DockerCLI/experimental/docker-stacks.md

Docker Stacks

Overview

Docker Stacks are an experimental feature introduced in Docker 1.12, alongside the concept of swarm mode, and Nodes and Services in the Engine API.

A Dockerfile can be built into an image, and containers can be created from that image. Similarly, a docker-compose.yml can be built into a distributed application bundle, and stacks can be created from that bundle. In that sense, the bundle is a multi-services distributable image format.

As of Docker 1.12, the feature is experimental. Neither Docker Engine nor the Docker Registry support distribution of bundles.

Producing a bundle

The easiest way to produce a bundle is to generate it using docker-compose from an existing docker-compose.yml. Of course, that's just one possible way to proceed, in the same way that docker build isn't the only way to produce a Docker image.

From docker-compose:

```bash
$ docker-compose bundle
WARNING: Unsupported key 'network_mode' in services.nsqd - ignoring
WARNING: Unsupported key 'links' in services.nsqd - ignoring
WARNING: Unsupported key 'volumes' in services.nsqd - ignoring
[...]
Wrote bundle to vossibility-stack.dsb
```

Creating a stack from a bundle

A stack is created using the docker deploy command:

```bash
# docker deploy --help

Usage:  docker deploy [OPTIONS] STACK

Create and update a stack

Options:
  -f, --bundle string   Path to a bundle (Default: STACK.dsb)
      --help            Print usage
```

Let's deploy the stack created before:

```bash
# docker deploy vossibility-stack
Loading bundle from vossibility-stack.dsb
Creating service vossibility-stack_elasticsearch
Creating service vossibility-stack_kibana
Creating service vossibility-stack_logstash
Creating service vossibility-stack_lookupd
Creating service vossibility-stack_nsqd
Creating service vossibility-stack_vossibility-collector
```

We can verify that services were correctly created:

```bash
# docker service ls
ID            NAME                                     REPLICAS  IMAGE
COMMAND
29bv0vnlm903  vossibility-stack_lookupd                1 nsqio/nsq@sha256:eeba05599f31eba418e96e71e0984c3dc96963ceb66924dd37a47bf7ce18a662 /nsqlookupd
4awt47624qwh  vossibility-stack_nsqd                   1 nsqio/nsq@sha256:eeba05599f31eba418e96e71e0984c3dc96963ceb66924dd37a47bf7ce18a662 /nsqd --data-path=/data --lookupd-tcp-address=lookupd:4160
4tjx9biia6fs  vossibility-stack_elasticsearch          1 elasticsearch@sha256:12ac7c6af55d001f71800b83ba91a04f716e58d82e748fa6e5a7359eed2301aa
7563uuzr9eys  vossibility-stack_kibana                 1 kibana@sha256:6995a2d25709a62694a937b8a529ff36da92ebee74bafd7bf00e6caf6db2eb03
9gc5m4met4he  vossibility-stack_logstash               1 logstash@sha256:2dc8bddd1bb4a5a34e8ebaf73749f6413c101b2edef6617f2f7713926d2141fe logstash -f /etc/logstash/conf.d/logstash.conf
axqh55ipl40h  vossibility-stack_vossibility-collector  1 icecrime/vossibility-collector@sha256:f03f2977203ba6253988c18d04061c5ec7aab46bca9dfd89a9a1fa4500989fba --config /config/config.toml --debug
```

Managing stacks

Tasks are managed using the docker stack command:

```bash
# docker stack --help

Usage:  docker stack COMMAND

Manage Docker stacks

Options:
      --help   Print usage

Commands:
  config      Print the stack configuration
  deploy      Create and update a stack
  rm          Remove the stack
  tasks       List the tasks in the stack

Run 'docker stack COMMAND --help' for more information on a command.
```

Bundle file format

Distributed application bundles are described in a JSON format. When bundles are persisted as files, the file extension is .dab (Docker 1.12RC2 tools use .dsb for the file extension—this will be updated in the next release client).

A bundle has two top-level fields: version and services. The version used by Docker 1.12 tools is 0.1.

services in the bundle are the services that comprise the app. They correspond to the new Service object introduced in the 1.12 Docker Engine API.

A service has the following fields:

Image (required) string

The image that the service will run. Docker images should be referenced with full content hash to fully specify the deployment artifact for the service. Example: postgres@sha256:f76245b04ddbcebab5bb6c28e76947f49222c99fec4aadb0bb1c24821a9e83ef

<dt>
    Command <code>[]string</code>
</dt>
<dd>
    Command to run in service containers.
</dd>

<dt>
    Args <code>[]string</code>
</dt>
<dd>
    Arguments passed to the service containers.
</dd>

<dt>
    Env <code>[]string</code>
</dt>
<dd>
    Environment variables.
</dd>

<dt>
    Labels <code>map[string]string</code>
</dt>
<dd>
    Labels used for setting meta data on services.
</dd>

<dt>
    Ports <code>[]Port</code>
</dt>
<dd>
    Service ports (composed of `Port` (`int`) and `Protocol` (`string`). A service description can only specify the container port to be exposed. These ports can be mapped on runtime hosts at the operator's discretion.
</dd>

<dt>
    WorkingDir <code>string</code>
</dt>
<dd>
    Working directory inside the service containers.
</dd>

<dt>
    User <code>string</code>
</dt>
<dd>
    Username or UID (format: <name|uid>[:<group|gid>]).
</dd>

<dt>
    Networks <code>[]string</code>
</dt>
<dd>
    Networks that the service containers should be connected to. An entity deploying a bundle should create networks as needed.
</dd>