Navigating the Seas of Docker with Docketeer v15.0
As we countdown to the momentous 10-year milestone of Docker Compose, it’s time we reflect on a decade of groundbreaking transformations that this pioneering tool has ignited, and revolutionized the way computers run applications across the world. Gone are the days of pizza box servers and environment incompatibilities, thanks to the revolution of containers.
However, innovation rarely comes without its own set of challenges. The management and orchestration of containers, the very lifeblood of modern applications, present new hurdles for developers. Add the complexities of Kubernetes clustering to the mix, and it begs the question: Is the containerization movement a genuine leap forward, or merely another sunk-cost fallacy in the ever-evolving landscape of software development?
What is Docketeer?
Welcome to Docketeer — your Docker image, container and network companion tailored to just about any containerization need. Facilitate your containerized application at the micro and macro levels, reference your process logs with ease, and view your application prosody all within one convenient Docker extension.
With the release of version fifteen comes an expansive toolkit to further manage and view all facets of your application.
What’s new in Docketeer v15.0?
Container pagination for easy navigation
The Containers tab has been revamped with the introduction of a sleek pagination feature. In previous installations, users had to traverse across an endless page for both running and stopped containers. This superfluous approach made the application unnecessarily bulky and arduous to locate specific containers, especially for seasoned users managing a large number of application components.
Through our reconstructed pagination system, your containers are neatly organized across a set page system, making it faster and more efficient to find exactly which container you’re looking for. This provides a more streamlined and convenient interface, thereby optimizing your container management experience.
Kubernetes Health Metrics (Alpha)
Kubernetes health metrics give developers a novel viewpoint into their running application’s performance. Our team made it a priority to have this feature on the forefront of Docketeer.
In previous versions of Docketeer, kubernetes health metrics were unreliable and cumbersome to spin up. Additionally, one tab previously managed all container and kubernetes metrics data, creating an unnecessary burden on the extension.
Docketeer v15.0 took this concept a step further by implementing a dashboard tab solely focused on kubernetes clustering and node monitoring. View essential behind the scenes node data of your application with diagrams showcasing pod count, kubernetes RAM usage, and CPU usage over time, to name a few.
Revamped Container
Likewise, Docketeer v15.0 features an overhauled container metrics dashboard, revamping integral performance intuition into a singular metric data hub. Decipher the small and large-scale components of your containers’ performances, including Network traffic per container, Disk condition, and so much more.
Process Log Search & Select Functionality
Having an accurate record of your containers’ output efficiency is crucial for understanding your application’s performance. Moreover, being able to pinpoint specific timeframes when your application is running is beneficial for attaining insight into potential side effects or impurities that may be lingering from those last-minute touches you’re trying to resolve before deployment. Docketeer v15.0 expanded this feature by incorporating key word searches and the ability to search by start and ending timeframes. Additionally the user can select specific process logs to export.
Configurations Tab (Alpha)
This interface allows you to configure the data endpoints for Prometheus running in your Kubernetes clusters. By simply entering the desired endpoint and specifying the port, Docketeer will scrape data from your kubernetes cluster, allowing for visualization in the ‘Kubernetes Metrics’ tab. This exciting feature is in Alpha phase and will hopefully be released soon!
Extension Optimization
We shaved off unnecessary app re-renders, therefore increasing app responsiveness. By altering our extension’s processing logic, we were able to decrease time taken to fetch logs by seventy-percent. We managed to bring Docketeer’s port usage down by eight-percent, and used less common ports.
What we hope to see in v16.0
- Further optimization of Docketeer functionality.
- Implement full CRUD functionality into the endpoint database.
- Streamlined .yml file generation and prometheus container coordination to further optimize configuration functionality.
- Implementing a user defined time frame for the Container and Kubernetes Metric dashboards.
- Additional search features for your containers, metrics, volumes, and images.
- Allowing users to exec into their containers.
