Configure a Container to Start Automatically as a Systemd Service

Introduction

In this challenge, you will learn how to configure a container to start automatically as a systemd service. This is a common task in container-based environments, where you need to ensure that your containers are running and available when the system boots up. By completing this challenge, you will gain practical experience in managing containers and integrating them with the system's init process.

Skills Graph

Configure a Container to Start Automatically as a systemd Service

Tasks

• Create a systemd service unit file to manage a container
• Start the container automatically when the system boots up
• Verify that the container is running and accessible

Requirements

• The container you will use is nginx:latest
• The container should be named my-nginx
• The systemd service unit file should be named my-nginx.service
• The service unit file should be placed in the /etc/systemd/system/ directory
• The container should start automatically when the system boots up

Example

After completing this challenge, you should be able to see the my-nginx container running and accessible when you access the system's IP address in a web browser.

Summary

In this challenge, you learned how to configure a container to start automatically as a systemd service. You created a systemd service unit file, started the container, and verified that it was running and accessible. This skill is essential for managing containers in production environments, where you need to ensure that your applications are available and resilient to system reboots or failures.