Ghidorah-Portainer

This repository contains the Docker Compose configurations for deploying and managing Portainer on my server, "Ghidorah".

Overview

This repository is specifically designed for managing Portainer instances using Docker Compose on the server named "Ghidorah". Portainer is a lightweight management UI which allows you to easily manage your different Docker environments (Docker hosts or Swarm clusters).

Prerequisites

Before deploying, ensure the following prerequisites are met on the Ghidorah server:

• Docker Engine: Docker must be installed and running. Verify with docker --version and docker info.
• Docker Compose: Docker Compose must be installed. Verify with docker-compose --version. (Note: If using the newer Docker plugin system, you may have docker compose version instead).
• Network Access: The server must have network access (specifically, be able to pull Docker images from Docker Hub or a private registry if you are using one). The appropriate ports (see below) should be open in the firewall.
• User Permissions: The user deploying Portainer should have the necessary permissions to run Docker commands. Generally, this means being part of the docker group.
• DNS (Optional but Recommended): A DNS record pointing to the server's IP address is helpful for accessing Portainer easily (e.g., portainer.yourdomain.com).

Directory Structure

The repository's directory structure may contain multiple compose files for different Portainer configurations. A common, basic structure would be:

• README.md: This file, providing an overview and instructions.
• docker-compose.yml: The primary Docker Compose file for deploying a standard Portainer instance.
• docker-compose-agent.yml (Optional): A Docker Compose file for deploying a Portainer Agent. This is useful for managing a remote Docker host or Swarm cluster.
• docker-compose-edge.yml (Optional): A compose file for deploying a Portainer Edge agent.
• volumes/ (Optional): A directory to hold persistent data, if managed outside the compose file directly (this is less common and not recommended for beginners).

Deployment Instructions

1. SSH into Ghidorah: Access your server (Ghidorah) via SSH.

2. Clone the Repository:

   git clone [https://github.com/YOUR_USERNAME/ghidorah-portainer.git](https://www.google.com/search?q=https://github.com/YOUR_USERNAME/ghidorah-portainer.git)
   cd ghidorah-portainer

   Replace YOUR_USERNAME with your actual GitHub username.

3. Choose a Compose File: Select the appropriate docker-compose.yml file (or its variant) based on your needs (e.g., standard instance, agent, edge agent).

4. Deploy Portainer: Use docker-compose (or docker compose) to deploy the chosen configuration. From the directory containing the docker-compose.yml file, run:

   docker-compose up -d

   (Or docker compose up -d if using the Docker plugin system.) The -d flag runs the containers in detached mode (in the background).

5. Initial Portainer Setup (First Time Only):

   • Access Portainer: After the deployment is complete, open a web browser and navigate to http://<ghidorah_ip_address>:9000 or https://<ghidorah_ip_address>:9443 (replace <ghidorah_ip_address> with the actual IP address or domain name of your server). You may need to wait a few minutes for Portainer to fully initialize. If you're using a DNS name, use that instead of the IP address. The default Portainer UI port is 9000 (HTTP) or 9443 (HTTPS). If you've changed the ports in your compose file, use those instead.
   • Create Admin User: Follow the on-screen instructions to create the initial administrator user.
   • Connect to Docker Environment: Choose how to connect Portainer to your Docker environment. For a local setup (as in this case), select "Docker" to manage the local Docker Engine.

6. Update (Optional): To update Portainer to a newer version:

   docker-compose pull
   docker-compose up -d

   (Or the equivalent docker compose commands.)

7. Stop (Optional): To stop and remove the container:

   docker-compose down

   (Or the equivalent docker compose commands.)

Configuration (docker-compose.yml)

The docker-compose.yml file contains the configuration for Portainer. Here's a breakdown of a typical example, along with explanations of common options:

version: '3.8'

services:
  portainer:
    image: portainer/portainer-ce:latest  # Use the latest Community Edition image
    container_name: portainer
    restart: always  # Restart the container if it fails
    ports:
      - "8000:8000"  # Port for Edge Agent HTTP Tunnel (if using Edge Agent)
      - "9443:9443"  # HTTPS Port for Portainer UI (Recommended)
      - "9000:9000" # HTTP Port (Less Secure, use only if you know what you're doing)
    volumes:
      - /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock  # Mount the Docker socket (REQUIRED)
      - portainer_data:/data # Persistent data volume (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED)
    networks:
      - portainer_network #Optional

volumes:
  portainer_data: #Define the volume.

networks:
  portainer_network: #Optional