Docker Tutorial

Official Documentation

This tutorial is based on the official Docker documentation. For the most up-to-date information, visit: https://docs.docker.com/

Welcome to the Docker tutorial! Learn how to containerize your applications and deploy them anywhere with confidence.

What is Docker?

Docker is a containerization platform that packages applications and their dependencies into portable containers. It enables you to run applications consistently across different environments.

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                    Traditional Deployment                    │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                             │
│   Server 1            Server 2            Server 3         │
│   ┌───────────┐      ┌───────────┐      ┌───────────┐     │
│   │ OS + Deps │      │ OS + Deps │      │ OS + Deps │     │
│   │  App A    │      │  App B    │      │  App C    │     │
│   └───────────┘      └───────────┘      └───────────┘     │
│                                                             │
│   ❌ Resource waste   ❌ Hard to scale   ❌ Conflicts      │
│                                                             │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                    With Docker                              │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                             │
│              Single Server (or Multiple)                    │
│   ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────┐          │
│   │         Operating System & Docker           │          │
│   │  ┌─────────┐  ┌─────────┐  ┌─────────┐     │          │
│   │  │Container│  │Container│  │Container│     │          │
│   │  │ App A   │  │ App B   │  │ App C   │     │          │
│   │  │ + Deps  │  │ + Deps  │  │ + Deps  │     │          │
│   │  └─────────┘  └─────────┘  └─────────┘     │          │
│   └─────────────────────────────────────────────┘          │
│                                                             │
│   ✅ Efficient       ✅ Scalable       ✅ Isolated         │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Why Learn Docker?

Feature	Description
Portability	Run anywhere - dev, test, production, cloud
Consistency	Same environment everywhere, no "works on my machine"
Isolation	Each container runs independently without conflicts
Efficiency	Share OS kernel, lightweight compared to VMs
Scalability	Easily scale applications up or down
Speed	Start containers in seconds, not minutes
Industry Standard	Used by Google, Netflix, Amazon, Microsoft

What You'll Learn

🚀 Beginner

1. Introduction to Docker

   • What is containerization?
   • Docker vs Virtual Machines
   • Installing Docker

2. Docker Images

   • Understanding Docker images
   • Working with Docker Hub
   • Pulling and managing images

3. Docker Containers

   • Creating and running containers
   • Container lifecycle
   • Basic container operations

4. Dockerfile Basics

   • Writing your first Dockerfile
   • Building custom images
   • Best practices

5. Docker Volumes

   • Persistent data storage
   • Bind mounts vs volumes
   • Managing data

💪 Intermediate

6. Docker Networking

   • Container networking basics
   • Network types and drivers
   • Container communication

7. Docker Compose

   • Multi-container applications
   • docker-compose.yml syntax
   • Managing services

8. Docker Registry

   • Docker Hub and private registries
   • Pushing and pulling images
   • Tagging strategies

🎯 Advanced

9. Docker in Production

   • Security best practices
   • Performance optimization
   • Monitoring and logging

10. Docker Orchestration

    • Introduction to orchestration
    • Docker Swarm basics
    • Kubernetes overview

Prerequisites

• Basic command line knowledge
• Understanding of applications and servers
• No prior Docker experience required!

Learning Path

Start Here
    │
    ▼
Introduction to Docker (Day 1)
    │
    ▼
Images & Containers (Day 2-3)
    │
    ▼
Dockerfile & Volumes (Day 4-5)
    │
    ▼
Networking & Compose (Week 2)
    │
    ▼
Registry & Production (Week 3)
    │
    ▼
Build Real Projects! 🎉

Quick Start Example

Here's a taste of what you'll be able to do:

# Pull a web server image
docker pull nginx

# Run it in a container
docker run -d -p 8080:80 nginx

# Visit http://localhost:8080 - it's running!

# See running containers
docker ps

# Stop it
docker stop <container-id>

That's it! You just ran a web server without installing anything except Docker.

Real-World Use Cases

• 🌐 Web Applications: Deploy Node.js, Python, PHP apps
• 🗄️ Databases: Run MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB
• 🔬 Development: Consistent dev environments for teams
• 🧪 Testing: Isolated test environments
• 🚀 Microservices: Build and deploy microservice architectures
• ☁️ Cloud Native: Deploy to AWS, Azure, Google Cloud

Community & Support

• Official Docs: docs.docker.com
• Docker Hub: hub.docker.com
• Community Forums: forums.docker.com
• GitHub: github.com/docker

Ready to Start?

Let's begin with Introduction to Docker and build your first container!

💡 Pro Tip

Docker might seem complex at first, but you'll be containerizing applications confidently after just a few lessons. Take it one step at a time!