Inception - Docker-based Web Infrastructure

This project demonstrates a sophisticated web infrastructure setup using Docker containers, showcasing system administration and containerization skills. The infrastructure runs a WordPress site with MariaDB database, Redis caching, and Nginx as a reverse proxy, all orchestrated using Docker Compose.

🎬 Why "Inception"?

The name "Inception" is inspired by the concept of "a dream within a dream" from Christopher Nolan's movie. In this project, we create multiple layers of virtualization:

1. First Layer: A Linux Alpine virtual machine
2. Second Layer: Docker containers running inside the VM
3. Third Layer: Services (WordPress, MariaDB, etc.) running inside the containers

This nested virtualization approach demonstrates advanced system administration concepts and containerization techniques, making it a perfect example of "infrastructure within infrastructure" - hence the name "Inception".

🚀 Features

• Containerized Services:
  • Nginx web server with SSL support
  • WordPress CMS
  • MariaDB database
  • Redis caching system
• Secure Configuration:
  • SSL/TLS encryption
  • Environment variable management
  • Persistent data storage
• Docker Best Practices:
  • Custom Dockerfile configurations
  • Volume management for data persistence
  • Container networking
  • Health checks and automatic restarts

🛠️ Prerequisites

• Docker and Docker Compose
• SSH access to a Linux Alpine VM
• Basic understanding of containerization concepts

🏗️ Architecture

The project consists of four main services:

1. Nginx: Acts as a reverse proxy, handling SSL termination and serving static content
2. WordPress: The CMS running the website
3. MariaDB: Database server for WordPress
4. Redis: Caching system to improve performance

🚀 Getting Started

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone <repository-url>
   cd inception

2. Start the services:

   make up

3. Access the website at https://localhost

🛠️ Available Commands

• make up: Start all containers
• make down: Stop all containers
• make re: Restart all containers
• make fclean: Remove all containers, images, and volumes (with confirmation)

🔧 Configuration

The project uses environment variables for sensitive configuration. Create a .env file in the srcs directory with the following variables:

MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD=your_root_password
MYSQL_DATABASE=wordpress
MYSQL_USER=wordpress_user
MYSQL_PASSWORD=wordpress_password

📁 Project Structure

inception/
├── srcs/
│   ├── docker-compose.yml
│   ├── requirements/
│   │   ├── nginx/
│   │   ├── wordpress/
│   │   ├── mariadb/
│   │   └── redis/
│   └── .env
├── Makefile
└── README.md

🔒 Security Considerations

• All services run in isolated containers
• SSL/TLS encryption for secure communication
• Environment variables for sensitive data
• Persistent volumes for data storage

🎯 Learning Outcomes

This project demonstrates:

• Docker containerization
• Multi-container application orchestration
• Web server configuration
• Database management
• Caching implementation
• System administration skills

📝 License

This project is part of the 42 school curriculum.