Networking

Networking

How containers reach each other by name.

Container mode: network:

network: app-tier
dependencies:
  app:   { image: your/image:tag }
  redis: { image: redis:latest }

Every entry under dependencies: joins this one network, so the app can connect to redis://redis:6379 using the dependency name as the hostname — the same way Compose service names resolve.

network: is optional. Leave it out and containers are created without --network, which means they get whatever default wslc gives them and generally cannot resolve each other by name. If your app talks to a sidecar, set it.

When the network is created

At wip up, and only if it doesn't already exist:

$ wip up -d
wip: creating network 'app-tier'

wip lists existing networks first and matches on exact name. Creation failure is non-fatal — the boot continues, and the subsequent run will surface the real error.

When it is not removed

wip down stops and removes containers, but leaves the network in place. Networks are cheap, shared, and may be referenced by containers wip doesn't manage; tearing one down as a side effect of wip down would be surprising. Remove it yourself if you need to:

wslc network remove app-tier

Compose-native mode: derived from compose.project

There is no network: key here — setting one alongside compose: is a ConfigError. Instead wip creates one project network for every service, named:

1. compose.project, if set
2. otherwise the basename of the directory holding wip.yml

compose:
  service: app
  project: myapp     # → network "myapp"

This gives the same guarantee real Compose's per-project network does: every service in the file can reach every other by service name.

networks: inside a compose service is accepted and ignored — every service already shares the one project network. Top-level networks: is ignored outright. See Compose File Support.

Compose mode: not wip's concern

Under mode: compose, the external compose binary owns networking entirely. wip never passes --network, and network: in wip.yml is rejected as mutually exclusive with compose:.

Ports

Publishing is per-entry, not per-network:

dependencies:
  app:
    ports:
      - "3000:3000"

Ports are applied when a container is created (wip up, wip run) — not on wip exec, which attaches to an already-running container and therefore never re-publishes anything. If you added a port to wip.yml and it isn't listening, the container predates the change: wip down && wip up -d.

Related

• Dependencies
• Compose Native Mode
• wip up