I've been trying out a few different options in this space. I'm doing work with Docker, and in certain scenarios I'd like my containers to 'learn' their configu

I've been trying out a few different options in this space. I'm doing work with Docker, and in certain scenarios I'd like my containers to 'learn' their configuration at startup. I initially spent some time trying out Etcd which came close to fitting the bill, then Redis, then I just packed it all in and rolled a rest-service for them to talk to (the config data was pretty small). My particular need has come close to disappearing since the advent of Docker linking, but linking doesn't help when containers have an unscheduled restart. If one of your app's dependencies (ie database container) IP has changed post-startup, you need a way for your app to learning about it. That's where I see the value of things like Etcd and HostDB.