https://github.com/dotcloud/docker
Relies on Linux Kernel namespaces to solve dependency hell.
Upsides:
- fast
- each VM (container) takes very little disk space.
Downsides:
- only works on Linux. Currently does not support i386 hosts: only x86_64: moby/moby#136. Has plans to support it in the future.
- more complicated than VMs because less general. Carefully emulates small parts of the system. Consequences: one single process per virtualization.
- written in Go, yet another language. Rationale: http://www.slideshare.net/jpetazzo/docker-and-go-why-did-we-decide-to-write-docker-in-go. C is old and lacks basic expected of modern languages: package management.
Good getting started: http://docs.docker.io/introduction/working-with-docker/
Docker was developed by a company called dotCloud Inc, and open sourced. dotCloud was renamed to Docker Inc. in 2014.
Download Ubuntu image, and create a new container from it named ub16:
sudo docker run --name ub16 -it ubuntu:16.04 bash
Write a file there:
date >f
Ctrl + D kills the VM, as can be seen by the empty:
sudo docker ps
which lists all containers. To get turn it back on:
sudo docker start -ai ub16
To detach without turning it off enter Ctrl-P Ctrl-Q: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/19688314/how-do-you-attach-and-detach-from-dockers-process
To open a new shell in a running container https://stackoverflow.com/questions/39794509/how-to-open-multiple-terminals-in-docker run:
sudo docker exec -it ub16 bash
And check that f is present:
cat f
List all commands:
sudo docker help
Get help on one command:
sudo docker help build
Good info on the manpages:
man docker
man docker-run
Public image index at https://index.docker.io/.
Search for image:
sudo docker search nginx
Sample output:
NAME DESCRIPTION STARS OFFICIAL TRUSTED
dockerfile/nginx Trusted Nginx (http://nginx.org/) ... 27 [OK]
dockerfiles/django-uwsgi-nginx Dockerfile and configuration files ... 7 [OK]
paintedfox/nginx-php5 A docker image for running Nginx wi... 5 [OK]
TODO: how is TRUSTED determined?
Download image:
sudo docker pull ubuntu
sudo docker pull dockerfile/nginx
List images available locally:
sudo docker images
Sample output:
REPOSITORY TAG IMAGE ID CREATED VIRTUAL SIZE
myUserName/nginx latest a0d6c70867d2 41 seconds ago 578.8 MB
nginx latest 173c2dd28ab2 3 minutes ago 578.8 MB
ubuntu 13.10 5e019ab7bf6d 3 weeks ago 180 MB
ubuntu saucy 5e019ab7bf6d 3 weeks ago 180 MB
ubuntu 12.04 74fe38d11401 3 weeks ago 209.6 MB
ubuntu precise 74fe38d11401 3 weeks ago 209.6 MB
TAG is the version of the box, much like Git tags. Tags can be specified as: ubuntu:14.04.
Remove image:
sudo docker rmi image_name
No existing container, including stopped, must be using it. Can force with -f (TODO does it prevent from using the container then?).
Export an image to tar format:
sudo docker save image_name > image_name.tar
Then note that every ADD and RUN command in a Dockerfile generates a separate snapshot of the image.
Interesting images include:
- dockerfile/ubuntu: Ubuntu 14.04 with a few basic packages added like Git and cURL.
Create a new container and run command on it. Use start to reuse a container created with run.
The most useful command is of the form:
id="$(sudo docker run -d -p 127.0.0.1:8000:80 dockerfile/nginx)"
which will run Nginx on port 8000 of the host. It can be stopped with:
sudo docker stop "$id"
This presupposes that the image's dockerfile/nginx Dockerfile contains a CMD line.
Run single command on starting from image ubuntu:
sudo docker run ubuntu /usr/bin/id -un
sudo docker run 5e019ab7bf6d /usr/bin/id -un
Output:
root
If not present, the image is downloaded.
If the image's Dockerfile has CMD, then the command can be omitted and CMD is used. This is the case for the official Nginx image:
sudo docker run dockerfile/nginx
which automatically starts running Nginx.
Run multiple commands:
sudo docker run ubuntu /bin/bash -c 'sleep 2 && id -un'
Docker binds the terminals from container into host terminal and only exits when the command exits.
Start interactive shell with -it:
sudo docker run -it ubuntu /bin/bash
TODO why does it not work without -it, considering that it also occupies the stdin / stdout?
