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What is Docker? (lemmy.world)
submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by Jofus@lemmy.world to c/selfhosted@lemmy.world

Hi! Im new to self hosting. Currently i am running a Jellyfin server on an old laptop. I am very curious to host other things in the future like immich or other services. I see a lot of mention of a program called docker.

search this on The internet I am still Not very clear what it does.

Could someone explain this to me like im stupid? What does it do and why would I need it?

Also what are other services that might be interesting to self host in The future?

Many thanks!

EDIT: Wow! thanks for all the detailed and super quick replies! I've been reading all the comments here and am concluding that (even though I am currently running only one service) it might be interesting to start using Docker to run all (future) services seperately on the server!

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[-] xavier666@lemm.ee 13 points 1 year ago

Learn Docker even if you have a single app. I do the same with a Minecraft server.

  • No dependency issues
  • All configuration (storage/network/application management) can be done via a single file (compose file)
  • Easy roll-backs possible
  • Maintain multiple versions of the app while keeping them separate
  • Recreate the server on a different server/machine using only the single configuration file
  • Config is standardized so easy to read

You will save a huge amount of time managing your app.

PS: I would like to give a shout out to podman as the rootless version of Docker

this post was submitted on 28 Apr 2025
269 points (95.6% liked)

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