Docker is a container solution to seamlessly build, deploy and run applications. It is one of the popular container platforms that many developers are using. It can be extensively used in distributed systems with multiple nodes to perform autonomous tasks concurrently, cutting down dependency on the physical systems, scaling systems for applications like Apache Cassandra, MongoDB, and Riak. Also it can be deployed in DevOps, especially in stages of Continuous Deployment.
There are some tools available which provide the right environment to configure containerization on your host. Here we’ve listed some of the tools that you must know before selecting the best one.
This is a lightweight tool that can run on any operating system and automates the image creation at any time for machines, including Docker. Packer supports many platforms and can be added by using plugins. Also it does not replace but integrates with configuration management tools like Chef, Puppet and Ansible. It has an ability to create multiple machine images in parallel to save time and increase efficiency. Teams can easily debug builds using Packer’s debugger that inspects failure and allows teams to try solutions before restarting builds. It has support with many platforms via plugins thus teams can customize their builds.
This open-source plugin automates and simplifies the script-building process. It is designed to support various platforms and languages. This tool integrates with various plugins and allows users to build scripts that talk to Docker. Gradle allows you to customize their repository and set up continuous builds to speed up processes. Build scans enables teams to collaboratively debug and track their scripts. Execution options lets teams to continuously build so that when changes are inputted, the task is automatically executed. And custom repository layout allows teams to treat any file directory structure as an artifact repository.
It is used to test the deployed application developed in containers. Prometheus collects the data from the host at intervals and evaluates it to generate alerts whenever necessary. Also, it implements a high dimensional data model, has built-in expression browser, Grafana Integration and console template language to provide best analysis support. It has powerful queries which allow time slicing of data to create ad-hoc graphs, tables and alerts.
It is used to provide a user shell for isolated, containerized environments. Dockersh is also used as a login shell for machines with multiple user interactions. When Dockersh is invoked, it brings up a Docker container into an active state and spawn an interactive shell in containers’ namespace. With this tool, users enter their own Docker space (container), with their home directory mounted on host machine, providing data retention between container restarts.
Users can see only their processes with their own kernel namespaces for processing and networking. This gives required user privacy and superior division of assets and constraints relating to each. So as to provide user isolation through individual containers, you have to run a ssh Daemon in every container and have a separate port for every user to ssh or use ForceCommand hacks. It reduces the need for such complex procedures and allows you to have a single ssh process, on a normal ssh port to achieve isolation.
It is an open-source tool which is used for log management especially for docker containers. This tool is just a Docker container which collects logs from containers and transfers this information to a designated location. So is a great tool for teams who are using Docker and want to ship logs to various locations. Teams can easily manage files because the tool only requires access to the Docker socket.
Know more at- https://solaceinfotech.com/blog/top-10-docker-tools-to-use-in-2021/