dockvirt

dockvirt Usage Examples

This directory contains practical examples showing different ways to use dockvirt with the new, simplified API.

🏗️ How does dockvirt work?

System Architecture

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                      🖥️  HOST SYSTEM                           │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  dockvirt CLI                                                   │
│  ┌─────────────┐ ┌─────────────┐ ┌─────────────┐               │
│  │ 📄 config.py │ │ 📥 image_   │ │ 🔧 vm_      │               │
│  │ (config)    │ │ manager.py  │ │ manager.py  │               │
│  │             │ │ (download)  │ │ (create VM) │               │
│  └─────────────┘ └─────────────┘ └─────────────┘               │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  ~/.dockvirt/                                                   │
│  ├── 📋 config.yaml    (configuration)                         │
│  ├── 📁 images/        (OS image cache)                        │
│  └── 📁 vm_name/       (cloud-init files)                      │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  🔄 libvirt/KVM                                                 │
│  ├── virt-install → creates VM                                 │
│  ├── virsh        → manages VM                                 │
│  └── qemu-kvm     → runs VM                                  │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
                               │
                               ▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                    🖥️  VIRTUAL MACHINE                         │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  🐧 Ubuntu/Fedora + cloud-init                                 │
│  ├── 🐳 Docker Engine                                          │
│  └── 📦 docker-compose                                         │
│      ├── 🌐 Caddy (reverse proxy :80/:443) ──┐                │
│      └── 📱 Your App Container               │                │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────┼─────────────────┘
                                               │
                                               ▼
                                    🌍 http://app.local

VM Creation Flow

flowchart TD
    A[🚀 dockvirt up] --> B{📋 config.yaml exists?}
    B -->|❌ No| C[📝 Create default config]
    B -->|✅ Yes| D[📖 Load configuration]
    C --> D
    
    D --> E{🖼️ OS image local?}
    E -->|❌ No| F[📥 Download from internet]
    E -->|✅ Yes| G[💾 Use local]
    F --> |⏳ wget/curl| G
    
    G --> H[🔧 Render cloud-init]
    H --> I[💿 Create cloud-init ISO]
    I --> J[💽 Create VM disk]
    J --> K[⚡ virt-install]
    K --> L[🐳 VM + Docker + Caddy]
    L --> M[🌐 Application available!]
    
    style A fill:#e1f5fe
    style M fill:#c8e6c9
    style F fill:#fff3e0

🆕 What’s new?

All examples have been updated to use the latest features:

• Automatic OS image downloads - you no longer need to manually download .qcow2 files
• Configuration system - ~/.dockvirt/config.yaml with predefined settings
• Simplified CLI - instead of --base-image and --os-variant, just use --os

Tip: Prefer the local repository venv binary to ensure the latest CLI:

# From repository root
make install
source .venv-3.13/bin/activate
dockvirt --help
# Or invoke explicitly without activating:
.venv-3.13/bin/dockvirt --help

📋 List of examples

1. Static Nginx Website

flowchart LR
    A[📝 HTML + CSS] --> B[🐳 Docker build]
    B --> C[🚀 dockvirt up]
    C --> D[📥 Ubuntu download]
    D --> E[⚡ VM creation]
    E --> F[🌐 Nginx serving]
    F --> G[🌍 http://static-site.local]
    
    style A fill:#f9f9f9
    style G fill:#c8e6c9

Example flow:

Developer      Docker         dockvirt       libvirt        Browser
    │              │              │             │              │
    ├─ build ────→ │              │             │              │
    │              ├─ nginx:alpine │             │              │  
    ├─ dockvirt up ───────────────→ │             │              │
    │              │              ├─ download ──→ │              │
    │              │              │  ubuntu.img   │              │
    │              │              ├─ virt-install → │              │
    │              │              │             ├─ VM + Docker  │
    │              │              │             ├─ Caddy proxy  │
    │              │              │             │              │
    ├─ add /etc/hosts ────────────────────────────────────────→ │
    │              │              │             │              ├─ GET /
    │              │              │             │              │

2. Python (Flask) Web Application

flowchart TD
    A[🐍 Python Flask App] --> B[📋 requirements.txt]
    B --> C[🐳 Dockerfile]
    C --> D[🔨 docker build]
    D --> E{🖥️ Choose OS}
    E -->|Ubuntu| F[🟠 dockvirt up]
    E -->|Fedora| G[🔵 dockvirt up --os fedora38]
    F --> H[🌐 Flask + Caddy]
    G --> H
    H --> I[🌍 http://flask-app.local]
    
    style A fill:#306998
    style I fill:#c8e6c9

System comparison:

