Dozzle

Introduction

Dozzle is open-sourced project sponsored by Docker OSS. It is a log viewer designed to simplify the process of monitoring and debugging containers. It is a lightweight, web-based application that provides real-time log streaming, filtering, and searching capabilities through an intuitive user interface.

The Docker Compose File

---
version: "3.8"

services:
  dozzle:
    image: amir20/dozzle:latest
    container_name: dozzle
    hostname: dozzle
    restart: unless-stopped
    security_opt:
      - no-new-privileges:true
    environment:
      - TZ=Europe/Stockholm
      - DOZZLE_AUTH_PROVIDER=simple
      - DOZZLE_HOSTNAME=website.com
    ports:
      - 8080:8080
    volumes:
      - /opt/dozzle/config:/data
      - /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock
      - /etc/localtime:/etc/localtime:ro
    labels:
      - com.centurylinklabs.watchtower.enable=true

docker-compose.yml

This Docker Compose file defines a single service named “dozzle”. The service is built from the “amir20/dozzle:latest” Docker image, which is the latest version available. The container name is set to “dozzle” as well.

The “restart” section ensures that the container will always be restarted if it exits (unless manually stopped). This is useful for ensuring that the service is always available, especially if it crashes or is shut down unexpectedly.

The “security_opt” section prevents your container processes from gaining additional privileges. This is an important security consideration.

The “ports” section maps port 8080 on the host machine to port 8080 in the container. This allows us to access the Dozzle web interface from our local machine. By default, Dozzle runs on port 8080, but you can change it if necessary.

The “volumes” section maps the “/data” directory inside the container to a local directory on the host machine. This allows us to persist data across container restarts. Dozzle stores all its configuration and monitoring data in this directory, so it’s important to keep it intact. We also include the Docker daemon (docker.sock) this is the UNIX socket that Docker daemon is listening to. It's the main entry point for Docker API. Dozzle needs this access in order to function as intended.

The "labels" section allows the Watchtower service to keep this container update automatically.

Running Dozzle with Docker Compose

To run Dozzle with Docker Compose, first, make sure you have Docker and Docker Compose installed on your machine. Then, create a new directory for your project and save the above Docker Compose file as “docker-compose.yml” in that directory.

Next, run the following command from the same directory:

docker compose up -d

This command will start the Dozzle container in the background and detach from it. You can then access the Dozzle web interface by going to http://localhost:8080 in your web browser.

Conclusion

In this article, we explored how to set up and run the Dozzle software using Docker Compose. We looked at the different sections of the Docker Compose file and explained how they work together to create a functional Dozzle service. By running Dozzle with Docker Compose, you can easily deploy and manage the tool on your own server, without having to worry about dependencies or configuration.