JSON on Docker

What is JSON?

JSON is short for JavaScript Object Notation. It implements a lightweight data interchange format based on a subset of JavaScript language. JSON provides a way to store information such that it is easy for machines to parse and generate. Docker uses JSON as its default Logging Driver to communicate information.

JSON is a way to store information in an organized, easy-to-access manner. It is used primarily to transmit data, as an alternative to XML.

As an example of how Docker leverages JSON, here's an excerpt of the docker inspect <Name | ID> output:

$ docker inspect 978d [     {         "Id": "sha256:978d85d02b87aea199e4ae8664f6abf32fdea331884818e46b8a01106b114cee",         "RepoTags": [             "debian:latest"         ],         "Container": "4799c1aee3356a0d8e51a1e6e48edc1c4ca224e55750e26916f917bdecd96079",         "ContainerConfig": {             "Hostname": "ed11f485244a",             "Cmd": [                 "/bin/sh",                 "-c",                 "#(nop) ",                 "CMD [\"/bin/bash\"]"             ],         },     } ]

As the above example shows, JSON is built on two structures:

• Name/Value pairs, delimited by comma
• NAME:VALUE, NAME:VALUE,…
• e.g. "Hostname": "ed11f485244a"
• Ordered list of values
• realized as an array, vector, list, or sequence
• e.g. ["/bin/sh","-c","#(nop) ","CMD [\"/bin/bash\"]"]

In JSON, there are several data structures, including:

• Array
• An associative array of values
• begins with [ (left bracket) and ends with ] (right bracket)
• Values are separated by , (comma)
• Object
• Begins with { (left curly brace) and ends with } (right curly brace)
• An unordered set of name/value pairs
• Name and value separated by : (colon)
• Name/Value pairs delimited by , (comma)
• Object
• {string : value,…}
• Value
• string
• number
• object
• array
• true
• false
• null

JSON’s design goal is simplicity and universality. It aims to be trivial to generate and parse.

References:

• https://docs.docker.com/engine/admin/logging/overview/
• https://www.copterlabs.com/json-what-it-is-how-it-works-how-to-use-it/
• http://www.json.org/
• http://www.yaml.org/spec/1.2/spec.html

Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Docker Command Flowchart

Docker Command Flowchart

Inspired by a post at www.troubleshooters.com this flowchart illustrates some of the Docker objects and the commands that apply to them.

For example, to preserve changes made in a container object and convert it into an image, use the docker commit command.

References:

• http://www.troubleshooters.com/linux/docker/docker_newbie.htm

Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Docker Commands: docker network

Docker Commands: docker network

docker network connect

Connect a running container to a network.

Use docker inspect 00db80208c35 to confirm the network connection. In this case, the container is connected to two networks:

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Docker Commands: docker inspect

Docker Commands: docker inspect

docker inspect

Return low-level information on Docker objects

The target of this command is an object that can be identified via a Name or an ID, e.g. image, container, network, service, etc.

The output of the command is information about the object displayed as a JSON array.

