This is (mostly) a walkthrough of the (old) Docker Get Started series.

There is also an arm32v6 branch.

Prepare

> cp .env.sample .env

Edit the .env file with your Docker Hub username, port the app will listen on, and the tag you will use when pushing the image.

> export $(cat .env) # load .env variables into shell

Part 2: Containers

Build the image

Build the Dockerfile in the current directory, and tag the resulting image docker_demo:build.

> docker build -t docker_demo:build .

Run the docker_demo:build image in the get_started container. Bind container's internal ${PORT} to host machine's 8000 port, and execute the npm start command.

> docker container run --name get_started -p 8000:${PORT} docker_demo:build npm start
> curl -i http://localhost:8000

If you want the container to work in the background, you need to run the image in detached mode;

> docker container run -d --name get_started -p 8000:${PORT} docker_demo:build npm start

To stop the container,

> docker container stop get_started

To restart it;

> docker container start get_started

To run a new container with the same name, you need to remove the old one;

> docker container rm get_started

To see the log output of a container in detached mode;

> docker container logs -f get_started

Push the image

Since the deploy procedure in this walkthrough needs an image to pull, you will push the one you built to Docker Hub. You need to register, and do docker login.

> docker tag docker_demo:build ${DOCKER_USER}/docker_demo:${TAG}
> docker push ${DOCKER_USER}/docker_demo:${TAG}

When you need to build multi-architecture (amd64, arm32v6) images, you need different tags per arch; i.e. :amd64-latest, :arm32v6-latest. This way of tagging is not best-practice. For easier management of images across architectures, use manifests.

Part 3: Services

Services are really just “containers in production.” A service only runs one image, but it codifies the way that image runs—what ports it should use, how many replicas of the container should run so the service has the capacity it needs, and so on.

You will init a swarm on your physical machine, thus making it the swarm manager node, and then deploying a stack of services into it.

Note: docker-compose.yml references the image you upload to Docker Hub. Make sure you have built & uploaded the image if you made any changes to the Dockerfile or the app.

> docker swarm init
> docker stack deploy -c docker-compose.yml some_app  # might take >30s
> docker service ls
> docker service ps some_app_app # 5 instances on one node
> curl -i4 http://localhost:8000
> docker stack rm some_app
> docker swarm leave --force

If your containers are shutdown with log message "Killed", or take too long "Preparing", it means the deploy.resources defined in the docker-compose.yml file are insufficient. Increase the limits (or free resources) until your containers are kept.

Part 4: Swarms

Docker Machine development has stopped. Project is now in maintenance mode.

Here in part 4, you deploy this application onto a cluster, running it on multiple machines. Multi-container, multi-machine applications are made possible by joining multiple machines into a “Dockerized” cluster called a swarm.

You will create 2 VMs. The first machine acts as the swarm manager; meaning it executes management commands & authenticates workers to join the swarm, and the second is a worker node in the swarm. Machines are using the virtualbox driver, as in the series. Here is all the available drivers.

Create the machines;

> docker-machine create -d virtualbox myvm1
> docker-machine create -d virtualbox myvm2

Init a swarm in myvm1, and have myvm2 join it.

> MYVM1_IP=$(docker-machine ip myvm1)
> docker-machine ssh myvm1 "docker swarm init --advertise-addr $MYVM1_IP"
> JOIN_CMD=$(docker-machine ssh myvm1 "docker swarm join-token worker" | grep "\-\-token")
> docker-machine ssh myvm2 $JOIN_CMD
> docker-machine ssh myvm1 "docker node ls" # myvm2 status: ready
> docker-machine ssh myvm2 "docker swarm leave"
> docker-machine ssh myvm1 "docker node ls" # myvm2 status: down
> docker-machine ssh myvm1 "docker swarm leave --force"

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Above commands are run via ssh'ing into the VMs. Alternatively, you can link your shell (terminal) to a machine, and your commands will be run against the Docker daemon there.

> docker-machine ls # no active machines
> env | grep DOCKER
> eval $(docker-machine env myvm1)
> docker-machine ls # myvm1 is active machine
> env | grep DOCKER
> docker swarm init # init on myvm1

If you are on Windows, you need to run docker-machine env myvm1 to get the correct command. Above is for *nix.

