this post was submitted on 04 Oct 2024
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67
If you already know Docker CLI, is there a reason to use Portainer? (lemmy.zip)
submitted 1 month ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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I often see people mention the Portainer project and how it's useful, but I never hear any reason to use it other than as a more user friendly front end to service management.

So is there any particular feature or reason to use portainer over docker's CLI? Or is it simply a method of convenience?

This isn't only strictly for self hosting, but I figure people here would know better.

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[–] [email protected] 71 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (11 children)

Please don't use Portainer.

  • It kidnaps your compose files and stores them all in its own grubby little lair
  • It makes it basically impossible to interact with docker from the command line once it has its claws into your setup
  • It treats console output - like error messages - as an annoyance, showing a brief snippet on the screen for 0.3 seconds before throwing the whole message in the shredder.

If you want a GUI, Dockge is fantastic. It plays nice with your existing setup, it does a much better job of actually helping out when you've screwed up your compose file, it converts run commands to compose files for you, and it gets the fuck out of the way when you decide to ignore it and use the command line anyway, because it respects your choices and understands that it's here to help your workflow, not to direct your workflow.

Edit to add: A great partner for Dockge is Dozzle, which gives you a nice unified view for logs and performance data for your stacks.

I also want to note that both Dockge and Dozzle are primarily designed for homelab environments and home users. If we're talking professional, large scale usage, especially docker swarms and the like, you really need to get comfortable with the CLI. If you absolutely must have a GUI in an environment like that, Portainer is your only option, but it's still not one I can recommend.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago (2 children)

I've never used Portainer but I feel a GUI setup like it just abstracts Docker and prevents learning concepts that are conducive to understanding Docker. That's why I've never used a GUI to manage my Docker environment.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with the idea of using a GUI, especially for a non-professional who mostly just wants to get into self-hosting. Not everyone has to learn all the ins and outs of every piece of software they run. My sister is one of the least technical people in the world, and she has her own Jellyfin server. It's not a bad thing that this stuff has become more accessible, and we should encourage that accessibility.

If, however, you intend to use these tools in a professional environment, then you definitely need to understand what's happening under the hood and at least be comfortable working in the command line when necessary. I work with Docker professionally, and Dockge is my go to interface, but I can happily maintain any of my systems with nothing but an SSH connection when required. What I love about Dockge is that it makes this parallel approach possible. The reason I moved my organization away from Portainer is precisely because a lot of more advanced command line interactions would outright break the Portainer setup if attempted, whereas Dockge had no such problems.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago

Totally, I get it if its a means to an end to get something like Jellyfin up.

Maybe its a me thing. I just like to understand the mechanics of the tools I use.

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