5 ms·

Portainer, a UI for Docker

90 points by russmck 10y ago

pavel_lishin 10y ago
Betteridge's law, something for headline writers to be aware of?
- tomhoward 10y ago
  It's pretty well-known! https://hn.algolia.com/?query=betteridge&sort=byDate&prefix&page=0&dateRange=all&type=comment https://hn.algolia.com/?query=betteridge&sort=byDate&prefix&...
mentat2737 10y ago
Why should I use this instead of Kubernetes?
- ralmeida 10y ago
  As far as I understand, this is 'only' a UI layer on top of Docker and Docker Swarm. So this doesn't tackle any of the problems which Kubernetes (or Docker Swarm, for that matter) would, like scheduling and service discovery. Two very different things, really.
  - ncresswell 10y ago
    We are adding "tasks or jobs" in Feb/March timeframe, which will allow you to schedule any portainer task (such as scaling up or down a service). Swarmmode really does make service discovery a lot simpler, no need for Consul etc.
    - ralmeida 10y ago
      That's great to hear, I hope the best for the project! I meant 'scheduling' in the cluster management sense (which containers run in which nodes), though.
- hashkb 10y ago
  Is there a similarly simple and rich UI for Kube?
  - manojlds 10y ago
    Kubernetes Dashboard - http://blog.kubernetes.io/2016/07/dashboard-web-interface-for-kubernetes.html http://blog.kubernetes.io/2016/07/dashboard-web-interface-fo...
  - piva00 10y ago
    I think the official Web UI for K8s gets very close to: http://kubernetes.io/docs/user-guide/ui/ http://kubernetes.io/docs/user-guide/ui/
  - philips 10y ago
    Tectonic by CoreOS comes with a console. See screenshots at the bottom of the page: https://tectonic.com/ https://tectonic.com/
  - lisivka 10y ago
    cockpit-kubernetes.x86_64 : Cockpit user interface for Kubernetes cluster cockpit-docker.x86_64 : Cockpit user interface for Docker containers cockpit-storaged.noarch : Cockpit user interface for storage, using Storaged
disiplus 10y ago
how is this different then shipyard -> https://shipyard-project.com/ https://shipyard-project.com/ i would love to be able to add docker-compose file and it would create everything for me ( something like rancher ). shipyard does not support this and with rancher i abounded it after running into problems.
- russmck 10y ago
  Both Portainer and Shipyard currently occupy the same space. While there is no Docker Compose support at the moment, however, you can add customisable templates, see https://portainer.readthedocs.io/en/stable/templates.html https://portainer.readthedocs.io/en/stable/templates.html for more info. Also, they do eventually plan for Portainer to compete with Rancher https://twitter.com/portainerio/status/814542425410576386 https://twitter.com/portainerio/status/814542425410576386
- warrior10111 10y ago
  shameless plug, I've developed an HTTP API (plus a minimal web interface) on top of docker compose: https://github.com/francescou/docker-compose-ui https://github.com/francescou/docker-compose-ui , it shold be fully compatible with the docker-compose CLI.
- ncresswell 10y ago
  We are adding support for compose YAML files in the Feb/March timeframe.. you will simply upload a yaml file, which portainer will then use to create containers/services
activatedgeek 10y ago
I'm not really sure on how this can move beyond a "good to have" UI on my dev machine. In production I'd always want a more wide-scoped dashboard like the one in K8s or Marathon.
- BrandonBradley 10y ago
  This. I evaluated Portainer recently and found myself missing a few critical features available from Marathon.
  - ncresswell 10y ago
    Such as? Let us know what we are missing, and we can look at adding it.. remember tho, we are not trying to be a replacement for Swarm, we believe swarm service orchestration to be a winner, so are supporting that (as opposed to rancher, kuber etc who have their own cluster solution).
- russmck 10y ago
  The way I would look at it at the moment is that it provides a nice self-service interface allowing you give people access to deploy containers on dev servers which may free up time to allow you to concentrate on managing production.
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
A_Crazy_Idea 10y ago
Porntainer? Not exactly the best marketing decision, imo.
zemanel 10y ago
would love to see a curses (cli) based UI for managing images/containers (not aware of any).
- ake1 10y ago
  I am fairly certain I've used one, do not recall the name. Edit: https://github.com/TomasTomecek/sen https://github.com/TomasTomecek/sen
- Walkman 10y ago
  if you use docker from terminal, why would you need anything else than you have already? current docker commands are pretty easy and intuitive IMO.
awt 10y ago
Can anyone point me to the best argument for hiding complexity instead of eliminating it?
- chillydawg 10y ago
  Sometimes you want it (lots of config options) and sometimes you don't. In the real world, you need the detail available for strange edge cases but generally are happy with mostly-defaults.
- ncresswell 10y ago
  We wanted portainer to mask the underlying complexity of Docker, without totally removing the functions that is making Docker legendary. Its a balancing act between hiding and removing compexity, but thats what makes UX design.
kevan 10y ago
The lineage: DockerUI - Created by Michael Crosby, later handed off to me when he got busy at Docker. The goal was to provide parity with the Docker command line, no extra features. UI for Docker - Rename of the same project due to trademark concerns Portainer - Fork of the original codebase with an expanded feature scope. I started losing interest in keeping up with Docker features when they added native Swarm, combined with a job change it was a good time to hand off the torch to someone else. It looks like they're trying to make a company out of it, I'm interested to see if they can make it happen.
- ncresswell 10y ago
  Thanks Kevan, the work of Docker UI was legendary, however, as you pointed out, development slowed. We initially built portainer for our own internal use (as the UI for CloudInovasi.id), but liked it so much, we decided to focus on it. We are now wanting to add substantially more capability so that it becomes truly production ready. There will be a select few paid add-on's in the future for things like AD authentication, multi-tenancy etc, but the core will always be opensource and free.
lcalcote 10y ago
@ncresswell, more create and update capabilities would be great (e.g. the ability to create a network, connect a container, etc.)

90 points by russmck 10y ago

pavel_lishin 10y ago

Betteridge's law, something for headline writers to be aware of?

tomhoward 10y ago
It's pretty well-known! https://hn.algolia.com/?query=betteridge&sort=byDate&prefix&page=0&dateRange=all&type=comment https://hn.algolia.com/?query=betteridge&sort=byDate&prefix&...

mentat2737 10y ago

Why should I use this instead of Kubernetes?

ralmeida 10y ago
As far as I understand, this is 'only' a UI layer on top of Docker and Docker Swarm. So this doesn't tackle any of the problems which Kubernetes (or Docker Swarm, for that matter) would, like scheduling and service discovery. Two very different things, really.
- ncresswell 10y ago
  We are adding "tasks or jobs" in Feb/March timeframe, which will allow you to schedule any portainer task (such as scaling up or down a service). Swarmmode really does make service discovery a lot simpler, no need for Consul etc.
  - ralmeida 10y ago
    That's great to hear, I hope the best for the project! I meant 'scheduling' in the cluster management sense (which containers run in which nodes), though.
hashkb 10y ago
Is there a similarly simple and rich UI for Kube?
- manojlds 10y ago
  Kubernetes Dashboard - http://blog.kubernetes.io/2016/07/dashboard-web-interface-for-kubernetes.html http://blog.kubernetes.io/2016/07/dashboard-web-interface-fo...
- piva00 10y ago
  I think the official Web UI for K8s gets very close to: http://kubernetes.io/docs/user-guide/ui/ http://kubernetes.io/docs/user-guide/ui/
- philips 10y ago
  Tectonic by CoreOS comes with a console. See screenshots at the bottom of the page: https://tectonic.com/ https://tectonic.com/
- lisivka 10y ago
  cockpit-kubernetes.x86_64 : Cockpit user interface for Kubernetes cluster cockpit-docker.x86_64 : Cockpit user interface for Docker containers cockpit-storaged.noarch : Cockpit user interface for storage, using Storaged

disiplus 10y ago

how is this different then shipyard -> https://shipyard-project.com/ https://shipyard-project.com/ i would love to be able to add docker-compose file and it would create everything for me ( something like rancher ). shipyard does not support this and with rancher i abounded it after running into problems.

