Docker on CentOS 8

My main use case for Docker on CentOS  is building a four-tier project on my PC.

I use Docker on CentOS  by installing Docker  to manage the Docker  files and also to manage my applications, websites, and MySQL  from CentOS .

The best features Docker on CentOS offers in my experience are its speed and smooth operation, along with the fact that there is no need to add a repository, and it is free. I can use the repository to download any repository, which is why I use those features. CentOS  is free, and I have used it to practice for my exams and to build my four-tier project.

I chose a seven out of ten because Docker on CentOS is very fast and smooth. However, it also needs to improve its security, upgrade the packages, and fix bugs, which is why I deducted three points. It should also provide more updatable features.

Regarding Docker on CentOS's AI capabilities, if I am using it for a banking project, I think we need higher security to prevent hacking and direct attacks on servers. That is why we need to upgrade security on CentOS 9 and develop CentOS 10, an upgraded version, for more feature support and ease of use.

I think it would be very helpful to bring in AI to know more about CentOS 9 and the hidden features it offers.

I have been using Docker on CentOS for the past two years.

Docker on CentOS has positively impacted me by allowing me to upgrade to CentOS 9 to build more security and also manage subscriptions, which sometimes are free but not for organizations. I need to keep the subscription to access more packages and features in the subscription manager, as they do not always provide everything for free.

Docker on CentOS is deployed in my organization using both private and public clouds, as we normally use CentOS 9 for the UAT servers and proxy servers. We are using AWS  and Azure  for our public and private cloud deployments. I purchased Docker on CentOS through the AWS Marketplace .

I recommend that others looking into using Docker on CentOS consider that I have also recommended CentOS 9 to my colleagues for learning for their exams at no cost to build their skills.

It is important to build on CentOS and to bring in new versions, such as CentOS 9 and CentOS 10, for higher capabilities and features. I would rate Docker on CentOS overall as a seven out of ten.

My main use case for Docker on CentOS  is containerizing microservices in local environments on CentOS  and then deploying them to the cloud. I essentially use Docker  to package the application with all its dependencies, ensuring that what works locally works the same in production without the typical environment differences.

One of the most concrete cases of how I containerized an application with Docker on CentOS  was the containerization of the client controller scenery that I developed at NT Comunicaciones. It was an application built in React on the front-end, Node.js on the back-end, and MySQL  and Firebase as the database.

Complementing the above, another relevant case was in the context of CapRover on a CentOS  VPS at Saltamontes Records Creative, where I used Docker  Swarm to orchestrate multiple application containers from different clients.

I can share concrete results I experienced directly in the projects. I reduced deployment times at NT Comunicaciones. Before containerization, a manual deployment including environment preparation, dependency installations, and validations could take between two and three hours. With Docker and the automated pipeline using Jenkins  and GitHub Actions , that time drops to minutes. The image is already built and validated. Deployment was simply a matter of downloading the image and starting the container.

Another outcome is infrastructure consolidation and cost reductions. With Docker Swarm and CentOS, I consolidated multiple client applications onto a single VPS that previously required separate servers, resulting in a direct reduction in monthly infrastructure costs because we went from paying for multiple instances to optimizing resource usage on a single, well-sized server. Additionally, there was a reduction of post-deployment incidents and on-team adoptions.

The most concrete impacts regarding the reduction in post-deployment incidents are three. First, deployment times dropped from two to three hours to minutes by eliminating manual preparation of the environment. Second, I consolidated multiple applications on a single VPS with Docker Swarm, directly reducing the monthly infrastructure costs. Third, incidents due to environment differences between development and production practically disappeared, which reduced my post-deployment troubleshooting time and allowed me to focus on pipeline improvements.

The best features Docker on CentOS offers are true portability between environments, process insulation, resource efficiencies compared to VMs, and seamless pipeline integrations in the foundation for scaling.

