Docker on OpenWrt as an application platform

For Developers
1

Hi, I have done some initial testing installing and running docker-ce (and corresponding packages) within OpenWRT using the Development/Snapshot builds of OpenWRT. Has it been confirmed that Docker will be a part of the next official OpenWRT 20.x release? Where can I find details to confirm this?

Also, I would like thoughts on using Docker within OpenWRT as a commercial application platform. Are there any known limitations? Is support for Docker within OpenWRT anticipated to continue in the long term? I think Docker opens up a lot of different application possibilities within OpenWRT and would like to hear anyone's thoughts on pros and cons to this architecture approach from a SW development perspective and as an application platform vs using a more standard Linux distribution like Ubuntu or Ubuntu Core. Note that our application is a headless system and as such does not need to drive a UI directly, but a web interface will be used to configure and setup the system and manage the docker containers.... by using the existing LuCI web UI or adding on to it. Our application is first and foremost a wired/wireless router/gateway device, but we would also like to run various applications in Docker containers... so this architecture seems like a good fit. Note, I have also tested using a connected SSD drive to allow for expanded storage for the docker containers and this is working well.

Thanks for any input you can provide!

2

I can't say anything as far as official releases, but docker along with the dockerman LuCi app has been in the source trees for quite some time. I've been using it for some experimental investigations and it's working quite well so far.

Keep in mind that the project is almost entirely run by volunteers, so longterm support depends on whether the people currently working on Docker support stay around. At least so far there seem to be multiple people involved in the efforts.

I will admit that most likely if my company starts deploying Docker on embedded devices in production, for various historical reasons it'll likely be on Yocto because that's what most of the rest of the organization is familiar with.