:
  selector: { app: decision-control-tower }
  ports:
    - port: 80
      targetPort: 8080
---
apiVersion: networking.k8s.io/v1
kind: Ingress
metadata:
  name: decision-control-tower
  namespace: tower
  annotations:
    cert-manager.io/cluster-issuer: <your-cluster-issuer>
spec:
  ingressClassName: <your-ingress-class>
  tls:
    - hosts: [ "<your-tower-host>" ]
      secretName: decision-control-tower-tls
  rules:
    - host: <your-tower-host>
      http:
        paths:
          - path: /
            pathType: Prefix
            backend:
              service:
                name: decision-control-tower
                port: { number: 80 }
---
# ---------- Sidecar ----------
apiVersion: v1
kind: ConfigMap
metadata:
  name: decision-control-tower-sidecar-config
  namespace: tower
data:
  APP_HOST: "0.0.0.0"
  BACKEND_PORT: "8080"
  SPRING_PROFILES_ACTIVE: "prod"
  ALETYX_DC_TOWER_SIDECAR_DB_URL: "jdbc:postgresql://<db-host>:5432/<sidecar-db>"
  ALETYX_DC_TOWER_SIDECAR_DB_USERNAME: "<sidecar-db-user>"
  ALETYX_DC_TOWER_SIDECAR_TOWER_CALLBACK_URL: "http://decision-control-tower.tower.svc.cluster.local"
---
apiVersion: v1
kind: Secret
metadata:
  name: decision-control-tower-sidecar-secret
  namespace: tower
type: Opaque
stringData:
  ALETYX_DC_TOWER_SIDECAR_DB_PASSWORD: "<your-sidecar-db-password>"
  ALETYX_OIDC_CALLBACK_SECRET: "<shared-with-tower>"
---
apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: decision-control-tower-sidecar
  namespace: tower
spec:
  replicas: 1
  selector:
    matchLabels: { app: decision-control-tower-sidecar }
  template:
    metadata:
      labels: { app: decision-control-tower-sidecar }
    spec:
      containers:
        - name: decision-control-tower-sidecar
          image: <your-registry>/aletyx/decision-control-tower-sidecar:<sidecar-version>
          ports:
            - containerPort: 8080
          envFrom:
            - configMapRef: { name: decision-control-tower-sidecar-config }
            - secretRef:    { name: decision-control-tower-sidecar-secret }
          readinessProbe:
            httpGet: { path: /actuator/health/readiness, port: 8080 }
            initialDelaySeconds: 30
          livenessProbe:
            httpGet: { path: /actuator/health/liveness, port: 8080 }
            initialDelaySeconds: 60
          resources:
            requests: { cpu: 250m, memory: 768Mi }
            limits:   { memory: 1536Mi }
---
apiVersion: v1
kind: Service
metadata:
  name: decision-control-tower-sidecar
  namespace: tower
spec:
  selector: { app: decision-control-tower-sidecar }
  ports:
    - port: 80
      targetPort: 8080

Apply and wait:

kubectl apply -f decision-control-tower.yaml
kubectl rollout status deployment/decision-control-tower-sidecar -n tower
kubectl rollout status deployment/decision-control-tower         -n tower

Then register https://<your-tower-host>/auth/callback as a Redirect URI on your Entra App Registration (or Keycloak client).

Use the chapters in the nav for the production-shaped path:

Identity & Access Management — Entra / Keycloak setup, user / tower-approvers roles, RBAC.
Database Configuration — Tower + Sidecar databases, schema migration, TLS.
Container Configuration — full env reference and worked docker run examples.
Kubernetes & OpenShift Deployment — hardened manifests, OpenShift specifics, monitoring, troubleshooting.
Supported Operating Environments — what we test, what is out of scope.

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