I can be quite specific on both points because I experienced them firsthand. On portability, it accelerates deployments. On efficiency, it reduces infrastructure costs. The clearest example was at CapRover on CentOS VPS. Before containerization, each client application required its own server or at least its own VM, which multiplied costs. With Docker Swarm, I consolidated several applications onto the same VPS. The impact on the team was that the development team gained confidence in deployments because the environment was no longer a variable. There were no more surprises in production due to configuration differences. This reduced the time I spent troubleshooting post-deployment and allowed me to focus on pipeline improvements instead of putting out fires.

From my experience, there are a few areas where things got tricky working with Docker on CentOS: SE Linux conflicts, other networking configurations, storage driver compatibility, and deployment tools.

I can go deeper on both. On networking, a concrete case at NT Comunicaciones involved a situation where after installing Docker on CentOS, the containers could communicate internally but could not reach external services. The issue was that Docker creates its own iptables and rules, but firewalld was overwriting them on every reload. Every time firewalld restarted, container connectivity broke silently. The fix was to configure Docker to work alongside firewalld properly and set specific zones to allow Docker bridge traffic.

It took me a while to diagnose because the error was not obvious; containers appeared to be running fine, but network calls were just timing out. On storage, a concrete case with device-mapper on an older CentOS setup had me hit a situation where the storage pool ran out of space silently. Docker did not throw a clear error. Containers just started behaving unexpectedly, some failing to write logs, others crashing on startups.

The diagnostic was not straightforward because on the surface, it looked like an application issue. Once I identified it was the device-mapper thin pool hitting its limit, I had to extend it manually, which required stopping services temporarily. After that, I migrated to overlay2 with a kernel update, and the storage management became much more transparent and easier to monitor. The common pattern in both cases is that on CentOS, Docker does not fail loudly. Issues with networking and storage tend to manifest as application misbehavior rather than clear infrastructure errors, which makes the troubleshooting cycle longer if you do not know where to look first.

I have been working in my current field for one year.

There are two additional points that I think are relevant to mention based on practical experience. First is container-level security management. In CentOS, especially the integration of Docker on CentOS with SE Linux caught my attention because it adds an extra layer of security at the operating system level. SE Linux controls what each container can do at the kernel level, limiting the impact if a container is compromised. Initially, it created conflicts that had to be resolved with specific policies, but once configured correctly, it gave me greater peace of mind in production environments. The second point is volumes and data persistence.

Docker on CentOS itself does not produce AI output; it is the runtime environment. What I can speak to is how the container environment impacts the accuracy and reliability of the AI workloads running inside it. On reliability, in my experience at Pacifico Seguros running custom agents with a Copilot inside containerized environments, the big gain is consistency. The model or agent always runs in the exact same environment regardless of where the container is deployed. That eliminates a whole category of reliability issues caused by dependency drift or environment differences that could affect how the AI component behaves.

On accuracy being affected by the container, I did notice a challenge around resource constraints. If the container running an AI workload had tight memory or CPU limits, inference times, and in some cases, responses were incomplete or timed out. Tuning the resource limits in the deployment manifest was critical to ensure the AI component had enough headroom to produce reliable output consistently. On observability, another challenge was monitoring what was happening inside the container when the AI agents are executing. I addressed this by integrating Azure Monitor  and Application Insights to capture logs and metrics from inside the container, which gave me visibility into response times, failure rates, and resource consumption patterns of the AI workload.

Based on my experience, I would give three concrete pieces of advice. First, understand CentOS before Docker on CentOS. Second, invest in your pipeline from day one. Third, plan for observability before you hit production. One final thought is that if you are starting fresh today, evaluate whether CentOS is still the right choice given its end-of-life situation. I give this review a rating of seven out of ten.

My main use case for Docker on CentOS  is that I deployed some IBM DB2  database containers.

A specific example of how I use Docker on CentOS  with those IBM DB2  database containers is that if you install DB2 on on-prem virtual machines, it takes a long time, but with Docker , it is very fast and easy to recover.

I find that Docker on CentOS is flexible, scalable, and easy to install.

The best features Docker on CentOS offers in my experience are that it is very easy to maintain.

This helps in my day-to-day work because I can watch if my containers are running, if they have any errors or any need for maintenance. I can see them.

Docker on CentOS has positively impacted my organization as it saved us so much time about database installations.

I estimate that if you install databases on generic virtual machines, it takes approximately 30 minutes, but on Docker , it takes one or two minutes.

I think file size management on Docker on CentOS should be improved.

A specific management feature I wish was better or easier to use is that it should maintain its stored files by itself. It should check if there are so many unused files, and Docker should clean them by itself.

I have been using Docker on CentOS for about three years.

Docker on CentOS is quite stable.

Docker on CentOS is quite scalable. You can scale it for small businesses or large environments. It depends on you. Docker allows you to do that.

I haven't needed any customer support on Docker on CentOS.

I haven't previously used a different solution because Docker helps me with all the jobs I have to do.

My advice to others looking into using Docker on CentOS is that they should read carefully the documentation, and they should have done everything right on first installation.

I have seen a return on investment as I save money and time because I can run many DB2 applications in the same virtual machine, so I don't need any extra machines.

My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing is that Docker is free to install, so the pricing was acceptable.

Before choosing Docker on CentOS, I did evaluate other options, but they are more expensive and so complicated to maintain.

I don't have any additional thoughts about Docker on CentOS before we wrap up.

Regarding Docker on CentOS's AI capabilities, I didn't use any AI capabilities of Docker on CentOS.

The AI capabilities are something I haven't explored yet.

I give this review a rating of 8.

My main use case for Docker on CentOS  is general use to run our Docker  Compose. A specific example of how I use Docker on CentOS  for general use is that I use Docker  Compose to Kubernetes . I usually combine those tools for orchestration containing containers to deploy our applications. At the moment, I do not remember anything else to add about my main use case; I think we use direct Docker Compose or Kubernetes  in general, all combinations.

In my experience, the best features Docker on CentOS offers are typical features such as creating a network, creating volumes, starting containers, and supporting both test and production for deploying.

Out of those features, starting containers stands out as most valuable for my workflow because it is my job.

Docker on CentOS has positively impacted my organization as it permits us to develop and deploy our applications very easily; that is really useful, and we can use Docker from different CentOS  versions.

This ease of development and deployment has benefited my team by saving time, improving collaboration, and ensuring we have similar versions.

I have no additional information on how Docker on CentOS can be improved. At the moment, I have not received additional information regarding anything specific that could be improved with Docker on CentOS.

Generally, I have thoughts on Docker on CentOS's AI capabilities regarding its governance and security. I think there are no strengths or concerns with how Docker on CentOS handles governance and security for AI workloads.

Regarding Docker on CentOS's AI capabilities, I think it has the possibility for improvement in the accuracy and reliability of output.

I have been working in my current field for about five years.

Docker on CentOS is stable.

Docker on CentOS's scalability is good.

The customer support for Docker on CentOS is fine and faster.

Before Docker on CentOS, I used it as a container, but in general, Docker is more full, which is why I switched.

In general, I did not evaluate other options before choosing Docker on CentOS; I started with it.

My advice to others looking into using Docker on CentOS is to try it one time. I find Docker on CentOS to be a solid, reliable combination for containerized workloads, where CentOS  or RHEL-based systems integrate well with Docker for production deployments. Beyond that, my focus these days is more on Kubernetes orchestration, Helm charts, and infrastructure as code, rather than raw Docker on individual hosts. I gave this review an overall rating of 8.

My main use case for Docker on CentOS  is for local development, tests, and creating new server and server test applications, making the integration from staging and the production environments. Some of that work was applied at Johnson & Johnson.

A specific example of how I use Docker on CentOS  in one of those situations is that we create staging development sites using CentOS  as the original VM application and inside of these VMs, we put Docker  and configure the containers inside of it to make the IP configuration easier on CentOS . We can also create a good network interface and network jobs between the different VMs. We used to isolate some databases in Docker  containers in different stages, using CentOS to separate these stages. We can also create some network environments and share folders between the different VMs using CentOS.

