A fast and easy Docker tutorial for beginners (video series)

New to Docker? Then this video series will help explain the basics and get you started pronto.

The following videos were intended to help anyone new to Docker get familiar with the basics. The videos are brief because I try to cover only the essentials so you can get coding quickly.

Some background info. These videos were originally made for my employer (Flipp Corp.) to help evangelize Docker, but I thought they might be useful here too.

I’m fairly new to Docker (and to making screencasts), and a lot of what I’ve put in these videos were things that I found lacking in others. Feel free to leave any comments or suggestions in the comments below. Thanks!

Part 1: What is Docker and Key Concepts (13 mins)

This first video explains why Docker exists, and the problem it is designed to solve. We’ll go over how Docker works at a high level, and some key concepts (Docker Images, Containers, and the Dockerfile).

Part 2: Getting started with Docker on a Mac (21 mins)

In this screencast, we’ll install Docker for OSX, and build our first Docker Image using a simple NodeJS app.

Part 3: Using CMD inside Dockerfile (3 mins)

In this short screencast, we’ll go over the CMD command, and how to use it.

Part 4: Debugging broken Docker builds (4 mins)

In this screencast, we’ll go over a useful tactic on debugging broken Docker builds. Essentially, we run the “Shell” program inside a partially built Docker image, to inspect what is failing, and to figure out how to fix it.

Part 5 (TBD): Docker Compose

So there’s no video here yet, but if there’s interest, I’ll create another video that covers what Docker Compose is, and why it’s great. In the mean time, here’s a screencast from Full Stack Talks that I found very useful.