Puppet puppetlabs image build - where exactly should i use this module

Question

When i have puppetlabs/docker module to create and maintain docker, where exactly will this module puppetlabs/image_build be helpful.

I am confused, can somebody give some real time scenarios where i could use the later? Thanks.

Answer 1

The module puppetlabs/docker is for installing and managing docker. The Puppet docker module installs, configures, and manages docker from the docker repository. 

The module  puppetlabs/image_build - Build Docker images from Puppet code

The basic purpose of image_build is to enable building various images, including Docker images, from Puppet code. 

There are two main cases where this can be useful:

1. You have an existing Puppet codebase and you're moving some of your services to using containers. By sharing the same code between container and non-container based infrastructure you can cut down on duplication of effort, and take advantage of work you've already done.

2. You're building a lot of images, but scaling Dockerfile means either a complex hierachy of images or copy-and-pasting snippets between many individual Dockerfiles. image_build allows for sharing common functionality as Puppet modules, and Puppet itself provides a rich domain-specific language for declarative composition of images.