~/Docker Basics for Lazy Developers

Dec 14, 2020

Docker is a tool to run applications in isolated environments called containers. It eliminates the pain of installing dependencies.

Install Docker by following the official guide.

Common commands:

• Pull an image

  1	docker pull nginx

• Run a container

  1	docker run -d -p 80:80 nginx

  This starts an Nginx web server on port 80.

• See running containers

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  docker ps

• Stop a container

  1	docker stop <container_id>

• Remove a container

  1	docker rm <container_id>

To make your own image, create a Dockerfile:

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FROM node:20
WORKDIR /app
COPY . .
RUN npm install
CMD ["npm", "start"]

Then build and run:

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docker build -t myapp .
docker run -p 3000:3000 myapp

The advantage of Docker is that your app will run the same everywhere, quick to set up and clean up. More at the Docker documentation.