I Use Docker for Almost Everything, and I’m Not Even a Developer

Do you think Docker is only for developers? I heard this saying, but it couldn’t be more false. I am not a developer and I use Docker to perform dozens of services and applications in my HomeLab.

What is Docker anyway?

Docker is a containerization platform that allows you to perform services, programs and mini operating systems on your computer or server. It can also be used to execute various development environments, tools and other things necessary to create applications.

One of the main reasons to use Docker is to perform various services separated from each other and your host operating system. This allows you to have greater confidentiality and protection for your system. If a container is compromised, he only has access to himself and everything you give him access.

So, am I a developer?

I wouldn’t necessarily call myself a “developer”. While I was doing programs and application development, I haven’t done it for many years. I know my way around a Linux terminal, and I am still doing HTML or CSS with regard to my personal websites, but I am in no way a full developer.

At most, I am a handyman. I love to play with things, change the code of an application to make it do what I want and do around the different services that I manage in my Homelab.

Because I don’t do development tasks, I don’t manage development services in Docker. There are awesome Developer tools available in Docker, I simply have no use for them personally.

If I am not a developer, why use Docker?

While Docker makes a fantastic Help work on development tasks, it is simply not my use case for this. Instead, I take advantage of Docker’s containerization for something completely different: Homelabbing.

There are tens of thousands of Docker containers available. Many available containers focus on managing services or programs, not necessarily development.

In my homelab, I have nearly 30 Docker containers deployed on my main docker host, and another half-dozen on my secondary Docker host. These services go from Pi-Hole to Plex, OpenSpeedtest, Caliber, Paperless-Nngx, Home Assistant, Tautulli, Home page and many others.

The question is: why do I use Docker for this instead of installing the applications themselves? The answer is simple: I like containers.

With Docker, my plex container can not access anything on my network unless I give access. So, I give plex access to my media library and that’s it. The home assistant actually has no access to my server; It has its own intellectual property and operates on my network, but if it is compromised, it cannot reach the other material in my network.

The same goes for all the other applications I run on Docker. They are all separated from each other. Docker containers only have access to what I grant, which means that I have a refined control over my safety risks in the Homelab.

In addition to that, Docker containers are preconfigured for the application you want to execute, so there is little configuration required to obtain an operational service. All dependencies are already there, and they are kept up to date by the container developer. If dependence requires a restart, all that I have to restart is the Docker container, not my host system.

Docker is also portable in that I can easily modify the host system without reinstalling or reconfiguring services. I recently moved my Docker server from one computer to another, and the only container that did not really bring its configuration with him was the home assistant (which I easily restored from a backup).

When I started using Docker, I didn’t know how useful it would be a functionality. However, I have used it so many times. Although the migration function is pleasant, my favorite part of Docker is that I can reinstall a container without losing parameters or configurations.

So why am I using Docker? It’s just the easiest way for me to install, test and use services in my homelab. The deployment of a Docker container takes only a few seconds. When I have finished, I simply delete the container and the service (with all dependencies) disappears.

Docker directs all my house and I could not imagine the opposite

At this stage of my home trip, I could not imagine not using Docker. I can’t even start counting the number of services I tried in Docker, only to delete a few minutes later because he didn’t do what I wanted.

Without a docker, I should install the software and all the outbuildings he had. Uninstalling would then require the deletion of these dependencies, and there are almost always stray configuration files.

Docker facilitates the management of my home, and this is certainly the best tool for work.

In the future, I plan to deploy Docker in a high availability environment. Essentially, I will have three similar servers who all perform Docker. Portinener, my favorite docker manager, would then distribute these services between the different servers.

If I needed to work on a server, all these services would migrate to another server and remain in progress. When the server that underwent maintenance was back, it would be available again for containers.

Without using a form of applications management system, like Docker, this would not be possible. Due to the way Docker manages its volumes and storage, when these services migrate, therefore do all their preferences, configuration files and any local storage used by the application.

Docker is absolutely essential to my configuration, and I do not see it anytime soon.

So, no, I’m not a developer, but I absolutely like Docker. If you are not a developer, you should completely try Docker – it will change your configuration for the best.

There are a lot of Docker containers to try. Tens of thousands, in fact. If you are overwhelming, you are not alone. Here is a handful of my favorite Docker containers who, I think, should be in each house, ranging from simple web pages to full services.