4.1 KiB
kiwi: simple, consistent, powerful
The simple tool for managing container servers
Quick start
- Learn to use
dockerwithdocker-compose - Install kiwi-scp
- Look at the example instance
- Look at the output of
kiwi --help - Start building your own instances
Installation
A convenience installer is available as install.sh in this directory.
You can curl | sh it using the following one-liner.
curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf 'https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ldericher/kiwi-scp/master/install.sh' | sh
The installer downloads the kiwi launcher script and installs it to a location of your choice.
Please consider installing into a directory inside your $PATH.
Run in a root shell or use sudo sh instead for system-wide installation.
You should now be able to run kiwi init --show and see the default configuration file.
This downloads the latest version of the main kiwi-scp executable and sets it up for you.
Adjusting environment for kiwi
kiwi-scp depends on Python 3.6 (or later), pipenv, and
less being in your $PATH.
In some cases, notably when using a multi-version system such as
CentOS SCL, not all of these are in your $PATH
at login time.
In those cases, you can simply create a .kiwienv file in your home directory.
It will be sourced every time you use the kiwi command.
For the aforementioned case where you installed centos-release-scl and rh-python36, your ~/.kiwienv should
contain:
#!/bin/sh
. /opt/rh/rh-python36/enable
Get started
Create a kiwi-scp instance
Any directory is implicitly a valid kiwi-scp instance using the default configuration.
To prevent surprises however, you should run kiwi init in an empty directory and follow its directions before
actually using kiwi more.
Concept
A kiwi-scp instance is a directory containing a bunch of static configuration files.
"Static" there as in "those don't change during normal service operation".
These files could be anything from actual .conf files to entire html-web-roots.
Non-static, but persistent files are to be kept in a "service data directory", by default /var/kiwi.
In your docker-compose.yml files, you can refer to that directory as ${TARGETROOT}.
Start the current directory as a kiwi-scp instance using kiwi up, or stop it using kiwi down.
This also creates kiwi's internal hub network, which you can use as kiwi_hub in your docker-compose.yml files.
Projects
A kiwi-scp instance usually contains several projects.
A project is a collection of dependent or at least logically connected services, described by a docker-compose.yml.
A well-known example would be webserver + php + database.
To create a project, use the kiwi new <project-name> command.
By default, this creates a new disabled project.
Before enabling or starting, consider editing the new project's docker-compose.yml file to your liking.
Finally, enable it with kiwi enable <project-name>.
You can also create, enable or (analogously) disable multiple projects in a single command.
Each project will have its own place in the service data directory, which you can refer to as ${TARGETDIR}.
Finally, start a project using kiwi up <project-name>.
Advanced kiwi-scp
kiwi-scp extends the logical bounds of docker-compose to handling multiple projects.
The kiwi_hub
With kiwi-scp, you get the internal kiwi_hub network for free. It allows for network communication between services in different projects. Be aware, services only connected to the kiwi_hub can't use a port mapping! In most cases, you will want to use this:
networks:
- default
- kiwi_hub
The CONFDIR
Sometimes, it's convenient to re-use configuration files across projects.
For this use case, create a directory named conf in a project.
Those will all be combined into a directory available as ${CONFDIR} in your docker-compose.yml files.