Docker Support

[merbla]

Hi,

Great package! Just wondering if you would be interested in PR for Docker support to help on boarding of new users.

Details over at my branch.

• https://github.com/merbla/fitzRoy/tree/dockerfile#docker
• https://github.com/merbla/fitzRoy/blob/dockerfile/docker/rstudio/Dockerfile

Initially setup with RStudio

docker build -t fitzroy/rstudio -f docker/rstudio/Dockerfile .
....
docker run -d -p 8787:8787 fitzroy/rstudio
....
open localhost:8787 

If you are keen I would also suggest

• TravisCI for builds (R & Docker) to keep the images up to date
• Pushing images to DockerHub

Cheers!

[jimmyday12]

Hi @merbla.

Cheers for reaching out! We are open to anything that makes the package better for people. You can probably tell by our code that we are pretty new to this though - can you point us to some info on Docker and what it does?

Cheers

[merbla]

Hey @jimmyday12,

Sure! For myself Docker or containers sometimes is helpful when you want people to use your software regardless of operating system. It allows them to run Docker as a container service regardless if they are using a different operating system.

For example I was not sure if there was a particular operating systems you were thinking of targeting. In my case I run OSX & Windows so depending on what dependencies Fitzroy requires it can be hard to get working on all the Linux variants.

Some notes on Docker & containers are below:

• https://www.docker.com/what-container
• https://opensource.com/resources/what-docker

One other question. Were you thinking of pushing this package to CRAN?

[jimmyday12]

Hi @merbla - thanks for the info. It's not something we'd thought about at all so would be open to a PR to add support.

Our initial plan had been to put it on CRAN but since starting, we've realized the structure of the package may have to change a bit for that. Do you have experience submitting to CRAN?

[merbla]

@jimmyday12 never submitted to CRAN myself. Happy to help out where I can.

Some more handy links on Docker...

• http://ropenscilabs.github.io/r-docker-tutorial/
• https://github.com/ropenscilabs/r-docker-tutorial
• https://labs.play-with-docker.com/

👍

[merbla]

I've created a docker setup (that builds on each commit via CircleCI) over at this repo. Happy to migrate to this repository so everything lives in one place.

Might have to step you through setting up the DockerHub/CircleCI stuff.

Thoughts?

[jimmyday12]

Hi mate - awesome to see other people using this! Certainly open to it once I get my head around Docker. I have in the last few weeks setup TravisCI and got that working. Is CircleCI the same thing? Would it work with your setup?

https://travis-ci.org/jimmyday12/fitzRoy

[merbla]

Yep, so CircleCi is similar to TravisCI (Both are build/continuous integration systems) however it might be best to keep Travis for publishing the CRAN/R Package and CircleCI for the Docker image. You could do it all in Travis however the .travis.yml would get a little complicated. Travis and CircleCI can live side by side no worries.

The setup works in a similar way to what you already have, we just add the config into .circleci/config.yml.

• Current build - https://circleci.com/gh/TheTinyTechCompany/fitzroy-docker
• Config - https://github.com/TheTinyTechCompany/fitzroy-docker/blob/master/.circleci/config.yml

Currently I have the image publishing as thetinytechco/fitzroy:rstudio however I think we can change to jimmyday12/fitzRoy:rstudio.

[jimmyday12]

Hi mate - just got around to looking at this. Happy for you to step me through setting it up as you mentioned above! There has been a couple changes since you implemented it, not sure if that changes much from your end. Let me know the best way to move forward.

[merbla]

Ok, here is a brain dump for what you will need to do:

• Setup an account on DockerHub - https://hub.docker.com/
• Create a project or organisation in DockerHub where you want the image pushed to. ( I have an org called thetinytechco e.g. https://hub.docker.com/r/thetinytechco/fitzroy/)
• Create an account at https://circleci.com/
• Add the configuration .circleci/config.yml
• Add environment variables for the DockerHub credentials in the CircleCi portal/site so that you can push the image to DockerHub. (you do not want these public!)

In short the flow will be:

• Commit a change
• CircleCI builds Docker Image
• CircleCI pushes image to DockerHub

Ping me when you get the account setup and I can help with a PR if needs be.

[jimmyday12]

Ok great, I setup the accounts

• Docker: https://hub.docker.com/r/jimmyday12/fitzroy/
• CircleCI: https://circleci.com/gh/jimmyday12/fitzRoy

Probably just need a hand with
a) What to put in this circlci config.yml file (e.g. yours is https://github.com/TheTinyTechCompany/fitzroy-docker/blob/master/.circleci/config.yml)
b) how to do the environment variables. I can see where to put them but just unsure what I should be putting there