5 min to read

Leveraging Docker with Low Technical Expertise

By KeyFeaturesLab

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Introduction

Imagine you have a great idea: you want to sell your cupcakes worldwide. They’re delicious, and everyone who’s tried them loved them and asked for more. The entrepreneur in you is ready to jump into action, but your software engineering side is also awake. To make this dream a reality, the first step is to create your own website. This platform will help you spread the word about your scrumptious cupcakes, and allow customers to order and have them delivered right to their doorstep.

To make this happen, you’ve wisely decided to use Docker, a powerful tool that will allow your website to scale effortlessly and gives you all the benefits of containerization, such as portability, consistency, and rapid deployment. Docker is an easy-to-use tool, and you don’t need extensive technical experience to get started!

Step 1: Install Docker Engine

Before diving into the world of Docker, first things first: you need to install Docker Engine on your local machine (or any other container tool, such as Podman). This step is critical because Docker will enable you to build, run, and manage your containers with ease.

Step 2: Leverage Prebuilt, Truster Docker Images

Since your software engineering experience has its limits, you wisely decide to take advantage of Docker Hub’s prebuilt, trusted images. These images drastically simplify the deployment process by providing:

TIP: You can recognize Official Images on Docker Hub by the “Official” badge and Verified Publisher images by the green checkmark. These guarantee the images come directly from trusted vendors, like Bitnami, Red Hat, or MongoDB.

Step 3: Choose a Docker Image for Your Web Server

You choose the node:18-alpine image for your web server backend because it’s:

Step 4: Clone Your Code from GitHub

You’ve written the code for your cupcake website and hosted it on GitHub. To follow along with this tutorial, fork and clone the repository to your local machine. Run the following commands to get started:

  git clone https://github.com/your-username/your-repo-name.git
  cd your-repo-name

Step 5: Build Your Docker Image

In your local code editor, navigate to the correct path and create a Dockerfile. This file will specify the instructions to build your container image. Building this image makes your application immutable and deployable.

To learn more about writing a Dockerfile, I recommend referring to the official Docker documentation for a comprehensive guide: Dockerfile Reference Dockerfile Reference.

Step 6: Push Your Image to a Container Registry

Once your Docker image is built, it’s time to deploy it to a container registry. A container registry is a place where you can store and manage your images. Popular options include:

If you plan on keeping your registry private (which I highly recommend for your business), you will need to manage your credentials securely. It’s critical to keep your credentials safe and limit access to authorized users only.

Step 7: Create Your Kubernetes Manifest File

Noww that your image is in a registry, it’s time to deploy it using Kubernetes. Kubernetes will manage the scaling and running of your containers across multiple environments. To do this, you’ll need to create a Kubernetes Manifest. This file contains your deployment preferences, such as:

Most of us don’t want to spend hours learning the ins and outs of YAML (the language used in Kubernetes manifests), and thankfully, there are tools and templates that can simplify this process. Here are a few ways to speed things up:

Step 8: Deploy to Kubernetes

Once you have your manifest file ready, you can use kubectl (the command-line tool for Kubernetes) to deploy your application:

  kubectl apply -f your-manifest.yaml

This will instruct Kubernetes to create your deployment based on the preferences you set in the manifest file.

Conclusion: Effortless Scalability and Deployment

With Docker, you’ve just taken the first steps toward building and deploying a scalable website. By leveraging prebuilt images, container registries, and Kubernetes, you can now deploy your cupcakes to the world, all while focusing on what matters most: making your cupcakes the best they can be.

By containerizing your application, you’re setting yourself up for easy scalability. As your business grows, you can effortlessly increase the number of replicas and resources needed to handle more traffic, keeping your website up and running smoothly.

With Docker and Kubernetes at your side, the only thing left to do is watch your business rise, just like your cupcakes!

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