HOWTO: Access docker remotely

[coppit]

I'd like to move my development off of my unraid server. Has anyone worked through setting up TLS on the daemon, so that you connect remotely?

 

Edit: I figured it out, so I'll edit this top post to be a HOWTO.

 

First, I didn't bother setting up security because docker is only exposed on my LAN. If you want security, check out the Docker docs.

 

[*]On your unraid sever, edit /boot/config/docker.cfg, adding two -H options:[br]

DOCKER_OPTS="--storage-driver=btrfs -H unix:///var/run/docker.sock -H tcp://0.0.0.0:2375"

 

[*]On your remote machine, install the docker client. Then either add the -H tcp://tower:2375 option to your docker command, or put export DOCKER_HOST=tcp://tower:2375 into your ~/.bashrc.

 

When you're done, you can run "docker ps", "docker build" or whatever from your dev machine, with all the action happening on your unraid server. I like this better because I'm on my normal dev machine, with github credentials, my favorite GUI editor, etc.

[sparklyballs]

i build my dockers in a VM running on my unraid server.

[hernandito]

How do you build the Dockers in this fashion?

 

I create a repo in Github, start with a similar dockerfile and add anything needed. I then create a new Auto Build repo in dockerhub. There is a lot of trial and error... If there is a better work flow, I would love to know about it.

[sparklyballs]

How do you build the Dockers in this fashion?

 

I create a repo in Github, start with a similar dockerfile and add anything needed. I then create a new Auto Build repo in dockerhub. There is a lot of trial and error... If there is a better work flow, I would love to know about it.

 

for me, i have a ubuntu 14.04 VM that i've installed docker in, following the instructions on the docker website.

 

then i write a dockerfile (got enough now that a lot of it is copy paste, dependant on type) and build it on the VM.

 

that's 1 way, if it's a tougher docker, i fire up a container with just bash and try to build from straight linux commands, then play them back to create the dockerfile once i've found what works.

[coppit]

Do you literally build and run them in the VM, or have you set DOCKER_OPTS="-H tcp://tower..." so that the containers run in unraid? That's what I was planning to do, since I have one or two containers that I may not share on Docker hub.

[sparklyballs]

Do you literally build and run them in the VM, or have you set DOCKER_OPTS="-H tcp://tower..." so that the containers run in unraid? That's what I was planning to do, since I have one or two containers that I may not share on Docker hub.

 

 

manually create the container on the unraid box itself and you can stop/start it from the dashboard like any other container. only thing i found doing it like that (or at least the last time i did) is that you get an orphan image for the base build that isn't easily deletable because unraid thinks it's in use by other dockers that may use the same base image.

[pervel]

On 6/23/2015 at 6:09 AM, coppit said:

*]On your unraid sever, edit /boot/config/docker.cfg, adding two -H options:[br]

DOCKER_OPTS="--storage-driver=btrfs -H unix:///var/run/docker.sock -H tcp://0.0.0.0:2375"

Is this still the right way to do it? I haven't been able to find any other information about it and this thread is 5 years old. So I'm worried the solution is outdated.

 

The description above seems to suggest that DOCKER_OPTS is already defined in docker.cfg. However, my docker.cfg for Unraid version 6.9.0-beta35 does not define it. So I figured it was best to define it with only the two -H options:

DOCKER_OPTS="-H unix:///var/run/docker.sock -H tcp://0.0.0.0:2375"

Is this the right approach today?

 

Also, are these kinds of edits to the config files preserved when upgrading Unraid?

 

[pervel]

After investigating a bit more I have figured out that a better way to access the Unraid docker host is via SSH. This requires no extra docker configuration on the Unraid side. You just need to use SSH key-based authentication and then connect either using the -H option to the docker command or setting the DOCKER_HOST environment variable in your local shell.

 

For example:

docker -H ssh://your-unraid-server ps

Or using DOCKER_HOST:

export DOCKER_HOST=ssh://your-unraid-server

docker ps

 

[piyper]

I just edited the script rc.docker
 

I didn't add to the $DOCKER_OPTS variable but I did change the line that starts docker to hardcode the -H parameters, like this:

nohup $UNSHARE --propagation slave -- $DOCKER -p $DOCKER_PIDFILE $DOCKER_OPTS -H unix:///var/run/docker.sock -H tcp://IP_ADDRESS:PORT_NUMBER>>$DOCKER_LOG 2>&1 &

 

IP_ADDRESS being the ip of the unraid server

 

I changed this for all of my unraid servers and they all listen on port PORT_NUMBER

 

This works great and my code can now access and manage all the docker hosts and the containers within

 

I was thinking of changing  the script to read "DOCKER_OPTS" from the cfg file, but never got around to it.

 

It would be extremely helpful if the "DOCKER_OPTS" setting was supported by default.

Edited November 28, 2020 by piyper

[tcwatson]

On 11/27/2020 at 9:57 PM, piyper said:

I just edited the script rc.docker
 

I didn't add to the $DOCKER_OPTS variable but I did change the line that starts docker to hardcode the -H parameters, like this:

nohup $UNSHARE --propagation slave -- $DOCKER -p $DOCKER_PIDFILE $DOCKER_OPTS -H unix:///var/run/docker.sock -H tcp://IP_ADDRESS:PORT_NUMBER>>$DOCKER_LOG 2>&1 &

 

IP_ADDRESS being the ip of the unraid server

 

I changed this for all of my unraid servers and they all listen on port PORT_NUMBER

 

This works great and my code can now access and manage all the docker hosts and the containers within

 

I was thinking of changing  the script to read "DOCKER_OPTS" from the cfg file, but never got around to it.

 

It would be extremely helpful if the "DOCKER_OPTS" setting was supported by default.

Thank you! Seems like there's not a lot of information on how to do this around, so I was glad to find your solution. It worked for me on Unraid 6.8.3.

[Timm]

On 6/23/2015 at 6:09 AM, coppit said:

[...]

[*]On your unraid sever, edit /boot/config/docker.cfg, adding two -H options:[br]

DOCKER_OPTS="--storage-driver=btrfs -H unix:///var/run/docker.sock -H tcp://0.0.0.0:2375"

 

[...]

 

Thanks for that. That almost worked for me, all I had to do differently is to switch to port 2376.