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Lab 3_ Using Docker Compose for Multi-Container Applications

This lab teaches how to use Docker Compose to deploy and manage a multi-container application with Nginx and MySQL. Participants will create a docker-compose.yml file, start the application, verify the web server, and interact with the database using Docker commands. The lab also covers additional Docker Compose commands for managing containers and cleaning up resources.

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Ram
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4 views

Lab 3_ Using Docker Compose for Multi-Container Applications

This lab teaches how to use Docker Compose to deploy and manage a multi-container application with Nginx and MySQL. Participants will create a docker-compose.yml file, start the application, verify the web server, and interact with the database using Docker commands. The lab also covers additional Docker Compose commands for managing containers and cleaning up resources.

Uploaded by

Ram
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Lab 3: Using Docker Compose for Multi-Container

Applications

Objective

This lab demonstrates how to use Docker Compose to deploy and manage a multi-container
application consisting of a web server (Nginx) and a database (MySQL). By completing this
lab, you will:

1.​ Understand the structure of a docker-compose.yml file.


2.​ Learn to use Docker Compose commands.
3.​ Deploy and interact with a multi-container application.

Pre-requisites

1.​ Docker Desktop installed on Windows.


2.​ Docker Compose included with your Docker installation.
3.​ Basic understanding of Docker concepts such as images, containers, and networks.

Step 1: Navigate to Working Directory

1.​ Open a terminal or file explorer.


2.​ Create a new folder for your project:
mkdir multi-container-app

cd multi-container-app

Explanation: This directory will store all configuration files and data related to this lab.

Step 2: Create a docker-compose.yml File

1.​ Inside the multi-container-app folder, create a file named docker-compose.yml.


2.​ Open the file in a text editor and add the following content:​

version: '3.8'​

services:​
web:​
image: nginx​
ports:​
- "8080:80"​
networks:​
- app-network​

db:​
image: mysql:5.7​
environment:​
MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: example​
networks:​
- app-network​

networks:​
app-network:​
driver: bridge

3.​ Save and close the file (Be sure to save as a .yml file).​
Explanation:
○​ version: '3.8': Specifies the Docker Compose file format version.
○​ services: Defines the containers to deploy (web and db).
■​ web: Uses the Nginx image and maps port 80 on the container to port
8080 on the host.
■​ db: Uses the MySQL 5.7 image with an environment variable to set the
root password.
○​ networks: Creates a custom network (app-network) to allow communication
between the containers.

Step 3: Start the Multi-Container Application

Run the following command to start the application:

docker-compose up

1.​ Explanation:
○​ docker-compose up: Builds and starts all containers defined in the
docker-compose.yml file.
○​ Docker will pull the required images if they are not already available locally.

Expected Output:

●​ Docker Compose will output logs from both containers as they start.

Step 4: Verify the Web Server

1.​ Open a browser and navigate to http://localhost:8080.


2.​ You should see the default Nginx welcome page.​

Explanation:
○​ Port 8080 on your machine maps to port 80 on the Nginx container, allowing you
to access the web server.

Step 5: Interact with the Database (Optional)

Access the MySQL container using the following command:

docker exec -it <db-container-name> mysql -uroot -pexample

1.​ Replace <db-container-name> with the name of the MySQL container (you can find
it using docker ps).​
Run the following MySQL command to list databases:

SHOW DATABASES;

2.​ Exit the MySQL shell:

EXIT;

3.​ Explanation:
○​ docker exec: Executes a command inside a running container.
○​ mysql -uroot -pexample: Connects to the MySQL instance using the root
user and the password set in the environment variable.

Step 6: Explore Additional Docker Compose Commands

List all running containers in the application:

docker-compose ps

Restart specific containers:

docker-compose restart web

Scale a service to multiple instances:

docker-compose up --scale web=3

1.​ Explanation:​

○​ docker-compose ps: Shows the status of containers managed by Docker


Compose.

--scale: Allows you to run multiple instances of a service (useful for scaling).

Step 7: Stop the Application

Stop the containers without deleting them:


docker-compose stop

1.​ Explanation:
○​ docker-compose stop: Stops the containers gracefully while preserving their
states.

To stop and remove the containers, run:

docker-compose down

2.​ Explanation:​

○​ docker-compose down: Stops and removes all containers, networks, and


volumes created by Docker Compose.

Step 8: Clean Up

Ensure the containers and networks are removed:

docker-compose down --volumes

1.​ Explanation:
○​ --volumes: Removes any volumes created by the application, cleaning up
storage.

Conclusion

In this lab, you:

1.​ Created a docker-compose.yml file for a web server and database.


2.​ Started and interacted with a multi-container application.
3.​ Learned to manage containers using Docker Compose commands.

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