docker-forward

Goal

When using boot2docker or docker-machine with the VirtualBox driver, you find very soon that mapping ports using the -p does indeed map your ports, but only to the VM running boot2docker, not your OS.

To mitigate this, you have 3 solutions:

• Use the VM IP to access the services running in your container: Works, but accessing them through localhost is easier, no ? :)
• Modify your hosts file so that hitting localhost ends up in hitting the VM running boot2docker : Works too, but if you use docker-machine and multiple VirtualBox machines, you'll need to do that for every machine...
• Forward the ports from your VM to you host: IMO the best solution, keeps the rules in the VM configuration, unlike modifying hosts

docker-forward aims to provide a simple way to manage your VM's ports forwardings, by:

• dealing with VirtualBox CLI tools for you to forward/unforward ports on your VM
• Provide simple ways to know which ports are open

Although docker-forward is aimed at facilitating use of docker with boot2docker, it works with ANY VirtualBox VM.

Requirements

Only VBoxManage, VirtualBox's CLI tool, which is installed along VirtualBox by default. Everything else run on the common shell tools.

Setup

Clone docker-forward :

git clone https://github.com/pdalpra/docker-forward.git ~/.bin/docker-forward

Then, in your .bashrc/.zshrc/your shell's startup file, add:

export PATH=$PATH:~/.bin/docker-forward/bin
eval $(docker-forward init -)

Usage

docker-forward vm

This commands allows to select which vm to manage. If you're using boot2docker, no configuration is needed, as boot2docker's VM, boot2docker-vm is selected by default.

docker-forward vm provide completions with all VirtualBox VMs in your VMs directory.

If you do not pass any arguments to docker-forward vm, it prints out the currently selected VM.

# Sets the current vm to 'my-vm'
$ docker-forward vm my-vm

# Prints out the current vm
$ docker-forward vm
my-vm

docker-forward ports

docker-forward ports prints out all currently forwarded ports, for TCP and UDP.

$ docker-forward ports
TCP ports: 22 3000 8080
UDP ports: 2003

docker-forward add / docker-forward add-tcp / docker-forward add-udp

Those commands allows you forward a port either on TCP, UDP protocol or both.

# Forward on TCP and UDP
$ docker-forward add 2003
TCP port 2003 is now forwarded.
UDP port 2003 is now forwarded.

# Forward on TCP only
$ docker-forward add-tcp 2003
TCP port 2003 is now forwarded.

# Forward on UDP only
$ docker-forward add-udp 2003
UDP port 2003 is now forwarded.

docker-forward remove / docker-forward remove-tcp / docker-forward remove-udp

Those commands allows you 'unforward' a port either on TCP, UDP protocol or both.

# Unforward on TCP and UDP
$ docker-forward remove 2003
TCP port 2003 is not forwarded anymore.
UDP port 2003 is not forwarded anymore.

# Unforward on TCP only
$ docker-forward remove-tcp 2003
TCP port 2003 is not forwarded anymore.

# Unforward on UDP only
$ docker-forward remove-udp 2003
UDP port 2003 is not forwarded anymore.