Hey guys we are back with one more reason to use docker part II. I hope you must have explored our previous blog in this series of one more reason to use docker, if not I would suggest you to read that one also.
As we discussed in our previous blog, docker can be used in multiple scenarios, it all depends on the use case of what you want to do with it. It’s a shipping container that can run anything you want to run inside it.
It can either be database, elasticsearch, proxy, scheduled job or be an application.
Running binaries or trying out a new software
As a developer or devops, you are always trying out some software or the other. Many a times you must have struggled while installing new software package onto your machine or setting up different environment for running application.
Suppose I have written a terraform infra code for my infra setup, to test it I would require to install terraform binary. On top of that, I also need an SCM like ansible on the same machine to test/run my ansible role which cannot be run without proper python settings!
Oh God !! so much struggle to install these binaries on system 😥. And if you are a developer you have to go through set of jira processes 😜 will have to request infra team for a new machine for POC of a new software with required package.
The problem doesn’t end here, your system will get piled up with unused binaries once you are done with POC. It will be a whole different task to clean that up.
It’s not always a pleasant experience to set things up after downloading the software. Time is of essence and sometimes all we are looking for is to fire a few commands and that’s it. The Docker model is a super simplistic way of running software binaries, which behind the scene takes care of getting the image and running it for you.
It’s not just about new software. Consider an example that you want to spin up a Database Server (MySQL) quickly on your laptop. Or setup a Redis Server for your team. Docker makes this dead simple. Want to run MySQL Server? All you need to do is :
docker run -d -p 3306:3306 tutum/mysql
Now in case of terraform you simply need to pull latest docker image for terraform and you are good to test/run your terraform code:
docker pull hashicorp/terraform # run the binary from a container. docker run -i -t hashicorp/terraform plan main.tf
It’s that simple, You could save hours of your time. It’s use case is not limited to this, we can use it in case of Demos !!
In our organisation, we generally have weekend SHOA(Saturday Hands-On Activity) sessions, which is a great platform for learning and sharing knowledge in an interactive way.
We use docker for showcasing demo, as Docker images are an ideal way to package and demo your tool or application. Also, it’s a great way for conducting hands on workshop. Normally participants get stuck while setting up tools instead of doing the real workshop agenda. Using docker will save time and participants will be able to use that time to learn what they intended to learn out of the workshop.
That’s the power of docker fire it and you are On! I hope you guys liked it and will also try to use Docker in your multiple use cases.
As we discussed in our last blog, there are many scenarios of using docker which are yet to be explored.
Thanks for reading, I’d really appreciate your feedback. Cheers till the next time.
Image source: https://whyjava.files.wordpress.com/2017/05/docker.png?w=555
