Hello and welcome!

We’re really excited to explore containerization technology and Docker during the month of July with you all! We will kick things off for real next week, but there is some stuff you’ll need to know, and things you’ll need to do to get ready!

Where do I find stuff?

• Sessions will take place each week at watch.reclaimed.tech/understanding-containers
• Q&A time will happen at the end of each week in the #understanding-containers-voice channel in Discord
• Asynchronous conversations with other participants will happen in the #understanding-containers Discord channel throughout the week
• Weekly agendas, exercises, and activities will be released in Discord and on reclaimed.tech (oh hey, you’re already here!)

Schedule

The Understanding Containers flex course will have weekly video releases on Tuesdays at 11am ET, as well as Q&A time on Fridays, also at 11am ET. Here’s our topic list:

• Week 1: What are containers, and what is Docker?
• Week 2: Getting Started with Docker in Reclaim Cloud
• Week 3: Mapping Domains / HTTPS / Load Balancing
• Week 4: Exploring other applications in Reclaim Cloud

Your Computing Environment

We will be using Reclaim Cloud to run Docker containers and test out applications, as well as give us all a standardized computing environment to work from. This will also allow us to do things like map domains to applications, and set up HTTPS.

We will be giving all participants a $100 credit on Reclaim Cloud, which will more than cover usage for the month. If you have a Reclaim Cloud account already, you are all set, just post in the #understanding-containers channel in Discord to let us know that you’ve got an account, and we’ll add the credit to your account.

If you do not have a Reclaim Cloud account already, sign up at reclaim.cloud/signup with a .edu address. If you prefer to sign up with an email address that doesn’t end in .edu, you can instead sign up at reclaim.cloud/private-signup and enter the code reclaim4life.

Finally, you will want to upgrade your account from a trial account to a full account by clicking the Upgrade button at the top right. Once you’ve upgraded, post in the #understanding-containers channel in Discord to let us know you’ve signed up, and we’ll get the credit added for you.

Pre-course readings (and videos)

Well, more video than reading, but you get the idea:

What are containers and cloud hosting?

I’d highly recommend watching this video from Tim that breaks down Containers and Cloud Hosting, and how that all relates to Reclaim Cloud. It’s a great primer to the stuff we’ll be talking about throughout the course:

Get to know your friendly neighborhood command line!

We’re going to dive right in to some command line throughout the course so if you are unfamiliar, need a refresher, or are looking to learn some tips and tricks, I’d recommend you check out a recording of a stream I recently did:

An excellent resource if you are not up for watching a stream archive is the Digital Humanities Research Institute’s “Introduction to the Command Line” resource. It’s a great walkthrough to get you up to speed:

Introduction to the Command Line – Digital Humanities Research Institute

I hope to see you all around in the Discord, and see you next week for the first session on Tuesday!