Expanding info about docker usage.

.ci/start_mapdl.sh

@@ -9,7 +9,6 @@ docker run \
     --health-timeout=0.5s \
     --health-start-period=10s \
     -e ANSYSLMD_LICENSE_FILE=1055@$LICENSE_SERVER \
-    -e ANS_DEBUG_CRASH=1 \
     -e ANSYS_LOCK="OFF" \
     -p $PYMAPDL_PORT:50052 \
     -p $PYMAPDL_DB_PORT:50055 \

.github/workflows/nightly-doc-build.yml

@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ jobs:
       - name: Pull, launch, and validate MAPDL service
         run: |
           docker pull $MAPDL_IMAGE
-          docker run -e ANSYSLMD_LICENSE_FILE=1055@$LICENSE_SERVER -e ANS_DEBUG_CRASH=1 -e ANSYS_LOCK="OFF" --restart always --name mapdl -p $PYMAPDL_PORT:50052 $MAPDL_IMAGE -smp > log.txt &
+          docker run -e ANSYSLMD_LICENSE_FILE=1055@$LICENSE_SERVER -e ANSYS_LOCK="OFF" --restart always --name mapdl -p $PYMAPDL_PORT:50052 $MAPDL_IMAGE -smp > log.txt &
           grep -q 'Server listening on' <(timeout 60 tail -f log.txt)
           python -c "from ansys.mapdl.core import launch_mapdl; print(launch_mapdl())"
         env:

.github/workflows/nightly-mapdl-check.yml

@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Pull image
         run: |
-          docker run -e ANSYSLMD_LICENSE_FILE=1055@$LICENSE_SERVER -e ANS_DEBUG_CRASH=1 -e ANSYS_LOCK="OFF" --restart always --name mapdl -p $PYMAPDL_PORT:50052 -p $PYMAPDL_DB_PORT:50055 $MAPDL_IMAGE -smp > log.txt &
+          docker run -e ANSYSLMD_LICENSE_FILE=1055@$LICENSE_SERVER -e ANSYS_LOCK="OFF" --restart always --name mapdl -p $PYMAPDL_PORT:50052 -p $PYMAPDL_DB_PORT:50055 $MAPDL_IMAGE -smp > log.txt &
           grep -q 'Server listening on' <(timeout 60 tail -f log.txt)
           python -c "from ansys.mapdl.core import launch_mapdl; print(launch_mapdl())"
         env:

doc/source/getting_started/docker.rst

@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ with:
 
 You can now launch MAPDL directly from docker with a short script or
 directly from the command line.  Since this image contains no license
-server, you will need to enter in your license server IP address the
+server, you must enter your license server IP address in the
 ``LICENSE_SERVER`` environment variable.  With that, you can launch
 MAPDL with:
 
@@ -77,7 +77,8 @@ Once you've launched MAPDL you should see:
     Server listening on : 0.0.0.0:50052
 
 Connecting to the MAPDL Container from Python
-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+---------------------------------------------
+
 You can now connect to the instance with:
 
 .. code:: python
@@ -104,6 +105,10 @@ Verify your connection with:
 
 Additional Considerations
 -------------------------
+
+Appending MAPDL Options to the Container
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
 In the command:
 
 .. code::
@@ -121,6 +126,119 @@ with the `-np` switch.  For example:
     IMAGE=ghcr.io/pyansys/pymapdl/mapdl:$VERSION
     docker run -e ANSYSLMD_LICENSE_FILE=$LICENSE_SERVER -p 50052:50052 $IMAGE -np 4
 
