Boot2docker is a “lightweight Linux distribution made specifically to run Docker containers.” Spoiler alert: you’re going to run it in a VM on your Mac. We still need to have Linux running somewhere. It doesn’t have the kernel features required to run Docker containers natively. Docker on OS X Here’s the thing about OS X: it’s not Linux. Here’s how it looks: Docking on Linux The laptop is running both the client and the server, thus making it the Docker host. Docker on Linux Suppose we want to run containers directly on our Linux laptop. The host can be any machine-your laptop, a server in the Cloud™, etc-but, because Docker uses features only available to Linux, that machine must be running Linux (more specifically, the Linux kernel). The machine running the Docker server is called the Docker host. You will interact with Docker by using the client to send commands to the server. The Docker client is a command line program that communicates with the Docker server using the REST API. It exposes a REST API for remote management. The Docker server is a daemon that does all the heavy lifting: building and downloading images, starting and stopping containers, and the like. How Docker Works Docker is a client-server application.

First, let’s talk about how Docker works and why running it on OS X no work so good. Plus, if you decide to dig deeper into Docker on your Mac, you’ll be saved hours of troubleshooting.ĭon’t say I never gave you nothing. You’ll get a better understanding of how Docker works in general and on OS X specifically. It’s not meant to be a tutorial on Docker itself, but I encourage you to follow along and type in all the commands. This post is a walkthrough of the issues you’ll face running Docker on OS X and the workarounds to deal with them. This isn’t the book’s fault rather, it speaks to underlying issues with how Docker works on OS X.

It’s a top notch book and I highly recommend it, but I’ve had some problems running the examples on OS X.Īfter a certain point, the book assumes you’re using Linux and skips some of the extra configuration required to make the examples work on OS X. It has the potential to change all aspects of server-side applications, from development and testing to deployment and scaling.

You should call your mom.” Docker is a program that makes running and managing super easy. Have you heard of? You probably have-everybody’s talking about it.Įven my dad’s like, “what’s Docker? I saw someone twitter about it on the Facebook. Ran it, and made it through to the end of the installer: Opened VirtualBox and confirmed default is runnin. Went to the Docker Toolbox download page and downloaded the Mac binary.

Docker tool box for mac