Step Docker Image Release Strategy

Overview

Step provides official Docker images for Step components, enabling containerized deployments in Docker, Kubernetes, and other container orchestration platforms. These images are versioned to match the Step platform version they contain.

Image Repositories

Official Step Docker images are available from the Exense Docker registry at docker.exense.ch/step-enterprise.

These images include:

  • Step Controller: The main Step controller application
  • Step Agent: The Step agent for executing keywords
  • Step Grid Proxy: The grid proxy component

Starting with Step 31, the Step CLI is also released as a Docker image for both editions, see Step CLI images below.

For agent runtime images, see Agent Runtime Docker Images which provide the execution environment for the Step Agents.

Image Tagging Strategy

Step Docker images follow these tagging conventions:

Version Tags

  • Specific versions with Java version: e.g., 3.29.0-java-21, 3.28.0-java-21, 3.30.0-java-25

The Java version suffix applies to all Step component images: controller, agent, and gridproxy.

Tag Examples

# Step 29 — Java 21 (controller, agent, gridproxy)
docker.exense.ch/step-enterprise/controller:3.29.0-java-21
docker.exense.ch/step-enterprise/agent:3.29.0-java-21
docker.exense.ch/step-enterprise/gridproxy:3.29.0-java-21

# Step 30+ — Java 25 variants are also available (controller, agent, gridproxy)
docker.exense.ch/step-enterprise/controller:3.30.0-java-25
docker.exense.ch/step-enterprise/agent:3.30.0-java-25
docker.exense.ch/step-enterprise/gridproxy:3.30.0-java-25

Step CLI images

Starting with Step 31, minimal Step CLI images are released with each Step version. They only contain a Java 21 runtime and the Step CLI of the corresponding edition, and are mainly intended for CI/CD integration. Their tag is the Step version, without Java suffix:

# Step Open Source CLI
docker.exense.ch/step/cli:3.31.0

# Step Enterprise CLI
docker.exense.ch/step-enterprise/cli:3.31.0

See Step CLI Docker image for usage examples.

Image Contents

Step Docker images include:

  • Pre-configured Step application
  • Java runtime: Currently using Java 21 as the standard runtime (selected based on Long-Term Support releases). Java 25 variants are also available starting with version 3.30.0.
  • Default configuration files
  • Required dependencies and libraries

Usage in Kubernetes

When deploying Step on Kubernetes using the Helm Chart, Docker images are referenced in the values file:

controller:
  image:
    repository: docker.exense.ch/step-enterprise/controller
    tag: "3.29.0-java-21"

For detailed configuration options:

Custom Docker Images

You can create custom Docker images based on the official Step images to:

  • Add custom plugins
  • Include pre-configured settings
  • Add additional tools or dependencies

For agent images specifically, see:

Image Updates

Docker images are updated:

  • With each Step release: New images for new Step versions
  • Security patches: Occasional rebuilds for critical security updates
  • Base image updates: Periodic updates to underlying base images

For more details on the Step release schedule, see the Release Cycle page.

Kubernetes Deployment

For Kubernetes deployments, use the Step Helm Chart:

helm install step exense/step --version 1.3.0

Pulling Images

# Pull a specific version (Java 21)
docker pull docker.exense.ch/step-enterprise/controller:3.29.0-java-21
docker pull docker.exense.ch/step-enterprise/agent:3.29.0-java-21
docker pull docker.exense.ch/step-enterprise/gridproxy:3.29.0-java-21

# Pull Java 25 variants (available starting with Step 30 / 3.30.0)
docker pull docker.exense.ch/step-enterprise/controller:3.30.0-java-25
docker pull docker.exense.ch/step-enterprise/agent:3.30.0-java-25
docker pull docker.exense.ch/step-enterprise/gridproxy:3.30.0-java-25

Image Registry Access

For private deployments or air-gapped environments:

Support

For questions or issues with Docker images: