Ansible vs Docker Compose

Overview

Ansible

Stacks19.5K

Followers15.6K

Votes1.3K

GitHub Stars66.9K

Forks24.1K

Docker Compose

Stacks22.3K

Followers16.5K

Votes501

GitHub Stars36.4K

Forks5.5K

Ansible vs Docker Compose: What are the differences?

Introduction

This Markdown code provides a comparison between Ansible and Docker Compose, highlighting the key differences between the two technologies.

Execution Method: Ansible is an open-source automation tool that uses agentless architecture to manage and configure systems. It operates by connecting to remote systems via secure shell (SSH) or Windows Remote Management (WinRM) protocols and executing tasks. On the other hand, Docker Compose is a tool that allows the creation and management of multi-container Docker applications. It uses a declarative YAML file to define the services, networks, and volumes required for the application.
Deployment Scope: Ansible is primarily used for configuration management and orchestration of systems, making it suitable for managing a wide range of systems, including servers, network devices, and cloud resources. Docker Compose, on the other hand, is specifically designed for managing Docker containers and is limited to container deployment and orchestration within a single host or machine.
Operating System Support: Ansible supports a wide range of operating systems, including Linux, Unix, macOS, and Windows. It provides a unified approach to managing heterogeneous environments. Docker Compose, on the other hand, is tightly integrated with Docker and thus supports the operating systems that Docker supports, such as Linux, macOS, and Windows.
Container Management: Ansible manages systems at a higher level and can be used to deploy and manage Docker containers, but it is not specifically designed for this purpose. Docker Compose, on the other hand, is specifically built for managing Docker containers and provides advanced features like dependencies between containers, scaling, and network configuration.
Orchestration Capabilities: Ansible provides a powerful orchestration engine that allows complex workflows and coordination between multiple systems. It can perform tasks in parallel or in a specific order, making it suitable for managing large-scale environments. Docker Compose, on the other hand, focuses on the orchestration of containers within a single host and does not provide the same level of scalability and complexity for managing distributed systems.
Flexibility: Ansible provides a wide range of modules and plugins that enable it to integrate with various technologies, tools, and platforms. It can be extended to support custom requirements and integrate with existing infrastructure. Docker Compose, on the other hand, is tightly coupled with Docker and is limited to managing containers within a Docker environment. It does not offer the same level of flexibility for managing diverse infrastructure components.

In Summary, Ansible is a versatile automation tool that can manage various systems and offers advanced orchestration capabilities, while Docker Compose is specifically designed for managing Docker containers within a single host or machine.

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Advice on Ansible, Docker Compose

Anonymous

Sep 17, 2019

Needs advice

I'm just getting started using Vagrant to help automate setting up local VMs to set up a Kubernetes cluster (development and experimentation only). (Yes, I do know about minikube)

I'm looking for a tool to help install software packages, setup users, etc..., on these VMs. I'm also fairly new to Ansible, Chef, and Puppet. What's a good one to start with to learn? I might decide to try all 3 at some point for my own curiosity.

The most important factors for me are simplicity, ease of use, shortest learning curve.

329k views329k

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Detailed Comparison

Ansible	Docker Compose
Ansible is an IT automation tool. It can configure systems, deploy software, and orchestrate more advanced IT tasks such as continuous deployments or zero downtime rolling updates. Ansible’s goals are foremost those of simplicity and maximum ease of use.	With Compose, you define a multi-container application in a single file, then spin your application up in a single command which does everything that needs to be done to get it running.
Ansible's natural automation language allows sysadmins, developers, and IT managers to complete automation projects in hours, not weeks.;Ansible uses SSH by default instead of requiring agents everywhere. Avoid extra open ports, improve security, eliminate "managing the management", and reclaim CPU cycles.;Ansible automates app deployment, configuration management, workflow orchestration, and even cloud provisioning all from one system.	-
Statistics
GitHub Stars 66.9K	GitHub Stars 36.4K
GitHub Forks 24.1K	GitHub Forks 5.5K
Stacks 19.5K	Stacks 22.3K
Followers 15.6K	Followers 16.5K
Votes 1.3K	Votes 501
Pros & Cons
Pros 284 Agentless 210 Great configuration 199 Simple 176 Powerful 155 Easy to learn Cons 8 Dangerous 5 Hard to install 3 Doesn't Run on Windows 3 Backward compatibility 3 Bloated	Pros 123 Multi-container descriptor 110 Fast development environment setup 79 Easy linking of containers 68 Simple yaml configuration 60 Easy setup Cons 9 Tied to single machine 5 Still very volatile, changing syntax often
Integrations
Nexmo Stackdriver VMware vSphere Docker OpenStack Amazon EC2 Rackspace Cloud Servers Google Compute Engine New Relic PagerDuty	Docker

What are some alternatives to Ansible, Docker Compose?