@ubuntu:~$ docker inspect wizardly_jang
[
    {
        "Id": "c794e33bda6bfa60cdc039795ad7712c62df68ca5f8a6d14b906a6a06bc08e43",
        "Created": "2017-04-01T06:02:04.840341671Z",
        "Path": "nginx",
        "Args": [
            "-g",
            "daemon off;"
        ],
        "State": {
            "Status": "running",
            "Running": true,
            "Paused": false,
            "Restarting": false,
            "OOMKilled": false,
            "Dead": false,
            "Pid": 4584,
            "ExitCode": 0,
            "Error": "",
            "StartedAt": "2017-04-29T17:24:19.743601367Z",
            "FinishedAt": "2017-04-29T17:23:24.201882506Z"
        },
        "Image": "sha256:6b914bbcb59e49851990e064568dceee4d53a462f316ec36207599c12ae9ba65",
        "ResolvConfPath": "/var/lib/docker/containers/c794e33bda6bfa60cdc039795ad7712c62df68ca5f8a6d14b906a6a06bc08e43/resolv.conf",
        "HostnamePath": "/var/lib/docker/containers/c794e33bda6bfa60cdc039795ad7712c62df68ca5f8a6d14b906a6a06bc08e43/hostname",
        "HostsPath": "/var/lib/docker/containers/c794e33bda6bfa60cdc039795ad7712c62df68ca5f8a6d14b906a6a06bc08e43/hosts",
        "LogPath": "/var/lib/docker/containers/c794e33bda6bfa60cdc039795ad7712c62df68ca5f8a6d14b906a6a06bc06e43/c794e33bda6bfa60cdc039795ad7712c62df68ca5f8a6d14b906a6a06bc08e43-json.log",
        "Name": "/wizardly_jang",
        "RestartCount": 0,
        "Driver": "aufs",
        "MountLabel": "",
        "ProcessLabel": "",
        "AppArmorProfile": "",
        "ExecIDs": null,
        "HostConfig": {
            "Binds": null,
            "ContainerIDFile": "",
            "LogConfig": {
                "Type": "json-file",
                "Config": {}
            },
            "NetworkMode": "default",
            "PortBindings": {
                "80/tcp": [
                    {
                        "HostIp": "",
                        "HostPort": "8080"
                    }
                ]
            },
            "RestartPolicy": {
                "Name": "no",
                "MaximumRetryCount": 0
            },
            "AutoRemove": false,
            "VolumeDriver": "",
            "VolumesFrom": null,
            "CapAdd": null,
            "CapDrop": null,
            "Dns": [],
            "DnsOptions": [],
            "DnsSearch": [],
            "ExtraHosts": null,
            "GroupAdd": null,
            "IpcMode": "",
            "Cgroup": "",
            "Links": null,
            "OomScoreAdj": 0,
            "PidMode": "",
            "Privileged": false,
            "PublishAllPorts": false,
            "ReadonlyRootfs": false,
            "SecurityOpt": null,
            "UTSMode": "",
            "UsernsMode": "",
            "ShmSize": 67108864,
            "Runtime": "runc",
            "ConsoleSize": [
                0,
                0
            ],
            "Isolation": "",
            "CpuShares": 0,
            "Memory": 0,
            "NanoCpus": 0,
            "CgroupParent": "",
            "BlkioWeight": 0,
            "BlkioWeightDevice": null,
            "BlkioDeviceReadBps": null,
            "BlkioDeviceWriteBps": null,
            "BlkioDeviceReadIOps": null,
            "BlkioDeviceWriteIOps": null,
            "CpuPeriod": 0,
            "CpuQuota": 0,
            "CpuRealtimePeriod": 0,
            "CpuRealtimeRuntime": 0,
            "CpusetCpus": "",
            "CpusetMems": "",
            "Devices": [],
            "DiskQuota": 0,
            "KernelMemory": 0,
            "MemoryReservation": 0,
            "MemorySwap": 0,
            "MemorySwappiness": -1,
            "OomKillDisable": false,
            "PidsLimit": 0,
            "Ulimits": null,
            "CpuCount": 0,
            "CpuPercent": 0,
            "IOMaximumIOps": 0,
            "IOMaximumBandwidth": 0
        },
        "GraphDriver": {
            "Name": "aufs",
            "Data": null
        },
        "Mounts": [],
        "Config": {
            "Hostname": "c794e33bda6b",
            "Domainname": "",
            "User": "",
            "AttachStdin": false,
            "AttachStdout": false,
            "AttachStderr": false,
            "ExposedPorts": {
                "443/tcp": {},
                "80/tcp": {}
            },
            "Tty": false,
            "OpenStdin": false,
            "StdinOnce": false,
            "Env": [
                "PATH=/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin",
                "NGINX_VERSION=1.11.10-1~jessie"
            ],
            "Cmd": [
                "nginx",
                "-g",
                "daemon off;"
            ],
            "ArgsEscaped": true,
            "Image": "nginx",
            "Volumes": null,
            "WorkingDir": "",
            "Entrypoint": null,
            "OnBuild": null,
            "Labels": {}
        },
        "NetworkSettings": {
            "Bridge": "",
            "SandboxID": "a4e88604a69fad8bf3fc99c97444992c98e47dca983024edb2e55072db77560c",
            "HairpinMode": false,
            "LinkLocalIPv6Address": "",
            "LinkLocalIPv6PrefixLen": 0,
            "Ports": {
                "443/tcp": null,
                "80/tcp": [
                    {
                        "HostIp": "0.0.0.0",
                        "HostPort": "8080"
                    }
                ]
            },
            "SandboxKey": "/var/run/docker/netns/a4e88604a69f",
            "SecondaryIPAddresses": null,
            "SecondaryIPv6Addresses": null,
            "EndpointID": "a9a5fd1166429b6086accd128055e9992f772c929e8539225d2d57abb3741fa4",
            "Gateway": "172.17.0.1",
            "GlobalIPv6Address": "",
            "GlobalIPv6PrefixLen": 0,
            "IPAddress": "172.17.0.2",
            "IPPrefixLen": 16,
            "IPv6Gateway": "",
            "MacAddress": "02:42:ac:11:00:02",
            "Networks": {
                "bridge": {
                    "IPAMConfig": null,
                    "Links": null,
                    "Aliases": null,
                    "NetworkID": "0aeb282b8e82b97e693e77e5ae0237e9b32ebae09b6bf0510457ec6c516c2a0a",
                    "EndpointID": "a9a5fd1166429b6086accd128055e9992f772c929e8539225d2d57abb3741fa4",
                    "Gateway": "172.17.0.1",
                    "IPAddress": "172.17.0.2",
                    "IPPrefixLen": 16,
                    "IPv6Gateway": "",
                    "GlobalIPv6Address": "",
                    "GlobalIPv6PrefixLen": 0,
                    "MacAddress": "02:42:ac:11:00:02"
                }
            }
        }
    }
]
@ubuntu:~$

