The Docker Way

The first and easiest way of self-hosting IgKnite is by using Docker. For those who don't know, Docker basically uses containers and images to virtualize an entire operating system within another. This way, you don't need to worry about your applications failing on other platforms if it works on your own machine. Interesting, right?

Getting familiar

Previously, we ran a command to open and list all the files within IgKnite's directory. Let's run the command again in a new terminal window if you have closed the previous one:

# Open and list all the files.
$ cd IgKnite && ls

Notice something? Most Docker uses have already noticed a Dockerfile within the directory. This file works as a blueprint for building Docker images.

Preparing

This time, your very first step will be to install Docker onto your computer. Once installed, open it and follow along with the additional setup procedures thrown by the app. This would be a great time to learn about Docker by watching this 100-seconds video made by Fireship if you already don't use this tool already.

You might also need Docker Compose if you'd like to manually build a Docker Image for IgKnite and run it. For Windows and macOS, it comes bundled with the original Docker package. However, you'll have to install it separately on Linux distributions.

Instructions

$ docker pull ghcr.io/igknitedev/igknite:latest
  • Method 2: Manual Building
# building the image
$ docker-compose build

# running it
$ docker-compose up

# list running containers
$ docker ps --all

Enjoy!

You should now see logs appearing on your terminal window, eventually displaying the total number of shards and servers IgKnite is connected to. This means you've officially self-hosted IgKnite with Docker!