Feature #2138 CI enhance MET Docker tag override

.github/jobs/docker_setup.sh

@@ -43,10 +43,13 @@ elif [ "${EXTERNAL_TRIGGER}" == "true" ]; then
     MET_TAG=${MET_TAG}-lite
 fi
 
-# if MET_FORCE_TAG variable is set and not empty, use that version instead
-if [ ! -z "$MET_FORCE_TAG" ]; then
-    MET_TAG=$MET_FORCE_TAG
-    MET_DOCKER_REPO=met
+# if SET_MET_IMAGE variable is set and not empty, use that version instead
+# format is <REPO>:<TAG> where the repo used is dtcenter/<REPO> and
+# the tag used is <TAG>, e.g. met:11.1.0 uses dtcenter/met:11.1.0
+if [ ! -z "$SET_MET_IMAGE" ]; then
+    force_info=(${SET_MET_IMAGE//:/ })
+    MET_DOCKER_REPO=${force_info[0]}
+    MET_TAG=${force_info[1]}
 fi
 
 echo Using MET_DOCKER_REPO=$MET_DOCKER_REPO

.github/workflows/testing.yml

@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ jobs:
           DOCKER_USERNAME: ${{ secrets.DOCKER_USERNAME }}
           DOCKER_PASSWORD: ${{ secrets.DOCKER_PASSWORD }}
           EXTERNAL_TRIGGER: ${{ needs.job_control.outputs.external_trigger }}
-          #MET_FORCE_TAG: 11.0.0
+          #SET_MET_IMAGE: met:11.0.0
 
   update_data_volumes:
     name: Docker Setup - Update Data Volumes

docs/Contributors_Guide/continuous_integration.rst

@@ -470,7 +470,7 @@ Create/Update METplus Docker Image
           env:
             DOCKER_USERNAME: ${{ secrets.DOCKER_USERNAME }}
             DOCKER_PASSWORD: ${{ secrets.DOCKER_PASSWORD }}
-            #MET_FORCE_TAG: 10.0.0
+            #SET_MET_IMAGE: met:10.0.0
 
 This job calls the **docker_setup.sh** script.
 This script builds a METplus Docker image and pushes it to DockerHub.
@@ -496,15 +496,33 @@ development testing. If testing is done on a stable release, then the
 corresponding MET stable release will be used. However, there may be an
 instance where a change in MET breaks something in another METplus component,
 i.e. METplotpy or METviewer, until a corresponding change is made to that
-component. If this occurs then some of the METplus use cases may break. To
-allow the tests to run successfully in the meantime, an option was added to
-force the version of the MET tag that is used to build the METplus Docker image
-that is used for testing. In the **testing.yml** workflow file,
-there is a commented variable called
-MET_FORCE_TAG that can be uncommented and set to force the version of MET to
-use. This variable is found in the **get_image** job under the **env** section
+component. If this occurs then some of the METplus use cases may break.
+
+Another situation that may require a different MET Docker image is if there
+are changes in a MET feature or bugfix branch that are needed to test changes
+in METplus.
+
+To allow the tests to run successfully in these cases, an option was added to
+force a specific MET Docker image to be used to build the METplus Docker image
+that is used for testing.
+
+In the **testing.yml** workflow file, there is a commented variable called
+SET_MET_IMAGE that can be uncommented and set the MET Docker image to use.
+This variable is found in the **get_image** job under the **env** section
 for the step named "Get METplus Image."
 
+The format of the value is <REPO>:<TAG>
+where the DockerHub repo used is dtcenter/<REPO> and the tag used is <TAG>.
+
+Stable releases of MET are found in the dtcenter/met DockerHub repo and
+are named using the X.Y.Z version of the release,
+so setting **SET_MET_IMAGE=met:11.1.0** will use dtcenter/met:11.1.0.
+
+Development versions of MET are found in the dtcenter/met-dev DockerHub
+repo and are named using the branch name,
+so setting **SET_MET_IMAGE=met-dev:feature_XYZ_info** will use
+dtcenter/met-dev:feature_XYZ_info.
+
 
 .. _cg-ci-update-data-volumes: