Application Containerization Buildpacks
Application containerization enables consistent, efficient, and secure deployment of applications across different computing environments by isolating them in containers with their own runtime environments.
Buildpacks https://buildpacks.io are language-agnostic tools that can be used to containerize applications written in various languages such as Java, Node.js, Python, Go, and more. An architecture for buildpack-based containerization typically involves the following steps:
1- Defining the buildpack:
A buildpack is a set of scripts that automate the build process for an application. It typically includes everything needed to build and run an application, such as dependencies, compilers, and runtime environments. The buildpack defines how the application code will be built and packaged into a container.
Sample buildpacks: https://github.com/buildpacks/samples/tree/main/buildpacks
2- Building the container:
The buildpack is used to build a container image that includes the application code and all its dependencies. This container image can then be stored in a container registry for later use.
Sample build command:
𝘴𝘶𝘥𝘰 𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥 — 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘳=𝘨𝘤𝘳.𝘪𝘰/𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘴/𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘳:𝘷1 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯-𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘰-𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥:𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘴 — 𝘦𝘯𝘷 𝘎𝘖𝘖𝘎𝘓𝘌_𝘙𝘜𝘕𝘛𝘐𝘔𝘌_𝘝𝘌𝘙𝘚𝘐𝘖𝘕=17
Buildpacks are intelligent enough to identify your source code and convert it into a container image. For example, if your source code includes a build.gradle file, Buildpacks will recognize it as a Gradle-based application. The — builder flag specifies where the Buildpacks should come from andthis sample contains Google Cloud’s Buildpacks. You can also use Heroku or Paketo Buildpacks. The — env GOOGLE_RUNTIME_VERSION=17 specifies runtime java version
3- Running the container:
The container image can be deployed and run in any environment that supports containerization, such as Kubernetes or a cloud-based container platform.
Sample:
- Tag your container image, this is intended for the GCP Artifact Registry.
𝘴𝘶𝘥𝘰 𝘥𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘢𝘨 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯-𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘰-𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥:𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘴 𝘨𝘤𝘳.𝘪𝘰//𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯-𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘰-𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥:𝘷1
- Push your container image to GCP Artifact Registry and run
𝘴𝘶𝘥𝘰 𝘥𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘶𝘴𝘩 𝘨𝘤𝘳.𝘪𝘰//𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯-𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘰-𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥:𝘷1
𝘴𝘶𝘥𝘰 𝘥𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘳 𝘳𝘶𝘯 -𝘥 — 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘮𝘺-𝘢𝘱𝘱 -𝘱 8081:8080 𝘨𝘤𝘳.𝘪𝘰//𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯-𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘰-𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥:𝘷1
Buildpack-based containerization provides a streamlined and automated way to build, package, and deploy applications in a containerized environment. It is a popular approach for cloud-native application development and deployment.
Source: Modernizing Applications, Containerization with Buildpacks