If you are prompted to select an interface with the --advertise-addr flag, use the one that matches the $MYVM1_IP.

> docker swarm init --advertise-addr eth1

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Now that myvm1 init a swarm, and is the active machine, have myvm2 join;

> JOIN_CMD=$(docker swarm join-token worker | grep "\-\-token")
> docker-machine ssh myvm2 $JOIN_CMD
> docker node ls # 2 nodes

Finally, deploy the stack in docker-compose.yml to your swarm of 2 nodes. (assuming myvm1 is the active node). If the swarm manager node isn't linked with your shell (you instead ssh commands in), remote machine won't have access to your local filesystem. In that case, you need to copy the docker-compose.yml, and the .env files over.

> docker stack deploy -c docker-compose.yml some_app # might take >1m
> docker service ps some_app_app
> curl -i http://$MYVM1_IP:8000 # 5 instances across 2 nodes
> docker ps
> docker-machine ssh myvm2 "docker ps"

A stack is the entire definition (services, networks, etc.) in your compose file. A service is a part of that definition. Each service corresponds to a container, that can be replicated multiple times, via the deploy.replicas key.

You can access your app through any one of the node IPs. In this case, curl -i http://$MYVM2_IP:8000 also works.

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If you change the number of nodes in the swarm, or if you scale up/down your service via the deploy key in docker-compose.yml, you need to deploy your stack again for it to be affected by the changes.

Remember, if you modify your node app (or Dockerfile), you need to build & upload the image again.

To unset the DOCKER_ environment variables;

> eval $(docker-machine env -u)

Part 5: Stacks

In this part, you are going to deploy the stack defined in dc.part5.yml. Make sure;

• the swarm manager node (myvm1) is the active node
• the image you uploaded to Docker Hub is up-to-date

> docker stack deploy -c dc.part5.yml -c docker-compose.yml some_app

Difference from the stack in previous parts is the added visualizer service. The 2 services in this new stack are both on the mynetwork network. The visualizer service is only deployed to the manager node in the swarm, and it has access (via volumes) to the dockerd socket in the local filesystem (myvm1's) so that it can track metrics.

You can view it at http://$MYVM1_IP:8080. That is a visualization of the docker stack ps some_app command. Even though the visualizer service is deployed to a single node, you can also access it from http://$MYVM2_IP:8080.

The reason why every IP on the swarm will be able to access the service (as in the app) is the routing mesh the dockerized network implements.

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Now you will add the redis service to the stack so you can persist some data. Adding the service means defining the container the redis image will run in.

Again,the service deployment is fixed to a single (manager) node. This is crucial since we want the /data folder, where the redis container stores its data, to always sync with the same host (myvm1) filesystem.

By default, the myvm1 machine has a docker user, and thus a /home/docker/ folder. By doing;

volumes:
  - "/home/docker/data:/data"

You are telling the redis container to mount its internal /data folder as the /home/docker/data folder in the machine it's deployed on (myvm1).

If you didn't mount this internal folder, you would lose the redis data when the container powers down. This way, you persist the data.

Create the /data folder on the local filesystem of the host machine;

> docker-machine ssh myvm1 "mkdir ./data" # /home/docker/data

redis service definition is commented-out in dc.part5.yml - enable it, and then update the stack (on myvm1);

> docker stack deploy -c dc.part5.yml -c docker-compose.yml some_app
> docker stack ls

Now, your app has access to a redis service;

> curl -i $(docker-machine ip myvm1):8000/visit
> curl -i $(docker-machine ip myvm1):8000/visit?reset

You learned that stacks are inter-related services all running in concert. You learned that to add more services to your stack, you insert them in your Compose file. Finally, you learned that by using a combination of placement constraints and volumes you can create a permanent home for persisting data, so that your app’s data survives when the container is torn down and redeployed.

Part 6: Deploy

Docker Cloud is now discontinued. You can read this for context.

Suggested deployment method for your Docker containers is a managed k8s service; such as GKE, AKS or EKS.

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Official documentation

> docker run -ti -p 4000:4000 docs/docker.github.io:latest # >2GB

Links

• cheatsheets: official & this

• awesome docker

• /r/docker