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275 lines
8.0 KiB
Plaintext
275 lines
8.0 KiB
Plaintext
== Introduction
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Arion is a tool for building and running applications that
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consist of multiple docker containers using NixOS modules.
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It has special support for docker images that are built with Nix,
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for a smooth development experience and improved performance.
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It is built on top of https://docs.docker.com/compose/overview/[Docker
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Compose], which implements the container orchestration functionality.
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Instead of configuring the compositions in YAML files like
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`docker-compose.yaml`, Arion uses the https://nixos.org/nix/[Nix]
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language to declare the compositions. Because of this, Arion gives you
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the ability to declare your deployments, configuration and packaging
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in the same language. By replacing multiple tools with a single
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language, you decrease your mental load and you can more easily
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refactor and maintain your configurations.
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Although Arion can be used as a Docker Compose with an improved
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configuration front end, there is more to be gained from integrating
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with Nix. In particular, the more structured approach of Nix compared
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to Dockerfiles allows the following:
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* Build components of your image in *parallel, automatically*
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* *Share packages between images*, regardless of the order they were
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added
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* Improve performance by *skipping container
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image creation*
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* Work with *structured data instead of strings*,
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templates and a multitude of expression languages
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* Refactor across deployments, configuration and packaging
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Arion allows to compose containers with different granularity:
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* <<Minimal: Plain command using nixpkgs>>
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* <<NixOS: run only one systemd service>>
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* <<NixOS: run full OS>>
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* <<Docker image from DockerHub>>
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== Installation
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=== Nix
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```bash
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$ nix-env -iA arion -f https://github.com/hercules-ci/arion/tarball/master
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```
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=== NixOS
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Add this module to your NixOS configuration:
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```nix
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{ ... }: {
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environment.systemPackages = [ (import (builtins.fetchTarball https://github.com/hercules-ci/arion/tarball/master) {}) ];
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virtualisation.docker.enable = true;
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users.extraUsers.myuser.extraGroups = ["docker"];
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}
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```
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////
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== Not installing: use it in a project
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TODO: describe: using nix-shell or in a script, building images as
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part of nix-build, pinning, see also todomvc-nix.
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TODO: exposed Nix functions: arion.build, arion.eval (a bit of IFD)
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////
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== Usage
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Arion is configured declaratively with two files:
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=== arion-pkgs.nix
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Arion needs `arion-pkgs.nix` to import nixpkgs, it's contents can be as simple as:
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```nix
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import <nixpkgs> {}
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```
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or more sophisticated (recommended) setup with https://github.com/nmattia/niv[Niv].
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=== arion-compose.nix
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Describe containers using NixOS-style modules. There are a few options:
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==== Minimal: Plain command using nixpkgs
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`examples/minimal/arion-compose.nix`:
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```nix
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{ pkgs, ... }:
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{
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config.docker-compose.services = {
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webserver = {
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service.useHostStore = true;
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service.command = [ "sh" "-c" ''
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cd "$$WEB_ROOT"
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${pkgs.python3}/bin/python -m http.server
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'' ];
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service.ports = [
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"8000:8000" # host:container
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];
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service.environment.WEB_ROOT = "${pkgs.nix.doc}/share/doc/nix/manual";
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};
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};
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}
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```
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==== NixOS: run only one systemd service
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`examples/nixos-unit/arion-compose.nix`:
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```nix
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{
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docker-compose.services.webserver = { config, pkgs, ... }: {
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nixos.configuration = {config, pkgs, ...}: {
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boot.isContainer = true;
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services.nginx.enable = true;
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services.nginx.virtualHosts.localhost.root = "${pkgs.nix.doc}/share/doc/nix/manual";
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system.build.run-nginx = pkgs.writeScript "run-nginx" ''
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#!${pkgs.bash}/bin/bash
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PATH='${config.systemd.services.nginx.environment.PATH}'
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echo nginx:x:${toString config.users.users.nginx.uid}:${toString config.users.groups.nginx.gid}:nginx web server user:/var/empty:/bin/sh >>/etc/passwd
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echo nginx:x:${toString config.users.groups.nginx.gid}:nginx >>/etc/group
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${config.systemd.services.nginx.runner}
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'';
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};
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service.command = [ config.nixos.build.run-nginx ];
