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ContainerCraft

Runme provides an interactive notebook for developers and operations teams to run projects while documenting each step of the process.

In this guide, we will use a development container by ContainerCraft with Runme. The ContainerCraft environment will come with Runme, Kubernetes, Helm, Kubectl, K9s, Tmux, Python, Go, and more.

Prerequisites​

To get started, ensure you have the following installed on your local machine:

Setting Up Your Development Container​

First thing to do is to create a development container folder. This folder will contain dockerfile and devcontainer.json file at the end of this guide. Use the below command inside of your README to create it

mkdir -p ./.devcontainer

Create and Configure the devcontainer.json​

The devcontainer.json file specifies how VSCode should handle the container. In your README.md file, run the script below. This will create the devcontainer.json file and give it the ContainerCraft development container configuration.



cat <<EOF | sudo tee ./.devcontainer/devcontainer.json > /dev/null
{
    "name": "konductor",
    "remoteUser": "vscode",
    "dockerFile": "Dockerfile",
    "init": true,
    "privileged": true,
    "overrideCommand": false,
    "updateRemoteUserUID": true,
    "shutdownAction": "stopContainer",
    "securityOpt": [
        "seccomp=unconfined"
    ],
    "runArgs": [
        "--privileged",
        "--network=host",
        "--device=/dev/kvm"
    ],
    "mounts": [
        "source=dind-var-lib-docker,target=/var/lib/docker,type=volume"
    ],
    "features": {
        "ghcr.io/devcontainers/features/docker-outside-of-docker:1": {}
    },
    "postCreateCommand": "devcontainer-links",
    "forwardPorts": [
        1313,
        2222,
        6000,
        7681,
        8080
    ],
    "customizations": {
        "vscode": {
            "extensions": [
                "golang.go",
                "vscodevim.vim",
                "github.copilot",
                "stateful.runme",
                "max-ss.cyberpunk",
                "ms-python.python",
                "redhat.vscode-yaml",
                "esbenp.prettier-vscode",
                "oderwat.indent-rainbow",
                "okteto.kubernetes-context",
                "ms-vsliveshare.vsliveshare",
                "ms-azuretools.vscode-docker",
                "github.vscode-github-actions",
                "ms-kubernetes-tools.kind-vscode",
                "ms-vscode.vscode-typescript-next",
                "github.vscode-pull-request-github",
                "ms-vscode-remote.remote-containers",
                "randomfractalsinc.vscode-data-table",
                "visualstudioexptteam.vscodeintellicode",
                "ms-kubernetes-tools.vscode-kubernetes-tools"
            ]
        }
    }
}
EOF

Create and Configure the Dockerfile​

The Dockerfile defines the base image for the development container, which is the foundation for setting up the development environment. In your README.md file, run the script below.

cat <<EOF | sudo tee ./.devcontainer/Dockerfile > /dev/null
FROM ghcr.io/containercraft/devcontainer:latest
EOF

This will create a Dockerfile with containercraft image in it.

Access Your Project in the Development Container​

Now that you have set up your development container, you need to access your project in the development container. To do this, follow the steps below:

  1. Press Ctrl+Shift+P (or Cmd+Shift+P on Mac) to open the command palette. Then, search for Remote-Explorer: Focus on Dev Containers.

remote-explorer

  1. Now, click the + icon to select your project directory. If you’ve created the development container before now, you don’t need to click the + icon. Just selecting the container from the available list populated on the screen is enough.

dev-containers

Rebuild and Open the Container​

After selecting the folder where your project is, VS Code should prompt you to reopen the folder in a container.

If that does not happen, open the command palette (Ctrl + Shift + P) and select Remote-Explorer: Focus on Dev Containers. This will allow VS Code to build the Docker image defined in the .devcontainer folder and open the workspace inside the container once the build is complete.

development container ui

Test Your Project Inside the Development Container​

Your container environment is set up with pre-configured tools required for DevOps, including Runme, Kubernetes, Helm, Kubectl, K9s, Tmux, Python, Go, and more. You can use these tools directly within the VS Code terminal, which runs inside the container.


Runme Features​

With Runme in your development container, you can build projects in any programming language. This is made possible with the Shebang support feature. It allows you to easily set the code block of the specific programming language you intend to use. You can also add and run the different supported languages in one Markdown file.

Here is an example of a simple Python project showcasing how the Runme Shebang feature enables you to execute commands and scripts in a development container.


In addition, you can set your code block to run a command(s) in the background while you focus on other aspects of your project using the background task feature.

Below is an example video that illustrates how the background task feature works with your Go projects in a development container.


Here is also an example of a project on how to handle large data efficiently with Node.js streams.


Shutting Down the Container​

After completing the task, you can shut down the container by closing the VS Code, which automatically stops the container. However, your project files and changes will persist on your local machine.

Additional Resources​

To learn more about using Development Containers with Runme, see more resources below: