Oh, Docker! With its catchy name and lovely whale logo, Docker has become the public face of Linux containers in just a few short years since its first release in 2013. I now routinely hear things like, “Have you Dockerized it?” and, “Just build an image with that; I don’t want to install the dependencies.” And it’s for a good reason. Docker capitalized on existing technology in the Linux kernel to offer a convenient and easy-to-use tool, ready for everyone to adopt. It played an important role in taking container technology from the arcane to the mainstream.
To be an effective chaos engineer in the containerized world, you need to understand what containers are, how to peek under the hood, and what new challenges (and wins) they present. In this chapter, we will focus on Docker, as it’s the most popular container technology.