Docker & Containers¶

Pimarchy comes pre-configured with Docker CE and Docker Compose v2. This makes it easy to deploy services directly to your Pi.

Installation Process¶

Pimarchy uses the official Docker repository from download.docker.com. - Not Debian's docker.io: The Debian docker.io package is often outdated and doesn't include the official docker-compose-plugin. - Idempotent: If Docker is already installed, the script will skip the installation but ensure the repositories and keys are correctly configured.

Managing Containers¶

You can manage your Docker containers with standard commands:

# Check Docker version
docker --version

# Check Docker Compose version
docker compose version

# List running containers
docker ps

Running as a User¶

Pimarchy automatically adds your user to the docker group. This allows you to run Docker commands without prefixing them with sudo.

Group Update

If you find that you still need to use sudo, you can refresh your user group status:

newgrp docker

Or simply log out and back in.

Common Use Cases¶

Web Dashboard¶

Deploy a web dashboard for your Pi:

docker run -d --name dashy -p 8080:80 lissy93/dashy:latest

Development Environments¶

Spin up a local development environment:

# Example Docker Compose file
version: "3.8"
services:
  db:
    image: mariadb:latest
    environment:
      MARIADB_ROOT_PASSWORD: password
    ports:
      - "3306:3306"

Storage & Performance¶

NVMe Storage: If you are running Docker on a Pi 5, we highly recommend an NVMe or High Speed USB SSD for the best performance.
MicroSD wear: Frequent writes to a MicroSD card (common with Docker) can lead to premature card failure.