How to link docker container on Azure? - azure

Question

I would like to link two Docker containers deployed on Azure (ACS).
I have a container running the api server made in NodeJs and another container running Mongo.
I'd like to use something like "--link mymongodb" as I do on my pc, but there is no such parameter in az container create.
To create the containers I use this syntax:
az container create --name my-app --image myprivateregistry/my-app --resource-group MyResourceGroup --ports 80 --ip-address public
Probably I need to create a Virtual Network?
Could you point me to the right direction please?

Answer 1

I think you are searching the features like docker compose on Azure. If you want to use the Azure Container Instance, you should take a look at Deploy a multi-container container group with YAML or with Azure Template. It will help you to create multi-container in a container group and the containers can connect to each other.
In addition, you can try with Azure Kubernetes Service, maybe it also can help you. If you need more help please give me the message.

Answer 2

You will need to specify both images (your app and mongo) in an Azure yml file. It looks like a docker compose yml file, but it isn't.
Assuming your node.js app runs on port 3000, this could be a yml configuration for Azure container services:
apiVersion: 2018-06-01
location: westeurope
name: my-app-with-mongo
properties:
containers:
- name: mongodb
properties:
image: mongo
resources:
requests:
cpu: 1
memoryInGb: 1.5
ports:
- port: 27017
- name: my-app
properties:
image: myprivateregistry/my-app
resources:
requests:
cpu: 1
memoryInGb: 1.5
ports:
- port: 3000
osType: Linux
ipAddress:
type: Public
dnsNameLabel: my-app
ports:
- protocol: tcp
port: '3000'
imageRegistryCredentials:
- server: myprivateregistry.azurecr.io
username: username-for-myprivateregistry
password: password-for-myprivateregistry
tags: null
type: Microsoft.ContainerInstance/containerGroups
Simply start it with
az container create --resource-group MyResourceGroup --file azure-container-group.yml
You can then access your mongo database on localhost:27017 as all containers run on the same host:
Azure Container Instances supports the deployment of multiple
containers onto a single host by using a container group.
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-multi-container-yaml
Also mind the order of the containers you specify in the yml file. You will want to start mongo first, then you node.js app as it probably wants to connect to mongo on start.