Docker Tutorial for Beginners

Introduction

What is Docker?

• Docker is an open-source project that automates the deployment of software applications inside containers.
• Provides an additional layer of abstraction and automation of OS-level virtualization on Linux.
• Key benefit: Package an application with all of its dependencies into a standardized unit (containers).
• More efficient than virtual machines due to lower overhead.

What are Containers?

• Containers provide most of the isolation of virtual machines at a fraction of the computing power.
• Enable easy and consistent deployment of applications across different environments.

Why Use Containers?

• Decouples applications from their environment, allowing for easy deployment.
• Portability across private data centers, public cloud, or personal laptops.
• Improves infrastructure efficiency by giving more granular control over resources.

Tutorial Overview

• One-stop shop for getting started with Docker.
• Includes hands-on experience with building and deploying webapps on the cloud using AWS.

Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Basic comfort with the command line and text editor.
• Accounts on AWS and Docker Hub required for cloud services.

Setting Up Your Computer

• Installation process for Docker on Mac, Linux, and Windows is straightforward.
• Test installation with $ docker run hello-world.

Hello World

Playing with Busybox

• Use docker pull to fetch images from Docker registry.
• docker run command to run Docker containers.

Docker Run

• docker ps shows running containers; docker ps -a shows all containers.
• docker rm removes containers; docker container prune removes all stopped containers.

Terminology

• Images: Blueprints of applications.
• Containers: Created from images and run the application.
• Docker Daemon: Manages building, running, and distributing containers.
• Docker Client: Command-line tool to interact with the daemon.
• Docker Hub: Registry of Docker images.

Webapps with Docker

Static Sites

• Run static websites using Docker images from Docker Hub.
• Expose ports using -P or -p flags in docker run.

Docker Images

• Docker images can be pulled from a registry or built locally.
• Base images: No parent image, usually OS like Ubuntu.
• Child images: Build on base images.

Our First Image

• Create a Dockerfile to automate image creation using simple commands.
• docker build to create a Docker image from a Dockerfile.

Docker on AWS

Docker Push

• Publish images on Docker Hub for AWS access.

Elastic Beanstalk (EB)

• Use EB to deploy single-container Docker apps.
• Dockerrun.aws.json file specifies Docker container configuration.
• Use EB web UI for deployment.

Multi-container Environments

Docker Network

• Create custom networks to isolate multi-container environments.
• Use docker network create and --net flag in docker run.
• Docker enables automatic service discovery in user-defined networks.

Docker Compose

• Tool for defining and running multi-container Docker applications.
• Use docker-compose.yml to configure services.
• Simplifies development and testing setups.

AWS Elastic Container Service (ECS)

• Deploy multi-container apps on AWS using ECS CLI.
• ecs-cli compose up uses docker-compose.yml to deploy apps.

Conclusion

• Docker simplifies building and deploying applications.
• Encouraged to use Docker for next projects.
• Additional resources provided for further learning.