Kubernetes

Kubernetes is an open source orchestration system for Docker containers. It handles scheduling onto nodes in a compute cluster and actively manages workloads to ensure that their state matches the users declared intentions.

Rancher

Rancher is an open source container management platform that includes full distributions of Kubernetes, Apache Mesos and Docker Swarm, and makes it simple to operate container clusters on any cloud or infrastructure platform.

Chef

Chef enables you to manage and scale cloud infrastructure with no downtime or interruptions. Freely move applications and configurations from one cloud to another. Chef is integrated with all major cloud providers including Amazon EC2, VMWare, IBM Smartcloud, Rackspace, OpenStack, Windows Azure, HP Cloud, Google Compute Engine, Joyent Cloud and others.

Terraform

With Terraform, you describe your complete infrastructure as code, even as it spans multiple service providers. Your servers may come from AWS, your DNS may come from CloudFlare, and your database may come from Heroku. Terraform will build all these resources across all these providers in parallel.

Docker Swarm

Swarm serves the standard Docker API, so any tool which already communicates with a Docker daemon can use Swarm to transparently scale to multiple hosts: Dokku, Compose, Krane, Deis, DockerUI, Shipyard, Drone, Jenkins... and, of course, the Docker client itself.

Tutum

Tutum lets developers easily manage and run lightweight, portable, self-sufficient containers from any application. AWS-like control, Heroku-like ease. The same container that a developer builds and tests on a laptop can run at scale in Tutum.

Capistrano

Capistrano is a remote server automation tool. It supports the scripting and execution of arbitrary tasks, and includes a set of sane-default deployment workflows.

Puppet Labs

Puppet is an automated administrative engine for your Linux, Unix, and Windows systems and performs administrative tasks (such as adding users, installing packages, and updating server configurations) based on a centralized specification.

Salt

Salt is a new approach to infrastructure management. Easy enough to get running in minutes, scalable enough to manage tens of thousands of servers, and fast enough to communicate with them in seconds. Salt delivers a dynamic communication bus for infrastructures that can be used for orchestration, remote execution, configuration management and much more.

Portainer

It is a universal container management tool. It works with Kubernetes, Docker, Docker Swarm and Azure ACI. It allows you to manage containers without needing to know platform-specific code.

Related Comparisons

Ansible vs Docker Compose: What are the differences?

Introduction

This Markdown code provides a comparison between Ansible and Docker Compose, highlighting the key differences between the two technologies.

Execution Method: Ansible is an open-source automation tool that uses agentless architecture to manage and configure systems. It operates by connecting to remote systems via secure shell (SSH) or Windows Remote Management (WinRM) protocols and executing tasks. On the other hand, Docker Compose is a tool that allows the creation and management of multi-container Docker applications. It uses a declarative YAML file to define the services, networks, and volumes required for the application.
Deployment Scope: Ansible is primarily used for configuration management and orchestration of systems, making it suitable for managing a wide range of systems, including servers, network devices, and cloud resources. Docker Compose, on the other hand, is specifically designed for managing Docker containers and is limited to container deployment and orchestration within a single host or machine.
Operating System Support: Ansible supports a wide range of operating systems, including Linux, Unix, macOS, and Windows. It provides a unified approach to managing heterogeneous environments. Docker Compose, on the other hand, is tightly integrated with Docker and thus supports the operating systems that Docker supports, such as Linux, macOS, and Windows.
Container Management: Ansible manages systems at a higher level and can be used to deploy and manage Docker containers, but it is not specifically designed for this purpose. Docker Compose, on the other hand, is specifically built for managing Docker containers and provides advanced features like dependencies between containers, scaling, and network configuration.
Orchestration Capabilities: Ansible provides a powerful orchestration engine that allows complex workflows and coordination between multiple systems. It can perform tasks in parallel or in a specific order, making it suitable for managing large-scale environments. Docker Compose, on the other hand, focuses on the orchestration of containers within a single host and does not provide the same level of scalability and complexity for managing distributed systems.
Flexibility: Ansible provides a wide range of modules and plugins that enable it to integrate with various technologies, tools, and platforms. It can be extended to support custom requirements and integrate with existing infrastructure. Docker Compose, on the other hand, is tightly coupled with Docker and is limited to managing containers within a Docker environment. It does not offer the same level of flexibility for managing diverse infrastructure components.

Ansible vs Docker Compose

Overview

Ansible vs Docker Compose: What are the differences?