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BackDocker Machine and Rancher with cloudscale.ch
An increasing number of our users are turning to container virtualization with Docker. One of the key factors in this consists of the right tools for setting up and managing such installations. By providing drivers for Docker Machine and Rancher, cloudscale.ch supports developers in further automating their deployments – both on the command line and via web interface.
Set up Docker hosts quickly and easily with Docker Machine
Docker containers are usually started on Linux servers. Setting up such a Linux server at cloudscale.ch and installing the Docker environment on it now requires just a single command: docker-machine. With the "cloudscale" driver, Docker Machine can interact with our API and define all the required settings. In no time, the new Docker host is ready to start the first container on it.
Docker Machine is a command line tool that can be installed either on your local computer or on a management server/jump host. Additionally, download our open source "cloudscale" driver from GitHub into a directory in the path, and generate an API token via our cloud control panel. A command as shown in the following will then create a ready-made Docker host for your containers:
$ docker-machine create -d cloudscale --cloudscale-token=<API_TOKEN> my-docker-host
A docker-machine env my-docker-host then returns the details required to use the new Docker host immediately.
Managing K8s clusters at cloudscale.ch with Rancher
Not just individual Docker hosts, but entire Kubernetes clusters can be conveniently managed using Rancher. Rancher, which itself runs in a Docker container, provides a web interface you can use to configure your cluster as desired. After this, all the necessary virtual servers are automatically created and completely set up. The deployment of apps and ongoing cluster management also take place via the same GUI.
Rancher can interact with a large number of cloud providers – including cloudscale.ch. Under "Node Drivers", simply enter the details according to GitHub and you will be able to select "Cloudscale" as the infrastructure provider when creating a new cluster. By the way, Rancher is completely open source, and we are in contact with Rancher Labs about including our driver in future versions of Rancher.
With Docker Machine and Rancher, cloudscale.ch supports two essential tools for managing container environments even more easily. Whether via CLI or graphical web interface, you can create the ideal nodes for your workloads in no time at all.
Perfectly integrated,
Your cloudscale.ch team