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Show HN: Slim – Build and run tiny VMs from Dockerfiles

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Re: Show HN: Slim – Build and run tiny VMs from Dockerfiles

#31

Post by RyanShook »

dharmab wrote: post #27
saurabhnanda wrote: post #22

Can someone dumb this down for me? What _exactly_ is going on here? > slim will build a micro-vm from a Dockerfile. Slim works by building and extracting a rootfs from a Dockerfile, and then merging that filesystem with a small minimal kernel that runs in RAM. > This results in a real VM that can boot instantly, while using very limited resources. If done properly, slim can allow you to design and build immutable uni…

Docker images contain a filesystem for an operating system, minus the OS kernel. This project uses Docker to build a tiny OS, extracts all the files out of the Docker image, adds a small OS kernel and re-packages that as a VM image.

So why was Docker needed to create a lightweight VM? I thought Docker was supposed to replace VMs.

Re: Show HN: Slim – Build and run tiny VMs from Dockerfiles

#33

Post by dradtke »

RyanShook wrote: post #31
dharmab wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Docker images contain a filesystem for an operating system, minus the OS kernel. This project uses Docker to build a tiny OS, extracts all the files out of the Docker image, adds a small OS kernel and re-packages that as a VM image.

So why was Docker needed to create a lightweight VM? I thought Docker was supposed to replace VMs.

I assume it's mostly to make it easier for people to test this out with existing stuff. Docker containers are the standard for taking a base image and adding stuff on top of it.

Re: Show HN: Slim – Build and run tiny VMs from Dockerfiles

#35

Post by oblio »

mfatica wrote: post #30
oblio wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What for? It's just glue code, it doesn't actually run the micro-VMs.

Because I don't want to have to install the massive nodejs runtime just to glue things together.

Then you're going to have a hard time in the post Node.js era. You also probably want to avoid looking at what many popular desktop apps use behind the scenes :)

Re: Show HN: Slim – Build and run tiny VMs from Dockerfiles

#36

Post by taneq »

RyanShook wrote: post #31
dharmab wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Docker images contain a filesystem for an operating system, minus the OS kernel. This project uses Docker to build a tiny OS, extracts all the files out of the Docker image, adds a small OS kernel and re-packages that as a VM image.

So why was Docker needed to create a lightweight VM? I thought Docker was supposed to replace VMs.

It's a VM for Docker, not a VM using Docker.

Re: Show HN: Slim – Build and run tiny VMs from Dockerfiles

#37

Post by mfatica »

oblio wrote: post #35
mfatica wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because I don't want to have to install the massive nodejs runtime just to glue things together.

Then you're going to have a hard time in the post Node.js era. You also probably want to avoid looking at what many popular desktop apps use behind the scenes :)

I avoid any desktop app that uses electron or similar. Electron is still a hog, and most things written in electron have alternatives. I don't use the slack desktop app for this reason, as an example.

Re: Show HN: Slim – Build and run tiny VMs from Dockerfiles

#39

Post by marcosdumay »

RyanShook wrote: post #31
dharmab wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Docker images contain a filesystem for an operating system, minus the OS kernel. This project uses Docker to build a tiny OS, extracts all the files out of the Docker image, adds a small OS kernel and re-packages that as a VM image.

So why was Docker needed to create a lightweight VM? I thought Docker was supposed to replace VMs.

If you have a Docker creation script (that many people distribute), you use this tool to turn it into a disk image you can run in a VM.

Re: Show HN: Slim – Build and run tiny VMs from Dockerfiles

#40

Post by aiCeivi9 »

RyanShook wrote: post #31
dharmab wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Docker images contain a filesystem for an operating system, minus the OS kernel. This project uses Docker to build a tiny OS, extracts all the files out of the Docker image, adds a small OS kernel and re-packages that as a VM image.

So why was Docker needed to create a lightweight VM? I thought Docker was supposed to replace VMs.

Working with VM images was PITA, I don't know if anything changed. Having recipe (Dockerfile) and required files in VCS is useful as reference even when setting up bare metal machines. So Docker (and Puppet/Ansible) might have bigger impact on work organisation than on anything else.
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