I just start using my homelab to host some new good services, and I want to know what is the approach of a docker setup, what is the best distro for? How to deploy them correctly? Basically I’m a real noob in this subject. Thank you

  • Matt The Horwood@lemmy.horwood.cloudEnglish
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    2 months ago

    I would start with a Debian os base, install docker and turn it into a swarm manager. Then look at stacks and how services work, if you find your running your host too hard. You can add a work host and stread out.

    Once you have docker swarm running, get portainer running. I use portainer as a visual whats happening on my swarm, but I use the docker cli to start and update all my stacks. I have my stacks in a git repository so that I have a backup and history of what changes I did.

    Now your a docker master, of sorts.

  • AustralianSimon@lemmy.worldEnglish
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    2 months ago

    Ubuntu server is pretty user friendly and has more frequent updates op. Plenty of info out there. My preference is uninstall snaps.

  • Dust0741@lemmy.worldEnglish
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    2 months ago

    Anything.

    Personally I use Debian. But Docker doesn’t care. I chose Debian because it is very stable and simple

    • funkajunk@lemm.eeEnglish
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      2 months ago

      Yep, Debian and then add Portainer - for me this is the easiest setup to manage.

        • ikidd@lemmy.worldEnglish
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          2 months ago

          I can appreciate this. You might want to look at Lazydocker as a SSH TUI management tool.

        • Lem453@lemmy.caEnglish
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          2 months ago

          I love the one click pull from git option. Don’t like the corporate direction they seem to be taking.

          I haven’t seen aby alternative docker GUI managers that have the git pull for the compose.

        • funkajunk@lemm.eeEnglish
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          2 months ago

          I just said what works best for me. Use the command line and compose files if you want.

    • foremanguy@lemmy.mlOPEnglish
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      2 months ago

      And what is the good way of deploying it? After pulling the image, how do we autostart it etc…

      • Itwasthegoat@lemmy.worldEnglish
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        2 months ago

        Create a systemctl service for it, create a cron, or of there is a lot of interconnectivity between your containers look at something like K3S.

      • atzanteol@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
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        2 months ago

        At its simplest:

        docker run -d --name servicename --restart unless-stopped container

        That’ll get you going. Youi’ll have containers running, they restart, etc. There are more sophisticated ways of doing things (create a systemd file that starts/stops the container, use kubernetes, etc.) but if you’re just starting this will likely work fine.

        • foremanguy@lemmy.mlOPEnglish
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          2 months ago

          Are they starting automatically at boot?

          EDIT : how do you run a container with a simple name instead of using his id?

          • atzanteol@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
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            2 months ago

            Yes - they’ll start automatically. There are other options for “restart” that define the behavior.

            You can give whatever you like to “servicename” and use that rather than the ID.

            For example:

            docker run -d --name mysite --restart unless-stopped nginx

docker stop mysite

docker start mysite
      • lka1988@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
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        2 months ago

        The Docker documentation is pretty terrible, but it’s a decent start. Start by looking at docker-compose.yml files for the services you want to run and the write-ups for those.

        Something nobody ever told me, that I had to figure out myself, is that docker-compose.yml files can be placed anywhere you want.

  • ikidd@lemmy.worldEnglish
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    2 months ago

    Debian with the docker convenience script. Stay away from Ubuntu server, for the love of dog.

    Make a folder such as /stacks and put everything there by building docker compose stacks. I bind mount everything local to a subfolder with the docker-compose.yml for that application so when I restore it, it’s all in one spot, not spread all over the hell like docker likes to do if you don’t use bind mounts.

    Add lazydocker for getting easy log and stats access for each stack.

      • ikidd@lemmy.worldEnglish
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        2 months ago

        When I tried it last (a couple years ago), the docker snap was an untroubleshootable mess. I don’t like the idea of running Docker that way, in whatever version of a container that Canonical has come up with for snaps. It’s just looking for problems. Run an application with Snap if you want, but a whole container system? No thanks.

        • AustralianSimon@lemmy.worldEnglish
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          2 months ago

          I wrote a script to remove snaps and install Docker as per the docker website. Works great mate.

          Plus you get the benefit of frequent updates.

          • numanair@lemmy.mlEnglish
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            1 month ago

            One of their frequent updates completely broke docker on my system. Fortunately they did push the fix by the time I realized what happened.

          • ikidd@lemmy.worldEnglish
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            2 months ago

            I don’t need what Ubuntu offers to run server applications, and Debian is rock solid and predictable. Might as well go to the source since it’s Debian all the way down anyway, just with added cruft.

        • sum_yung_gai@lemm.eeEnglish
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          2 months ago

          I just don’t use snaps and it works great for me. For docker I add their apt repository and install it like that.

          • ikidd@lemmy.worldEnglish
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            2 months ago

            Well, I wasn’t using snaps and it still decided to install Docker snap on me. 2 days of troubleshooting before I figured out that the snap existed and was having a war with my apt install of docker. Never again.

            • sum_yung_gai@lemm.eeEnglish
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              2 months ago

              I avoid apt because it does silly stuff. Always use apt-get. I suppose having to know that quirk is a con of the distro.

      • ikidd@lemmy.worldEnglish
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        2 months ago

        I found dozzle a bit rudimentary as it only does logs, but I liked that there was an android app to interface it.

        Lazydocker is more like Portainer on running stacks in that you can see logs, configs, stats and do operations on the stacks and components all from an SSH TUI.

    • moonpiedumplings@programming.devEnglish
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      2 months ago

      Debian with the docker convenience script.

      They seem to be moving away from this, and it’s not longer the first option on their install page

      On their debian page

      Use a convenience script. Only recommended for testing and development environments

      Also, it should be noted about the first option they recommend, Docker Desktop, that Docker Desktop is proprietary.

      I recommend just getting the docker.io and docker-compose from debian’s repositories.

      • ikidd@lemmy.worldEnglish
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        2 months ago

        Well, that’s a new development. That used to be the go-to method they pushed. Thanks for pointing that out.

        As for Docker Desktop being the top option, it would only be used for a “development environment” because why would you install that on a headless docker host for production? And after the horror stories I’ve heard of Windows and Mac versions of Docker Desktop, there isn’t a chance in hell I’d use it anyway.

        So yes, going forward it looks like adding the repos and apt-get install are the way to go. Except, the convenience script was so… convenient.