Portainer
A web interface to manage Docker, Swarm and Kubernetes environments
Portainer gives you a graphical view of containers, images, volumes, networks and stacks, and lets you deploy and manage them from the browser. The Community Edition is open source under the zlib license, and a paid Business Edition adds team and access features.
Best for when
- you are learning Docker and want to see containers, volumes and networks
- you manage several Docker hosts and want one interface
- you want to deploy compose stacks from the browser
Watch out for
- it has root level control over every connected host, so exposure is serious
- some features such as fine grained access control are in the paid edition
- stacks managed in its interface are harder to keep in git than plain compose files
Docker you can click on
Instead of remembering commands, you open Portainer and see every container with its status, ports and logs, and you can start, stop, inspect or open a console in one click. Stacks let you paste a Docker Compose file, deploy it, and edit it later from the same screen, optionally pulled from a git repository.
It suits beginners who are still learning what a volume or a network is and want to see them, and people who manage several Docker hosts and want one place to look. It also handles Swarm and Kubernetes, which matters if you grow beyond one machine.
What running it involves
Portainer runs as a container with a small data volume that holds users, settings and stack definitions, and it uses modest RAM. Remote hosts connect through a lightweight agent. Back up the data volume.
It holds full control of your Docker hosts through the socket or the agent, which is equivalent to root. Set a strong admin password immediately on first start, keep it on a private network or VPN, and update it regularly. Stacks created in Portainer live in its database, which makes moving them to plain compose files later a manual step.
