Important
This project is currently in alpha stage. Use with caution in production environments.
Simplecontainer is a container orchestration platform that transforms Docker daemons into managed nodes with GitOps capabilities. It provides enterprise-grade features like overlay networking, secrets management, and multi-node clustering while maintaining the simplicity of Docker.
- GitOps Deployment: Deploy containers using Git repositories as the source of truth
- Overlay Networking: Secure container communication using Flannel with WireGuard encryption
- Multi-Node Clustering: Scale across multiple Docker daemons with RAFT consensus
- Dependency Management: Reliable container startup ordering with readiness probes
- Secrets & Configuration: Built-in secret and configuration management
- mTLS Security: Encrypted control plane communication
- Real-time Dashboard: Web UI for monitoring and management
`- Docker installed and running (Installation Guide)
- For WireGuard networking: WireGuard package (Installation Guide) `
- Download and install tooling(smrmgr.sh, smr, and smrctl):
curl -sL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/simplecontainer/smr/refs/heads/main/scripts/production/smrmgr.sh -o smrmgr
chmod +x smrmgr
sudo mv smrmgr /usr/local/bin
sudo smrmgr install- Start a single node with default configuration:
sudo smrmgr start- Configure the CLI client:
smrctl context import $(smr agent export --api $(smr node ip):1443) -y
smrctl psAfter starting node, dashboard can be started on the local machine.
Important
Dashboard doesn't implement any authentication. The path ~/.smrctl will be mounted in the dashboard container. All contexts that are available to the user will be available to the dasboard.
smrctl context import $(smr agent export --api $(smr node ip):1443) -y
git clone https://github.com/simplecontainer/examples.git
smrctl apply examples/dashboard --set user=$USER
smrctl ps
NODE RESOURCE IMAGE PORTS ENGINE STATE SMR STATE
smr-development-node-1 containers/dashboard/dashboard-dashboard-oss-1 quay.io/simplecontainer/dashboard-oss:latest 8080:3000 running (docker) running (43s)
smr-development-node-1 containers/dashboard/dashboard-proxy-manager-oss-1 quay.io/simplecontainer/proxy-manager-oss:latest 5443:5443, 5480:5480 running (docker) running (1m18s) To access the dashboard open in the browser http://localhost:8080.
Deploy a basic container definition on Docker using simplecontainer:
smrctl apply https://raw.githubusercontent.com/simplecontainer/examples/refs/heads/main/tests/minimal/definitions/Containers.yaml
smrctl psExpected output:
NODE RESOURCE PORTS DEPS ENGINE STATE SMR STATE
simplecontainer-node-1 containers/example/example-busybox-1 - - running (docker) running (9s)
Simplecontainer supports three deployment modes:
- Single Node: Standalone Docker daemon management
- Multiple Isolated Nodes: Independent Simplecontainer instances
- Clustered Nodes: Distributed container orchestration
- Control Plane: REST API for container management (port 1443)
- RAFT Consensus: Distributed state management (port 9212)
- Embedded etcd: Local key-value store (port 2379, localhost only)
- Flannel Networking: Overlay network with WireGuard encryption
- DNS Server: Isolated DNS resolution for containers
smrmgr startReplace smr.example.com with your domain:
smrmgr start -d smr.example.com
smr agent export --api smr.example.com:1443From external machines:
smrctl context import PASTE_EXPORTED_CONTEXT_HERE
smrctl pssmrmgr start -n simplecontainer-1 -d smr-1.example.com
smr agent export --api smr-1.example.com:1443smr agent import --node simplecontainer-2 -y PASTE_EXPORTED_OUTPUT
smrmgr start -n simplecontainer-2 -d smr-2.example.com -j -p smr-1.example.comSimplecontainer uses YAML definitions to manage containers and related resources:
- Containers: Define container specifications
- Configuration: Application configuration management
- Secrets: Secure credential storage
- Resources: Shared resources between containers
- GitOps: Git-based deployment automation
- CertKey: TLS certificate management
- HttpAuth: HTTP authentication configuration
- Create GitOps definition:
smrctl apply https://raw.githubusercontent.com/simplecontainer/examples/refs/heads/main/tests/gitops-apps/definitions/gitops-plain.yaml- Check GitOps status:
smrctl ps gitops- Trigger synchronization:
smrctl sync gitops/examples/plain-manual- Verify deployment:
smrctl psFor immediate deployment without GitOps:
git clone https://github.com/simplecontainer/examples
smrctl apply examples/tests/dependency-readiness-simpleThis example demonstrates:
- Secret management
- Configuration handling
- Resource sharing
- Container dependencies
- Readiness checks
Containers can depend on other containers being ready:
spec:
dependencies:
- mysql.* # Wait for all mysql containers to be readyEnsure containers are ready before marking them as available:
spec:
readiness:
- name: "mysql"
timeout: "60s"
command: ["mysqladmin", "ping", "-h", "localhost", "-p(( .password ))"]Use secrets and configuration in container definitions:
spec:
configuration:
username: "root"
password: (( lookup "secret/mysql/password:password" | base64decode ))- 1443: Control plane API (TCP)
- 9212: RAFT protocol communication (TCP)
- 2379: Embedded etcd (localhost only)
# List all containers
smrctl ps
# List specific resource types
smrctl ps gitops
smrctl ps secrets
# Get detailed information
smrctl get containers/example/busybox-1
# Apply definitions
smrctl apply <file_or_url>
# Sync GitOps resources
smrctl sync gitops/example/app
# Import/export contexts
smrctl context import <context_string>
smrctl context export# Start node
smrmgr start [options]
# Install tools
smrmgr install
# Export agent context
smr agent export --api <endpoint>
# Import agent context
smr agent import --node <name> -y <context>- WireGuard not installed: Install WireGuard package for secure networking
- Port conflicts: Ensure ports 1443, 9212, and 2379 are available
- Docker socket access: Simplecontainer needs access to
/var/run/docker.sock - Firewall: Open required ports for cluster communication
# View container logs
smr node logs OR docker logs <simplecontainer_container_id>
# Verify cluster connectivity
smrctl ps- Dashboard: app.simplecontainer.io
- Documentation: docs.simplecontainer.io
- Blog: blog.simplecontainer.io
- Container Registry: quay.io/repository/simplecontainer/smr
- Source Code: github.com/simplecontainer/smr
- Examples: github.com/simplecontainer/examples
We welcome contributions! Please see our contributing guidelines and code of conduct.
This project is licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0. See the LICENSE file for details.