Containers Demystified

Advanced Systems Programming

Slay the container dragon. Grok the Linux systems programming Docker uses under the hood. Delve into the black arts of namespaces, cgroups, and pivot_root.

Let's face it, to most teams Docker is black magic. We all know that containers use namespaces and cgroups, but we barely know what that means. And those are just two of the dozens of technologies that work together to make containers do their thing.

Not knowing containers actually work means we don't know how to fix them when they go wrong. We can help.

"This is the best quality technical training I've ever attended."

SuperOrbital Graduate
Our Containers Demystified course is exactly what your team needs.

We walk your team through all of the components that go into a working container, describing why each is needed, how they work, and how to use them by hand. We even build a Docker clone from scratch!

Course Outline

Namespaces & cgroups

  • The Kernel
  • Init
  • Processes
  • cgroups
  • Namespaces

Processes

  • Process Namespaces
  • Using the memory cgroup
  • The CPU cgroup and the CPU scheduler
  • Using the PID cgroup

Users

  • Users: What even are they?
  • User Namespaces
  • User ID Mapping

Networking

  • Networking Primer
  • Network Namespaces
  • Virtual Interfaces
  • Bridging
  • NAT & IPTables

Spooky Filesystems

  • /proc
  • /dev
  • /sys
  • tmpfs

Container Filesystems

  • OverlayFS
  • Bind Mounts
  • Mount Namespaces
  • chroot & pivot_root

Advanced Security

  • Capabilities
  • SecComp-BPF
  • AppArmor
  • Privileged Mode

Putting it all Together

Build Docker in C from scratch!

The 411

This workshop is delivered over five days. Each day is scheduled from 12pm to 5pm ET (9am to 2pm PT) with an hour break in the middle — 20 hours in total. We try to reserve an hour at the end of each session for open Q&A. Attendance for this course is limited to up to 28 students.

Instructors

Sean Kane
SuperOrbital Engineer
Flipping bits on the internet since 1992.

Rob Salmond
Engineer & Lead Trainer
Serving an extended sentence in the YAML mines. Claims innocence.

Intended Audience

We recommend this course for your application delivery and platform operations teams.

To get the most out of this subject, students should be experienced in using Docker, and come prepared with an understanding of rudimentary Bash scripting, and the basics of Linux processes, users, and permissions. A good place to start is our Docker workshop.

This is just one of the many great courses in our cloud-native curriculum!

Reach out to schedule the best workshop your team's ever attended.

The SuperOrbital Difference

We're experts with a reputation for delivering great work. Here’s how we're different:

Intensely Hands-On

More Walkin', Less Talkin'.

Our students spend more than 50% of their time in hands-on labs. We don’t believe in static, podium-based training with some boring instructor talking at you.

Instead, we immerse you in an active learning environment where you can internalize the lessons through collaboration and hands-on labs. This is the path to knowledge that sticks, and a foundation for true expertise.

Collaborative & Fun

This ain't no webinar.

People learn best when they're engaged and having fun. We strongly encourage interruptions, stupid questions, and side-quests.

This is also why we cap off each day with an open Q&A session. This is where we really get to dig into each team's unique challenges, often through live-coding sessions.

Thorough

No stone unturned.

Our content goes deep, giving you a foundational understanding of how things work under the hood. We tease apart every topic, breaking it down into it's atomic parts. Then we rearrange them into an order our students can easily digest and remember.

Unbiased

No Vendor Pitches.

We believe in cloud native solutions, but we aren't beholden to any vendor. Every situation is unique, and every tool has flaws. We help you understand how the technologies work together to solve your problems. We guide you away from the tools that are hype, and toward those that have proven their worth.

Battle Hardened

We bring real experience.

We don't just teach: we do. We've wrestled with Kubernetes, Terraform, Istio, Docker and all of the others in real production situations. We've used them in anger. We know where the tools fall down and what the documentation hides.

Remote first

We're passionately remote-first, and our training shows it.

The days of hours wasted commuting to work are coming to an end, and good riddance. SuperOrbital has always been a passionately remote-first company, and we bring that to our training. Why travel out of town to sit in a hot, crowded, uncomfortable room for days at a time? Our workshops are taken from the comfort of your own home, and at a schedule that encourages deep learning.

Need more convincing? Let's talk!

How it works

Engaging with us to provide a workshop for your team is easy. Reach out to get started.

Chat

We'll schedule a time to meet, discuss your needs, your team's experience level, and how we can help.

Deliver

Each workshop day consists of four hours of lecture, labs, and open Q&A. This helps keep the training active and inspiring, and gives plenty of time for the knowledge to gel.

Follow Up

We follow up afterward to ensure the workshop exceeded your expectations, and to help with whatever new hurdles your team may be facing.

Schedule the best training your team will ever attend, today!