-p: map port 80 of container to port 8000 of host:
sudo docker run -p 127.0.0.1:8000:80 dockerfile/nginx
And now from the host:
firefox localhost:8000
--name: give a name to a container:
sudo docker run --name container_name ubuntu /usr/bin/id -un
If you don't do this, you will have to refer to the container by its ID. This allows you to run on another terminal things like:
sudo docker attach container_name
sudo docker stop container_name
The name must be unique, including across stopped containers.
It is only possible to run a single process inside a container, but it is possible to have a process that runs many others: http://docs.docker.io/examples/using_supervisord/. This is why the following fails to run on the host TODO confirm:
sudo docker run -p 8000:80 -it ubuntu /bin/bash
apt-get install -y nginx
service apache2 nginx
Same goes for a bare CMD nginx, since by default Nginx turns itself into a background process. This is why daemon off is required on the Nginx configuration as stated at: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/18861300/how-to-run-nginx-within-docker-container-without-halting.
-d: run detached container and print it ID:
id="$(sudo docker run -d -p 127.0.0.1:8000:80 dockerfile/nginx)"
sudo docker stop "$id"
Share directory between guest and host:
sudo docker run -v path/in/host:/full/path/in/guest ubuntu date > /full/path/in/guest/mydate
cat path/in/host/mydate
It gets updated immediately.
Can only take absolute paths on guest. Efficient for large files, unlike some VM schemes. The paths get created if they don't exist.
Only works for new containers: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/28302178/how-can-i-add-a-volume-to-an-existing-docker-container
Cannot mount guest to host: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/36246094/how-to-mount-a-directory-in-a-docker-container-to-the-host
Easiest method: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/31446661/build-a-full-ubuntu-desktop-docker-image/51122106#51122106
More manual method: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/16296753/can-you-run-gui-apps-in-a-docker-container
sudo docker run --net=host
Then in guest:
apt-get install x11vnc xvfb
Then in host:
sudo apt-get install vinagre
vinagre localhost:5900
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/17770902/forward-host-port-to-docker-container
List running containers:
sudo docker ps
List all containers, including those previously stopped:
sudo docker ps -a
Sample output:
CONTAINER ID IMAGE COMMAND CREATED STATUS PORTS NAMES
e676beb2500b ubuntu:14.04 /bin/bash -c 'sleep About a minute ago Exited (0) About a minute ago silly_perlman
b7876bb06c7d ubuntu:14.04 /bin/bash 3 minutes ago Exited (1) 3 minutes ago prickly_albattani
3426d733883a ubuntu:14.04 /bin/bash -c 'sleep 5 minutes ago Exited (0) 5 minutes ago insane_fermat
Some fields such as mapped ports and name only appear of they are not empty:
sudo docker run --name name0 --expose 8000 -i -p 127.0.0.1:8000:8000 -t dockerfile-test bash
sudo docker ps
Stop container:
sudo docker stop ubuntu
Restart container that was stopped / finished executing detached:
sudo docker run --name start_test ubuntu date
sudo docker start start_test
Since it is detached by default it will only print its ID, not the stdout.
Attach:
sudo docker start -a start_test
Remove a container:
sudo docker rm 3e552code34a
Remove all containers http://stackoverflow.com/questions/17236796/how-to-remove-old-docker-io-containers:
sudo docker rm $(sudo docker ps -aq --no-trunc)
Attach to a running container:
sudo docker run -it --name name0 ubuntu bash
On another terminal:
sudo docker attach name0
Now stdin and stdout of both terminals are attached: whatever you do on one shows on both.
Detach with Ctrl-p + Ctrl-q. Doing Ctrl-d would terminate the shell and the container. You can detach even if you are in the last TTY.
Dockerfiles use yet another programming language.
A good way to learn their most important features is by looking at key Dockerfiles such as:
- https://github.com/dockerfile/ubuntu/blob/master/Dockerfile
- https://github.com/dockerfile/nginx/blob/master/Dockerfile
Documentation at: http://docs.docker.io/reference/builder/
Build is very efficient. Each step generates a new cached machine. Next machines pick up from those caches. So if you run apt-get install biglib and build twice, it will only download the library once! Downside: no state is kept between builds.
Generate a container from the Dockerfile in the current directory with given name:
sudo docker build -t name .
sudo docker run -it name bash