More Docker Fun :)

To say I’m really enjoying playing with Docker is a bit of an understatement. DearDiary.Net is almost migrated (in development mode) to Docker. I’m still playing with getting the SSL certificates automatically generated and kept up to date using Certbot for Docker.

But what really amazes me is how fabulous Docker is on Windows. At home I recently invested in a couple of security cameras. Originally I bought an NVR to go with them (Network Video Recorder) so that footage could be stored. I chose one that I could access across the net for when I was out. The problem was, although it was really easy to use, it was very inflexible and relied on a Chinese server to operate remotely. It was OK with a TV screen plugged in to the box directly, but horribly unreliable (due to the Chinese server!) across the net.

It went back to Amazon. Who were horrendously slow at receiving the return and processing the refund I might add. Thanks Amazon for that headache. The planet’s most customer centric company my arse… Anyway… I digress.

So – I bought some cameras and had planned on using them with Blue Iris on the PC. But then I discovered ZoneMinder. Open Source camera security system, available across the net. Free. Open Source. Awesome.

It only runs on Linux though.

Or does it? Well, yes, technically. But there’s a few people who’ve set up Docker applications to run ZoneMinder. And since I already had Docker For Windows installed I thought what the heck, I’ll try it. If it doesn’t work I’ll buy Blue Iris.

It works. Not only does it work, it’s incredibly flexible and powerful – but that’s a ZoneMinder thing not Docker of course. But without Docker it wouldn’t work.

I wonder if the days of needing to port applications to work on Windows / MacOS / Linux are done? It almost seems like they could soon be.

Similarly – DearDiary on Docker is developed using Docker For Windows and then deployed on a Linux server. It’s fantastic. Windows is horrible for running servers. Linux is (mostly) horrible for running desktops. Docker makes that a non-issue 🙂

Right, I’ve got work to do on getting Certbot to work for the new Dockerised DearDiary!

Cheerio for now.