RTOSVisor: Docker Container Support

Docker is a powerful tool that packages applications and their dependencies into lightweight, portable container images. These images can run consistently across various environments, ensuring smooth operation whether on a developer’s local machine, a cloud server, or any other infrastructure.

One of Docker's core strengths is its ability to isolate applications in containers. Each container bundles all the necessary dependencies, ensuring that the application runs the same way, regardless of the host environment. This eliminates the "it works on my machine" problem, providing consistency and reliability across different systems.

Moreover, Docker excels in version control and rollback capabilities. Each Docker image can be versioned, allowing developers to easily roll back to previous versions or update containers with minimal effort. This versioning system streamlines the process of deploying updates and managing containerized applications over time.

The architecture of Docker builds upon the underlying hardware infrastructure and operating system, typically running on top of Linux. At its core is the container engine, such as Docker, which manages and orchestrates the containers.

Together with a Real-time Hypervisor, customers can combine the power of virtualization as a means of hardware and workload consolidation and container for better isolating and maintaining their applications.

The graphics below shows a sophisticated Edge Controller use case where the Real-time Hypervisor partitions the hardware into a non-real-time partition where Windows and Debian are executed and two real-time partitions running one Real-time Linux guest with containerized applications and a second one running a Real-time Linux guest with a classical application.

Docker Base Image

A key component of Docker's architecture is the base image. This foundational element serves as the starting point for creating a container. The base image typically includes the root filesystem (rootfs) of a Linux operating system, providing essential OS binaries, libraries, and the environment necessary for the application to run. Common examples of base images include Ubuntu, a full-featured and widely-used Linux distribution, and Alpine, a lightweight image designed for minimalism and security, often used for optimizing container performance.

In addition to these popular base images, Docker also allows for more specialized use cases. For example, the acontis Real-time Linux rootfs can be used as a base image, providing an industrial-grade, real-time operating system environment. This option gives customers full control over the contents of the base image, allowing them to customize and tailor the OS to meet the stringent requirements of real-time applications. With the ability to choose or create such specific base images, developers can build containers that are finely tuned for performance, control, and security, depending on their unique project needs.

By structuring containers in this way, Docker ensures that applications can run in a consistent and isolated environment, regardless of the differences in the host systems. This provides a reliable, repeatable, and efficient deployment method across various infrastructures and use cases.

Solutions from acontis for Docker in real-time applications

acontis offers different real-time hypervisor solution – like RTOSVisor and LxWin which both provide the acontis real-time linux that is optimized for industrial control applications. This real-time Linux is available in different variants: one without Docker support for most lightweight deployment, one with Docker support for maximum flexibility – without compromising on real-time performance.
acontis provides documentation and assistance how to set-up own docker containers that can be used with the acontis real-time Linux based on any of acontis’ hypervisor solutions.