docker file for multiple applications?

Question

For example, to run django in production I can use nginx, uwsgi, supervisor

I can have a single docker file which installs all of them and run supervisor

or

I can probably have 3 docker files (nginx, uwsgi, supervisor) and one docker-compose file.

I 've been using the first option and wonder if there's any benefit of using the 2nd form

Answer 1

I am not sure about the need of supervisor container, but for the uwsgi and Nginx rule of thumb for the contianer

"Single process per container"

dockerfile_best-practices

So better to have 3 container

• Nginx
• uwsgi
• Superviosir

If you want to keep supervisor just for sake managing Nginx process then better to remove this as "update docker image and launch new container is better then restarting process"

Both Nginx and uwsgi will be running as root process of the container and when there is an update, update the image and launch new container is common practice and the health check should be manageable.

Plus you can run one Nginx along with two application container as scaling and flexibility are more when you have one process per container .

Answer 2

Given that you have nginx and uwsgi serving django, I would recommend to have two services in docker-compose:

• uwsgi + supervisor
• Nginx + supervisor

How does this help?

Given uwsgi and nginx are two major processes that describes the availability of your solution, splitting them this way ensures the following:

1. Separation of concern and flexibility to use nginx for other purposes or solutions
2. Per service healthchecks (by docker) to up-level precisely where the issue is in case of any failure