-For additional command line arguments please see the ansys
+For additional command-line arguments, see the Ansys
 documentation at `ANSYS help <https://ansyshelp.ansys.com>`_.  Also,
 be sure to have the appropriate license for additional HPC features.
+
+Using ``--restart`` policy with MAPDL products
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+By default, MAPDL creates a ``LOCK`` file in the working directory when it starts
+and deletes this file if it exits normally. The file is used to avoid overwriting files
+such as database (DB) files or result (RST) files when starting MAPDL after an
+abnormal termination.
+
+Because of this behavior, when using the Docker ``--restart`` flag in the ``docker run``
+command, you might enter into an infinite loop if you specify the Docker image to
+reboot after an abnormal termination. For example, ``--restart always``. 
+Because of the presence of the ``LOCK`` file, MAPDL exits, attempting to not overwrite
+the files from the previous crash, while the Docker process keeps attempting to
+restart the MAPDL container (and the MAPDL process with it).
+
+In such cases, you should not use the ``--restart`` option. If you really need to use
+this option, you can avoid MAPDL checks and create the ``LOCK`` file by starting
+the process with the environment variable ``ANSYS_LOCK`` set to ``"OFF"``. 
+
+You can do this in your ``docker run`` command:
+
+.. code:: bash
+
+  docker run \
+      --restart always \
+      -e ANSYSLMD_LICENSE_FILE=1055@$LICENSE_SERVER \
+      -e ANSYS_LOCK="OFF" \
+      -p 50052:50052 \
+      $IMAGE
+
+
+Getting Useful Files After Abnormal Termination
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+In some cases, the MAPDL container might crash after the MAPDL process experiences an
+abnormal termination. In these cases, you can retrieve log files and output files using 
+tools that Docker provides.
+
+First, get the Docker container name:
+
+.. code:: pwsh
+
+  PS docker ps
+  CONTAINER ID   IMAGE                                   COMMAND                  CREATED          STATUS          PORTS                      NAMES
+  c14560bff70f   ghcr.io/pyansys/pymapdl/mapdl:v22.2.0   "/ansys_inc/ansys/bi…"   9 seconds ago    Up 8 seconds    0.0.0.0:50053->50052/tcp   mapdl
+
+To appear in ``docker ps``, the container should be running.
+
+You can then use the ``name`` in the following command:
+
+.. code:: pwsh
+
+  PS docker exec -it mapdl /bin/bash
+
+This command executes the command shell (``/bin/bash``) of the container and attaches your current terminal to it (interactive ``-it``).
+
+.. code:: pwsh
+
+  PS C:\Users\user> docker exec -it mapdl /bin/bash
+  [root@c14560bff70f /]#
+
+Now you can enter commands inside the Docker container and navigate inside it.
+
+.. code:: pwsh
+
+  PS C:\Users\user> docker exec -it mapdl /bin/bash
+  [root@c14560bff70f /]# ls
+  anaconda-post.log  cleanup-ansys-c14560bff70f-709.sh  file0.err   file1.err  file1.page  file2.out   file3.log   home   media  proc  sbin  tmp
+  ansys_inc          dev                                file0.log   file1.log  file2.err   file2.page  file3.out   lib    mnt    root  srv   usr
+  bin                etc                                file0.page  file1.out  file2.log   file3.err   file3.page  lib64  opt    run   sys   var
+
+You can then take note of the files you want to retrieve. For example, the error and output files (``file*.err`` and ``file*.out``).
+
+Exit the container terminal using ``exit``:
+
+.. code:: pwsh
+
+  [root@c14560bff70f /]# exit
+  exit
+  (base) PS C:\Users\user>
+
+You can copy the noted files using this script:
+
+.. code:: pwsh
+
+  docker cp mapdl:/file0.err .
+  docker cp mapdl:/file1.err .
+  docker cp mapdl:/file1.out .
+
+If you want to retrieve multiple files, the most efficient approach is to get back inside the Docker container:
+
+.. code:: pwsh
+
+  PS C:\Users\user> docker exec -it mapdl /bin/bash
+  [root@c14560bff70f /]#
+
+Create a folder where you are going to copy all the desired files:
+
+.. code:: pwsh
+
+  [root@c14560bff70f /]# mkdir -p /mapdl_logs
+  [root@c14560bff70f /]# cp -f /file*.out /mapdl_logs
+  [root@c14560bff70f /]# cp -f /file*.err /mapdl_logs
+  [root@c14560bff70f /]# ls mapdl_logs/
+  file0.err  file1.err  file1.out  file2.err  file2.out  file3.err  file3.out
+
+Then copy the entire folder content at once:
+
+.. code:: pwsh
+
+  docker cp mapdl:/mapdl_logs/. .
+