Chapter 1. What is Red Hat Container Development Kit?
The Red Hat Container Development Kit is a collection of technologies which allows users to develop container-based applications. Those applications reside in a Docker container, and typically several Docker containers are grouped together in a virtual machine (VM). This arrangement mirrors the environment which the application runs in on OpenShift.
Container Development Kit can run on Red Hat Enterprise Linux, macOS, and Microsoft Windows. Installation procedures are slightly different between platforms, but generally Container Development Kit runs the same once installed.
This guide describes the installation steps, from preparing the system to launching Container Development Kit for the first time. See the Container Development Kit Getting Started Guide to get an idea of how to use Container Development Kit after installing.
1.1. Relation to Minishift Documentation
This document is based on the documentation for Minishift that can be found at minishift.io, and considers that documentation to be the upstream documentation. However, this documentation has a focus on functionality in Red Hat Container Development Kit. Some upstream features that are not specifically relevant to Container Development Kit users has been modified or removed.
1.2. What is In Container Development Kit
Once the Container Development Environment from Container Development Kit is running on your system, you can begin exploring the contents. Some services and tools run automatically when you boot the virtual machine while others require configuration. Here is a list of some of those features:
-
OpenShift Container Platform: A containerized version of OpenShift Container Platform is included in the Container Development Environment. OpenShift Container Platform provides developers with a platform for creating, provisioning, managing, and scaling container-based applications for cloud environments. Once the OpenShift container is running, you can use a web console from your browser or work from the command line with the
occommand to develop container projects. -
Docker: The Docker project develops the basic container format and the
dockercommand for working with containers that are included in the Container Development Environment. The Environment is configured to have the docker daemon start automatically when you boot the virtual machine. With thedockercommand, you can build, run, start, stop, investigate, and otherwise work with individual containers.
- Linking to Eclipse: The Container Development Environment lets you connect to it from the Eclipse IDE with Linux Tools and the Docker Tooling plug-in. This allows Container Development Kit users to manage containers from a graphical interface on their host system.
Red Hat Container Development Kit 3.0 now uses minishift. If you used Container Development Kit releases prior to 3.0, you may already be familiar with running Vagrant. Minishift creates kvm boxes directly to provide similar functionality, without Vagrant, as well as additional functionality that is more appropriate for the new environment.
1.3. Where You Can Run Container Development Kit
Red Hat Container Development Kit was designed to let you do your container development using the same computer on which you do your other work. A hypervisor is required in each case, and the Red Hat Enterprise Linux virtual machine will use that hypervisor.
A hypervisor is software that runs on your desktop operating system that allows the Red Hat Enterprise Linux virtual machine to run. This Red Hat Enterprise Linux virtual machine is required to use Red Hat Container Development Kit.
Container Development Kit can be installed on the following systems:
- Microsoft Windows: You can use a 64-bit version of Microsoft Windows to install Container Development Kit. Windows 7 or later is required. You can choose to user either VirtualBox or Hyper-V as your hypervisor on Microsoft Windows.
- macOS: You can use an Intel-based Apple Mac to install and run Container Development Kit. The computer should have at least 4 GB of RAM and be running a recent, 64-bit version of macOS, such as 10.11 (El Capitan). You can use either VirtualBox or xhyve as your hypervisor on macOS.
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux: The latest version of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 is recommended for installing Container Development Kit. A 64-bit computer with at least 4 GB of RAM is required. You can use either VirtualBox or KVM as your hypervisor on Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
See the Container Development Kit installation procedure for each system for more detailed hardware and software requirements.
Virtualization support must be included and enabled in the computer’s BIOS, regardless of operating system.
1.4. Obtaining and Setting up Container Development Kit
Container Development Kit is available from the Red Hat Customer Portal to anyone with a valid Red Hat Enterprise Linux Developer Subscription. Joining the Red Hat Developers program also provides a path to getting Container Development Kit.
This guide provides the following instructions for installing Container Development Kit to begin developing containerized applications:
- Choosing your development system (Microsoft Windows, macOS, or Red Hat Enterprise Linux).
- Making Minishift available to users.
- Initial configuration of minishift.
- Starting the Container Development Environment from minishift.
1.5. Installation Components
Regardless of which platform you choose as the workstation for using Container Development Kit, you will use Minishift to start and manage it.
Minishift includes a virtual machine, with Red Hat Enterprise Linux installed on that virtual machine.
- Minishift is a single-user version of OpenShift, with additional functionality needed by users developing on one system.
- Docker is an open source tool for manipulating containers in linux.
Now that you understand the basics of what is inside Container Development Kit, choose from one of the next chapters to learn how to obtain Container Development Kit and install it on a Microsoft Windows, macOS, or Red Hat Enterprise Linux system.
1.6. Additional Resources
- Container Development Kit Getting Started Guide: Steps you through your first experiences using Container Development Kit.
- Getting Started with Containers: Describes the basics of setting up Docker and Kubernetes (all-in-one or cluster) to run containers. It also covers basic storage setup, Kubernetes troubleshooting, starting containers with systemd, and running super-privileged containers.
