Rancher Desktop as an alternative option to Docker Desktop
After the announcement, that Docker Desktop would not be free any more, SUSE Rancher has released the free and open source solution Rancher Desktop. That can be installed on Windows, Mac OS and Linux.
Rancher Desktop is setting up a Kubernetes cluster. You can choose between multiple Kubernetes versions. I have chosen the latest version 1.23.3 in this case. But the last stable version 1.22.6 is also possible.
You can choose between containerd with nerdctl and dockerd as a Container Runtime. Both are compatible with Dockerfiles. Afterwards, helm and kubectl and are additionally available. You can also switch between the container runtimes. That would require a restart of the Kubernetes cluster.
Security Scans
You are receiving a list with container images by Rancher at Images.
You can add your own ones via the “+” and choosing Pull or Build for adding any container image from any container registry. I have chosen the default and latest nginx container image from Docker Hub and the openSUSE Tumbleweed container image.
On the right side of every container image you have got the possibility of “Scan…”. That is using Trivy for security scanning. The result is really interesting. You can see all CVEs of the nginx image. No security issues are detected in the nginx image based on openSUSE Tumbleweed from registy.opensuse.org.
Nerdctl
nerdctl is a “Docker-compatible CLI for containerd” provided by the containerd project. It can be used equal to the docker command.
Here is an example, how to pull and run openSUSE Tumbleweed in a container via the command line.
Rancher Desktop is a nice experience! I can really recommend it. That is not only a replacement of Docker Desktop, but also an extension with Kubernetes features. So you can develop really with a Kubernetes cluster (without Kubernetes in Docker) on your own PC and keep your development secure.
