This project has been created as part of the 42 curriculum by anamedin.

Inception

Description

Inception is a System Administration project designed to broaden knowledge of virtualization using Docker. The goal is to set up a small infrastructure composed of several services, each running in its own dedicated container, managed by Docker Compose. This project emphasizes Infrastructure as Code (IaC), security, and service orchestration.

Project Description

This project uses Docker to containerize each service, ensuring environment consistency and isolation. The sources included in this project consist of:

• srcs/docker-compose.yml: The main orchestrator that defines services, networks, and volumes.
• srcs/requirements/: Custom Dockerfiles and configuration scripts for Nginx, MariaDB, WordPress, and bonus services.
• srcs/.env: Environment configuration file (generated automatically by the Makefile).
• srcs/secrets/: Secure directory for sensitive credentials (generated automatically).

Technical Choices & Comparisons

• Virtual Machines vs Docker: Virtual Machines include a full guest OS and virtualized hardware, making them resource-heavy. Docker containers share the host's OS kernel, making them lightweight, fast, and efficient.
• Secrets vs Environment Variables: Environment variables are visible via docker inspect. Docker Secrets (used in this project) are mounted as files in memory (/run/secrets/), providing a much higher level of security for sensitive data.
• Docker Network vs Host Network: Host network shares the host's IP directly, offering no isolation. Docker Bridge Network (used here) creates an isolated private network for containers, exposing only necessary ports through the Proxy.
• Docker Volumes vs Bind Mounts: Bind mounts are tied to a specific path on the host. Docker Volumes are managed by Docker and offer better portability and isolation, although in this project we use bind mounts mapped to /home/login/data for easier evaluation.

Instructions

Prerequisites

• Docker and Docker Compose installed.
• A Linux-based environment (Debian or Alpine recommended).

Installation & Execution

1. Clone the repository to your local machine.
2. Run the following command at the root of the project:

   make

   This command will automatically create data directories, generate secure secrets, build custom images, and start all containers.
3. Add 127.0.0.1 anamedin.42.fr to your /etc/hosts file to access the domain.

Resources

• Docker Documentation
• Nginx TLS Configuration Guide
• MariaDB Knowledge Base

AI Usage

This project was developed with the assistance of AI for documentation structuring, translation, and technical explanations.