russmck 10y ago
Both Portainer and Shipyard currently occupy the same space. While there is no Docker Compose support at the moment, however, you can add customisable templates, see https://portainer.readthedocs.io/en/stable/templates.html https://portainer.readthedocs.io/en/stable/templates.html for more info. Also, they do eventually plan for Portainer to compete with Rancher https://twitter.com/portainerio/status/814542425410576386 https://twitter.com/portainerio/status/814542425410576386
warrior10111 10y ago
shameless plug, I've developed an HTTP API (plus a minimal web interface) on top of docker compose: https://github.com/francescou/docker-compose-ui https://github.com/francescou/docker-compose-ui , it shold be fully compatible with the docker-compose CLI.
ncresswell 10y ago
We are adding support for compose YAML files in the Feb/March timeframe.. you will simply upload a yaml file, which portainer will then use to create containers/services

activatedgeek 10y ago

I'm not really sure on how this can move beyond a "good to have" UI on my dev machine. In production I'd always want a more wide-scoped dashboard like the one in K8s or Marathon.

BrandonBradley 10y ago
This. I evaluated Portainer recently and found myself missing a few critical features available from Marathon.
- ncresswell 10y ago
  Such as? Let us know what we are missing, and we can look at adding it.. remember tho, we are not trying to be a replacement for Swarm, we believe swarm service orchestration to be a winner, so are supporting that (as opposed to rancher, kuber etc who have their own cluster solution).
russmck 10y ago
The way I would look at it at the moment is that it provides a nice self-service interface allowing you give people access to deploy containers on dev servers which may free up time to allow you to concentrate on managing production.

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

A_Crazy_Idea 10y ago

Porntainer? Not exactly the best marketing decision, imo.

zemanel 10y ago

would love to see a curses (cli) based UI for managing images/containers (not aware of any).

ake1 10y ago
I am fairly certain I've used one, do not recall the name. Edit: https://github.com/TomasTomecek/sen https://github.com/TomasTomecek/sen
Walkman 10y ago
if you use docker from terminal, why would you need anything else than you have already? current docker commands are pretty easy and intuitive IMO.

awt 10y ago

Can anyone point me to the best argument for hiding complexity instead of eliminating it?

chillydawg 10y ago
Sometimes you want it (lots of config options) and sometimes you don't. In the real world, you need the detail available for strange edge cases but generally are happy with mostly-defaults.
ncresswell 10y ago
We wanted portainer to mask the underlying complexity of Docker, without totally removing the functions that is making Docker legendary. Its a balancing act between hiding and removing compexity, but thats what makes UX design.

kevan 10y ago

The lineage: DockerUI - Created by Michael Crosby, later handed off to me when he got busy at Docker. The goal was to provide parity with the Docker command line, no extra features. UI for Docker - Rename of the same project due to trademark concerns Portainer - Fork of the original codebase with an expanded feature scope. I started losing interest in keeping up with Docker features when they added native Swarm, combined with a job change it was a good time to hand off the torch to someone else. It looks like they're trying to make a company out of it, I'm interested to see if they can make it happen.

ncresswell 10y ago
Thanks Kevan, the work of Docker UI was legendary, however, as you pointed out, development slowed. We initially built portainer for our own internal use (as the UI for CloudInovasi.id), but liked it so much, we decided to focus on it. We are now wanting to add substantially more capability so that it becomes truly production ready. There will be a select few paid add-on's in the future for things like AD authentication, multi-tenancy etc, but the core will always be opensource and free.

lcalcote 10y ago

@ncresswell, more create and update capabilities would be great (e.g. the ability to create a network, connect a container, etc.)