To output a specific field, add the --format or -f option.

Use docker inspect --format "{{.NetworkSettings.IPAddress}}" <container ID> to view the IP Address section of the docker inspect output:

References:

• https://docs.docker.com/engine/reference/commandline/inspect/

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Docker Commands: docker history

Docker Commands: docker history

docker history <image_name>

Show the history of an image. In effect, it identifies the "layers" in an image.

Note: There is an online tool, imagelayers.io that can be used to visualize the layers of an image.

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Docker Commands: docker diff

Docker Commands: docker diff

docker diff <container ID>

Inspect the changes made to a container's filesystem.

Note: A Added File C Changed File D Deleted File

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Docker Commands: docker exec

Docker Commands: docker exec

docker exec

Run a new process in an already running container

Use docker exec to run a secondary process inside a container.

Let's say the Nginx web proxy container is running in detached (-d) mode, you can use docker exec to start another process in that container. In the example below, the process status command, ps is run inside the Nginx container.

Note: If the container is stopped, it must first be started with docker start.

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Docker Commands: docker commit

Docker Commands: docker commit

docker commit <container ID>

Containers by default are ephemeral and stateless. Changes made while in the container are discarded when the container is removed. One way to persist container updates or configuration changes, is to "freeze" the container, i.e. convert it back into an image.

The docker commit command creates a new image, incorporating any changes made while a container. You can: start a container, configure it to taste, then commit those changes into a new Docker image:

The new container (started from this newly generated image) reflects the changes configured in the original container.

Note: Building an image via docker commit is not considered a best practice; it is not repeatable or self-documenting, like using docker build and the Dockerfile.

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Docker Commands: docker build

Docker Commands: docker build

docker build -t <DockerID>/<ImageName> <Dockerfile name>

To build a new image using a Dockerfile.

Using docker build is the preferred way to build a Docker Image. The build instructions are laid out in the Dockerfile, which allows an automated, documented and repeatable way to generate a specific Docker image.

Associated with the docker build command is its context. The build’s context is the files at a specified location: PATH or URL.

PATH	is a directory on your local filesystem
URL	is a Git repository location

A context is processed recursively, i.e. any subdirectories in the PATH and any submodules in the URL are processed for objects.

By default the build instructions are read from a file called Dockerfile at the root (or top level) of your context. In the example below,  if the docker build command is run from a subdirectory called Files, this becomes its context. The Docker daemon searches this directory and any subdirectories for objects it needs, e.g. Dockerfile.

Note: if the Dockerfile is located outside the context, use the -f option to specify the Dockerfile, e.g. $ docker build -f /path/to/a/Dockerfile .

Note: You can specify a repository (and tag) at which to save the new image, e.g. $ docker build -t neokobo/alp01data:1.0 .

Reference:

• https://docs.docker.com/engine/reference/builder/

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Docker Commands: docker info

Docker Commands: docker info

docker info

Display system-wide Docker information

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