Docker

Docker keeps projects contained and bundles all python/node versions, dependencies, and OS libraries into one image! This is best for web apps, projects with databases, etc. If you're hosting a Discord/Slack bot or a simple script, you might want to consider using PM2 or Systemd instead.

1. Installation

Run this command to update and install docker and its dependencies on your container.

Debian

apt update
apt install ca-certificates curl gnupg -y

install -m 0755 -d /etc/apt/keyrings
curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/debian/gpg -o /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc
chmod a+r /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc

echo "deb [arch=$(dpkg --print-architecture) signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc] https://download.docker.com/linux/debian bookworm stable" | tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list

apt update
apt install docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io docker-buildx-plugin docker-compose-plugin -y
docker run hello-world

Ubuntu

apt update
apt install ca-certificates curl gnupg -y

install -m 0755 -d /etc/apt/keyrings
curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu/gpg -o /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc
chmod a+r /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc

echo "deb [arch=$(dpkg --print-architecture) signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc] https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu noble stable" | tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list

apt update
apt install docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io docker-buildx-plugin docker-compose-plugin -y
docker run hello-world

If you see a "Hello from Docker!" message, you're good.

2. Project Setup

Create a docker-compose.yml . You can use a dockerfile, but the docker compose file is simpler for beginners and scales more easily! Below is a template.

services:
  web:
    image: <image>          # base image for your language, see table below
    container_name: myapp
    restart: unless-stopped
    working_dir: /app
    volumes:
      - .:/app
    command: sh -c "<install command> && <run command>"
    env_file:
      - .env

Swap <image> and <install command> && <run command> for your language:

Language	image	command
Python	python:3.12-slim	pip install -r requirements.txt && python3 app.py
Node.js	node:20-slim	npm install && node index.js
Bun	oven/bun:slim	bun install && bun run index.ts
Go	golang:1.22-alpine	go mod download && go run main.go
Rust	rust:slim	cargo build --release && ./target/release/app

If your language isn't listed, just search it up! Docker has hundreds of compatible images!

Then, setup your environment variables and secrets in the same directory as the docker-compose.yml, and add .env to .gitignore so you don't accidentally leak them to GitHub.

Finally, run your code!

docker compose up -d

Check to make sure it's running:

docker compose ps

When you edit your code, you can easily restart your docker container!

docker compose restart web

3. Helpful Commands

Command	What it does
docker compose ps	List your project's containers
docker compose logs -f <service>	Live-tail a service's logs
docker compose restart <service>	Restart one service
docker compose down	Stop everything
docker exec -it <name> bash	Get a shell inside a running container
docker system prune -af	Clean up unused images/cache