DevCurt`s underscore Blog

Exploring Linux Terminal & Docker

Published by Curtis King

Introduction

I have recently been focusing on exploring the Linux part of LAMP stack development and along with that, containerisation through Docker.
This has been a great learning experience for me as part of developing a better understanding of Linux Bash terminal skills.

I decided to take this route as I wanted to understand how to manage and deploy applications in a more efficient way, and also to explore the benefits of having portable applications which can be easily run on virtually any machine.
Having recently setup a LAMP stack on an old machine of mine which has been completely converted from running Windows to now running Ubuntu 24.04 (great choice you say, I know right! 😁), I also needed to find a way to be able to develop on my Windows machine and deploy to my Ubuntu machine without any issues.

Linux Terminal Skills

  • File System Navigation:
    • cd for directory navigation
    • ls for listing directory contents
    • mkdir/rm for directory management
    • touch for file creation
  • File Operations:
    • vim for text editing
    • cp/mv for file operations
    • find for locating files
  • Docker Environment Management:
    • Creating and managing Dockerfiles
    • Working with docker-compose.yml configurations

Docker Containerization Skills

  • Container Orchestration:
    • Multi-service setup with Docker Compose
    • Dependency management with depends_on
    • Port mapping and network configuration
  • Image Management:
    • Building custom images with Dockerfile
    • Tagging and versioning images
    • Utilizing official base images (e.g., MySQL, Ubuntu)
  • Development Workflow:
    • Bind mounts for live code updates
    • Persistent volumes for database storage
    • Cross-platform development setup

Key Technical Achievements

  • Successfully containerized LAMP stack components (Apache, MySQL, PHP)
  • Implemented automated database initialization with SQL scripts
  • Established seamless Windows/Linux development workflow using Docker
  • Configured persistent storage for database integrity between sessions
  • Mastered Docker networking for service communication