Untangle bluecherry and mysql setup

[sicada]

Hi everyone,

I've been working on containerizing (via docker) all services I run on my NVR computer. I've built bluecherry server 3.x multiple times and am now familiar with its build process, both with and without docker.

I would like to see the deployment of bluecherry act more atomically, where it minimizes sharing its docker container with lots of dependencies (e.g. mysql, apache), which I believe is a primary goal/aspiration for using docker in the first place.

The biggest hurdle so far is that bluecherry's build/installation process is heavily intertwined with mysql. This is problematic for my use case, since I run mysql in a separate docker container and context (e.g. mysql is not guaranteed to exist at the time of bluecherry docker building).

I propose that the build scripts for bluecherry be modified in a way that removes all mysql setup activities from bluecherry's base build/install process. There would still be a mechanism for running initial mysql database setup from bluecherry setup (for most installs), but for docker or other use cases, the mysql setup can be skipped and done separately at some time other than time of bluecherry package installation.

Does this sound useful to anyone else?
Thanks,
-Nick