Ubuntu 22.04                     Fedora 38
     │                               │
     ├─ apt-get update               ├─ dnf update
     ├─ install docker               ├─ install docker
     ├─ pip install requirements     ├─ pip install requirements
     ├─ docker compose up            ├─ docker compose up
     │                               │
     └─ ~2-3 min startup             └─ ~2-4 min startup

3. Operating System Comparison

flowchart TD
    A[⚙️ ~/.dockvirt/config.yaml] --> B{🖥️ OS Selection}
    B -->|ubuntu22.04| C[🟠 Ubuntu VM]
    B -->|fedora38| D[🔵 Fedora VM]  
    B -->|debian12| E[🟣 Debian VM]
    B -->|custom| F[⚪ Custom VM]
    
    C --> G[📊 Performance Test]
    D --> G
    E --> G
    F --> G
    
    G --> H[📈 Results Comparison]
    
    style A fill:#fff3e0
    style H fill:#c8e6c9

System configuration:

┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ ~/.dockvirt/config.yaml                 │
├─────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ default_os: ubuntu22.04                 │
│ images:                                 │
│   ubuntu22.04:                         │
│     url: https://cloud-images.ubuntu... │
│     variant: ubuntu22.04               │
│   fedora38:                            │
│     url: https://download.fedora...     │ 
│     variant: fedora38       │
│   debian12:     # Your configuration   │
│     url: https://cloud.debian.org...    │
│     variant: debian12                   │
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘

🚀 Quick start

🔍 Check system readiness

# Check if all dependencies are installed
dockvirt check

# If something is missing, install automatically
dockvirt setup --install

Option 1: Use a .dockvirt file (recommended)

# Go to any example
cd examples/1-static-nginx-website

# Build the Docker image
docker build -t my-static-website:latest .

# Just run - the parameters are in the .dockvirt file
dockvirt up

Option 2: Traditional CLI parameters

# Run with default Ubuntu 22.04
dockvirt up \
  --name my-test \
  --domain my-test.local \
  --image example-app:latest \
  --port 80

# Or choose Fedora
dockvirt up --os fedora38

📝 Example .dockvirt file

# .dockvirt
name=my-app
domain=my-app.local  
image=my-app:latest
port=80
os=ubuntu22.04

🔧 Requirements

Before running the examples, make sure you have:

• dockvirt installed: pip install dockvirt
• All dependencies: dockvirt check
• If something is missing: dockvirt setup --install

📊 Automatic testing

# Test all examples on different OS
python ../scripts/test_examples.py

# Test only one example
python ../scripts/test_examples.py 1-static-nginx-website

# The test report will be saved in test_results.md

💡 Tips

• Each example has its own .dockvirt file with default parameters
• You can edit .dockvirt to change the VM name, port, or OS
• Use dockvirt down --name <name> to remove a VM
• Use dockvirt ip --name <name> to check the VM’s IP
• The examples work with both Ubuntu and Fedora

🔎 Getting the VM IP

dockvirt ip --name <vm_name>

If you test HTTP by IP with Caddy/reverse proxy inside the VM, include a Host header:

curl -H 'Host: app.local' http://<ip>/

🔌 Networking: NAT vs Bridge (LAN)

By default, libvirt NAT (network=default) is used. To make VMs visible in your LAN, use a Linux bridge (e.g., br0).

• Create a bridge with NetworkManager (Fedora example):

sudo nmcli con add type bridge ifname br0 con-name br0
sudo nmcli con add type bridge-slave ifname enp3s0 master br0
sudo nmcli con modify br0 ipv4.method auto ipv6.method auto
sudo nmcli con up br0

• Run a VM on the bridge:

dockvirt up --net bridge=br0

• Persist per project in .dockvirt:

net=bridge=br0

With bridge networking, VMs receive a LAN IP and are visible to other machines on your network.

Note: Do not run make or dockvirt with sudo. Tools will request sudo only when necessary and act on your real HOME.

🧪 Compatibility testing

The test script checks:

• ✅ Building the Docker image
• ✅ Creating a VM with Ubuntu 22.04
• ✅ Creating a VM with Fedora 38
• ✅ HTTP availability of the application
• ✅ Cleaning up resources after tests

🆘 Help

If you encounter problems:

1. Check if libvirt is running: sudo systemctl status libvirtd
2. Check the VM logs: virsh console <vm-name>
3. See the configuration: cat ~/.dockvirt/config.yaml
4. Check the downloaded images: ls -la ~/.dockvirt/images/

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