I never understood how to use Docker, what makes it so special? I would really like to use it on my Rapsberry Pi 3 Model B+ to ease the setup process of selfhosting different things.
I’m currently running these things without Docker:
- Mumble server with a Discord bridge and a music bot
- Maubot, a plugin-based Matrix bot
- FTP server
- Two Discord Music bots
All of these things are running as systemd services in the background. Should I change this? A lot of the things I’m hosting offer Docker images.
It would also be great if someone could give me a quick-start guide for Docker. Thanks in advance!
The most popular way of configuring containers are by using environment variables that live outside the container. But for apps that use files to store configuration, you can designate directories on your host that will be available inside the container (called “volumes” in Docker land). It’s also possible to link multiple containers together, so you can have a database container running alongside the app.
If you have all of that set up then, what benefit is there to blowing away your container and spinning up a ‘fresh’ one? I’ve never been able to wrap my head around docker, and I think this is a big part of it.