Last week, I built a Proxmox server with some VMs using CentOS and integrating not only Docker but also cPanel  configured by me inside of my Proxmox. I created the environment to make the replication of the tenants from different clients automatically using Node.js as a backend and creating automatically with Terraform  and using CentOS as the main image to use in our environment.

The network integration of Docker on CentOS makes my workflow easier because when I create a new tenant in my environment, I just build a VM with this configurator inside of my ecosystem. I integrate the creation of new VMs and the tenants using Terraform , integrating with CentOS, and inside of this CentOS image, I put Docker and containers, which I use to isolate some clients. However, I need to have access from my tenant manager to create the folders and share them. The containers are isolated between the VMs, but the VMs have some access between them to get some configuration from the original Proxmox environment configurator.

I have some Grafana  and Prometheus applied to these servers, and I made some measures about the improvement in file transfer between them, which shows an improvement of 20% from the last Ubuntu  applications. The easier monitoring between the VMs using that shared folder is also a very useful tool.

Docker on CentOS impacts my organization positively because it is a very useful tool to create a strategic environment where we can plan every container with what we need to do between them. CentOS is a great solution to create the background environment and connect my tenants using my tenant evaluator. With this, I can easily create the environment, network isolation, and sharing folders that we need to share between them.

The best features Docker on CentOS offers are the configuration of the network between the VMs and the integration of this network with Docker, which is the easiest thing that we can use with these environments. When we talk about Ubuntu  or other options, sharing this network and sharing the folders between them is a little bit difficult in comparison with CentOS.

Docker on CentOS can be improved by using the Terraform creation, pointing for a smaller CentOS version that we can create to just take exactly what we need to consume in our image. Instead of getting a full version of CentOS, we can take the small version and only install what we need on the server. This can be very useful to make more space for our clients.

I think Docker on CentOS could benefit from images that we can create or have, for example, just a module based on Portainer  or some UI interface to create the containers automatically or create some internal APIs to make it easier to configure this by Terraform.

I have been using Docker on CentOS since 2016.

Docker on CentOS is very stable.

My setup of Docker on CentOS allows for horizontal scalability; I can upgrade memory and processors, and CentOS automatically scales when we make adjustments inside of the VMs. Docker will adapt to these adjustments using the correctness in the Dockerfile.

My customer support is automated by AI; therefore, I don't have specific feedback about support teams related to CentOS.

I have never needed help from support teams; I find the documentation very well formulated and easier to implement.

Before using Docker on CentOS, I used Ubuntu, but the size of the image for Ubuntu was not optimal, making it harder to configure in Terraform. That's why I switched to CentOS.

The setup costs of CentOS include some versions without a cost, but I don't get the enterprise licensing for now, and I'm using the normal open-source licensing for CentOS.

I deploy Docker on CentOS using a private cloud and my own registry.

I have seen a return on investment; I built my own AI agents connected to my Proxmox server, which led to significant improvements in time and money saved, amounting to over 60%.

The setup costs of CentOS include some versions without a cost, but I don't get the enterprise licensing for now, and I'm using the normal open-source licensing for CentOS.

I evaluated other options before choosing Docker on CentOS, including Debian , Ubuntu itself, and FreeDOS. However, CentOS was easier to integrate and more useful when using WHM and cPanel .

Regarding the accuracy and reliability of Docker on CentOS's AI capabilities, I need to train my AI here to configure CentOS and Docker. After training, the application runs well. AI identifies applications and the configuration accurately, and we can create tools that make AI available to consume the CentOS configuration, even though I haven't yet used CentOS integrated with GPUs or AI engines.

My advice for others looking into using Docker on CentOS is to evaluate your infrastructure and do thorough planning before implementation.

The governance and security of Docker on CentOS are very good because we have a lot of tools to maintain and ensure the sustainability of that environment. This is especially true when integrating keys, and we have keys in all Linux systems, but they put the keys in one space that's easier to get. The first access of CentOS not using root is a very secure feature, as we need to make our root environment and create a root user different from the original root, which is a significant security improvement.

I have given Docker on CentOS a rating of 8.