Easing Into 2015's Technology

Yeah, that 2015 isn't a typo - I'm starting to actually look at this interesting container ecosystem called 'Docker.' Maybe you've heard of it. I'm proud to say that, since my last post in December, I've become a pro at deploying my EC2 instance via the GUI. I still haven't figured out the AWS CLI yet, however. Considering that I only have the budget to support the Free Tier offering, though, that shouldn't be a massive concern at this time. Anyway, here are the two things I love most about my EC2 instance:

1. I have root access - no questions asked.  It makes me feel vaguely naughty, but not too much, because I know I can only shoot myself in the face.
2. I can easily install docker via yum. (Yes, I'm easily entertained by simple things in life).

(2) is particularly helpful, as it allows me to actually set up docker.  Unsurprisingly, this is difficult to do on a Chromebook that doesn't allow kernel virtualization with ease.  Sadly, this is also difficult to do on my current Linux workstation at work.  

So, I went on a bit of a ramble about poor technical documentation in my last post.  As far as Docker is concerned, I'm pleased to say that, like the Chef documentation, it's very well laid out for someone who needs to digest things in bite-sized chunks.  I'm currently making my way through the user guide, and have actually understood over 95% of what I've read.

I hope to end my post with something a bit more interesting than "Look at me, I can use yum!"  In one of my previous posts I wondered aloud as to what the pros and cons of Chef vs. Docker are.  I'm still not confident that I know all of the nuances, but here's my limited opinion as a dilettante:

• Both allow for version control - Chef essentially via its entire repo, Docker via a Dockerfile.
• Dockerfiles, without some serious exec bash script hackery, are more restrictive in their syntax and image set-up.
• Chef, particularly because it leverages Ruby, (hopefully) allows more elegance for tricky configuration issues.
• Chef, through its databags, elegantly solves the problem of password leakage via version control. Docker requires additional tools.
• Chef certainly works well for long running VM images/instances that need configuration changes over time.
• Docker's great for more ephemeral/simple set ups.

Based on the above, I'm leaning towards drinking more of the Docker Kool-aid.  Hopefully, any image of a production instance that an organization maintains doesn't need configuration layer after configuration layer on top of it.  I'd assume (at this naive level of my journey), that a Dockerfile should be sufficient to start up a production instance.  Of course, I'll let you know once a deploy something into production that isn't an exercise in navel gazing.