Compose service
A Compose service is a named application component defined in a Docker Compose configuration and instantiated as one or more containers.
Learn Docker in a Month of Lunches, Second Edition
A Compose service is a named application component definition that specifies how Docker Compose creates and runs its container.
- How it is used
- Defines named application components so Compose can start connected containers without repeating individual container-run commands.
- How deep it goes
- Works through YAML service properties, dependencies, scaling, and configuration; stops at specifying resources rather than container internals.
- Examples
- Uses a single-container to-do app, a three-service image gallery, and a to-do app backed by PostgreSQL.
- What you can do after
- Operate/configure it with Docker Compose to start services, set dependencies and application configuration, scale a component, and inspect its logs.
Read how Learn Docker in a Month of Lunches, Second Edition explains Compose service →
Road to Kubernetes
A Docker Compose service is a named application component declared in a Compose configuration and instantiated as one or more containers.
- How it is used
- Defines named containerized applications in `compose.yaml` so Compose can build, run, and network them.
- How deep it goes
- Works through service names, build settings, ports, environment variables, commands, and inter-service requests; leaves other configuration options aside.
- Examples
- Uses a Python `web` service, an NGINX image service, and repeated Python services as load-balancing destinations.
- What you can do after
- Operate/configure it with `docker compose build`, `up`, and `down`, then address another service by name from a container.
Related concepts
- depends_onconfigured by · depends_on is a Docker Compose configuration property that declares service dependencies and their startup conditions.
- readiness checkconfigured by · A readiness check is a health probe that determines whether a running service or workload is prepared to receive requests or traffic.
- service scaleconfigured by · Service scale is the number of container instances running for a Compose service.
- containerproduces · A software container is an isolated execution environment that packages an application and its dependencies while sharing the host operating system kernel.
- Docker Composepart of · Docker Compose is a tool for defining and running applications composed of multiple containers through declarative configuration.
- port numberuses · A port number is a numeric transport-layer identifier that directs network traffic to a service or application endpoint on a host.
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