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Docker Management with Portainer

Overview

Portainer simplifies containerized application management across Docker, Docker Swarm, Kubernetes, and Podman, whether in the Cloud, Hybrid Cloud, On-Premise, or Data Centers. As a universal container management platform, it provides an intuitive interface that streamlines deployment and monitoring, making containerization accessible to all. By removing complexity, Portainer enables users to focus on innovation and efficiency.

Why Portainer?

Simplicity

Portainer’s user-friendly interface is designed with simplicity at its core. It eliminates the need for extensive training, allowing teams to get up and running quickly.

Universality

Portainer is agnostic, supporting a wide range of container technologies and environments. It provides a single pane of glass to manage your entire container ecosystem, regardless of the underlying infrastructure.

Empowerment

Portainer democratizes container management. It empowers developers, DevOps teams, and IT operations to take control of their environments without needing to become container experts.

Community & Support

Built on a foundation of open-source collaboration, Portainer is backed by a passionate community and a robust support network, ensuring that you’re never alone on your container journey.

Demo - Prerequisites

  • AWS Account

  • VS Code with Remote SSH (Optional)

Demo

Part 1: Setting up the environment

  • Sign in to AWS Management Console and go to EC2.

  • From the menu on the left, choose Instances. Then, choose Launch instances.

  • Launch an EC2 with the following configuration:

Number of instances        : 1
Name and tags              : portainer-demo-instance
Amazon Machine Image (AMI) : Ubuntu Server 24.04 LTS (HVM)
Instance type              : t3.medium
Key pair                   : <your-key-pair>
VPC                        : Default VPC
Security Group             : 22, 80, 443, 8000, 8080, 9000, 9443
Storage                    : 30 GiB, gp3
User data                  : <content-of-user-data>

  • You can find the content of user-data.sh in the same directory with README.md.

  • Choose Launch instance.

  • After the launch, choose the instance you created from the EC2 instance list.

  • Then, choose Connect. The Connect to instance page is opened.

  • Under the EC2 Instance Connect section, choose Connect.

  • Alternatively, you can connect to EC2 using its Public IP from VS Code.

Part 2: Configuring the Portainer

  • Ensure that Docker and Docker Compose are safely installed.
docker --version
docker-compose --version
  • Create a working directory.
mkdir demo
cd demo
  • In the working directory, create docker-compose.yml.
vi docker-compose.yml

  • You can find the content of docker-compose.yml in the same directory with README.md.

  • Copy and paste the content to docker-compose.yml.

  • Create a container for Portainer.

sudo docker-compose up -d
  • Copy and paste the following in a new tab on browser.
http://<public-ip-of-ec2>:9000
  • The login page of Portainer is opened.

portainer-login

  • Enter a username and a password as required.
Username: admin
Password: password1234

Part 3: Exploring the features

  • After successful login, choose Home from the menu on the left.

  • Notice the local environment for Docker.

portainer-env

  • Choose the local environment for Docker and analyze the dashboard.

portainer-dashboard

  • From the menu on the left, choose Templates -> Application.

portainer-templates

  • Notice the commonly used templates. Search for Nginx and choose it.
Name: demo-container
Show advanced options -> Port mapping: Host (8080) -> Container (80)

  • Choose Deploy the container. Notice that two containers are running.

  • Copy and paste the following in a new tab on browser.

http://<public-ip-of-ec2>:8080

  • The Welcome to nginx! page is opened.

  • Alternatively, you can list the containers from the terminal of instance.

sudo docker ps

  • In the Container list page of Portainer, locate the Quick Actions column.

  • The icons for Logs, Inspect, Stats, Exec Console and Attach Console are given from left to right for each container, respectively.

  • Choose Logs icon for demo-container.

portainer-logs

  • Analyze the logs for the container. Then, go back to the Container list page.

  • Choose Inspect icon for demo-container.

portainer-inspect

  • Analyze the configurations for the container. Then, go back to the Container list page.

  • Choose Stats icon for demo-container.

portainer-stats

  • Analyze the statistics for the container. Then, go back to the Container list page.

  • Choose Exec Console icon for demo-container. Then, choose Connect.

portainer-shell

  • The terminal for container is opened.

  • Don't forget to destroy the resources you created from AWS Management Console.