While AWS Cloud Containers services such as Amazon Elastic Container Service (ECS) and Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (EKS) natively support Docker containers, you are not required to use Docker directly when working with these services. However, Docker is commonly used to build, package, and distribute containerized applications, and it is the de facto standard for containerization in the industry.
Here's how Docker fits into the picture:
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Containerization: Docker provides tools and APIs for building and running containers. You can use Docker to create container images that contain your application code, runtime, libraries, and dependencies. These images can then be deployed and run on ECS or EKS.
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Docker Image Registry: Docker provides Docker Hub, a public registry for storing and sharing Docker images. Alternatively, you can use Amazon Elastic Container Registry (ECR), a fully managed Docker container registry provided by AWS, to store and manage your container images securely.
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Local Development: Docker enables you to run containers locally on your development machine, allowing you to test and debug your application in a containerized environment before deploying it to ECS or EKS.
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CI/CD Pipelines: Docker is often used in CI/CD pipelines to automate the build, test, and deployment process for containerized applications. You can use tools like Docker Compose, Jenkins, or AWS CodePipeline to build Docker images and deploy them to ECS or EKS.
While Docker is not strictly required when working with AWS Cloud Containers, it is a widely adopted and well-supported tool for containerization that can streamline your container-based development and deployment workflow. If you're already familiar with Docker, you'll find it straightforward to integrate with ECS, EKS, and other AWS container services. However, if you prefer, you can also use alternative containerization tools and formats, such as containerd, OCI (Open Container Initiative), or other container runtimes supported by ECS and EKS.