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service.useHostStore = true;
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service.ports = [
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"8000:80" # host:container
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];
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};
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}
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```
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==== NixOS: run full OS
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`examples/full-nixos/arion-compose.nix`:
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```nix
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{
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docker-compose.services.webserver = { pkgs, ... }: {
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nixos.useSystemd = true;
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nixos.configuration.boot.tmpOnTmpfs = true;
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nixos.configuration.services.nginx.enable = true;
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nixos.configuration.services.nginx.virtualHosts.localhost.root = "${pkgs.nix.doc}/share/doc/nix/manual";
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service.useHostStore = true;
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service.ports = [
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"8000:80" # host:container
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];
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};
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}
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```
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==== Docker image from DockerHub
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```nix
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{
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docker-compose.services.postgres = {
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service.image = "postgres:10";
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service.volumes = [ "${toString ./.}/postgres-data:/var/lib/postgresql/data" ];
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service.environment.POSTGRES_PASSWORD = "mydefaultpass";
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};
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}
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```
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=== Run
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Start containers and watch their logs:
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```bash
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$ arion up -d
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$ arion logs -f
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```
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You can go to `examples/*/` and run these commands to give it a quick try.
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== A full featured Nix command example
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To see how Arion can be used in a project, have a look at
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https://github.com/nix-community/todomvc-nix/tree/master/deploy/arion[todomvc-nix].
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```bash
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$ git clone https://github.com/nix-community/todomvc-nix
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$ cd todomvc-nix/deploy/arion
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$ arion up
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```
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== Project Status
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This project was born out of a process supervision need for local
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development environments while working on
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https://www.hercules-ci.com[Hercules CI]. (It was also born out of
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ancient Greek deities disguised as horses. More on that later.)
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If you do want to use Arion for production environments, you’ll probably
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want to either build normal container images or manage garbage
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collection roots if you control the deployment host. Neither scenario is
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made easier by arion at this time.
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Arion has run successfully on Linux distributions other than NixOS, but we only perform CI for Arion on NixOS.
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== How it works
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Arion is essentially a thin wrapper around Nix and docker-compose. When
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it runs, it does the following:
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* Evaluate the configuration using Nix, producing a
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`docker-compose.yaml` and a garbage collection root
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* Invoke `docker-compose`
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* Clean up the garbage collection root
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Most of the interesting stuff happens in Arion’s Nix expressions, where
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it runs the module system (known from NixOS) and provides the
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configuration that makes the Docker Compose file do the things it needs
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to do.
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One of the more interesting built-in modules is the
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link:src/nix/modules/service/host-store.nix[host-store.nix module] which
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performs the bind mounts to make the host Nix store available in the
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container.
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== FAQ
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=== Do I need to use Hercules CI?
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Nope, it’s just Nix and Docker Compose under the hood.
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=== What about garbage collection?
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Arion removes the need for garbage collecting docker images, delegating
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this task to Nix.
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Arion creates a garbage collection root and cleans it up after
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completing the command. This means that `arion up` without `-d` is safe
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with respect to garbage collection. A deployment that is more serious
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than local development must leave a GC root on the deployment host. This
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use case is not supported as of now.
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=== Why is my container not running latest code?
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Restart it with `arion restart <name>` or if you've changed the image rebuild
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them using `arion up -d --always-recreate-deps <name>`.
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=== What is messing with my environment variables?
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Docker Compose performs its own environment variable substitution. This
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can be a little annoying in `services.command` for example. Either
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reference a script from `pkgs.writeScript` or escape the dollar sign as
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`$$`.
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=== Why name it ``Arion``?
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Arion comes from Greek mythology. Poseidon, the god of ~Docker~ the seas
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had his eye on Demeter. Demeter tried to trick him by disguising as a
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horse, but Poseidon saw through the deception and they had Arion.
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So Arion is a super fast divine horse; the result of some weird mixing.
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Also it talks.
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(And we feel morally obliged to name our stuff after Greek mythology)
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