rxminder/docs/deployment/DOCKER_IMAGE_CONFIGURATION.md

🐳 Docker Image Configuration

Overview

RxMinder now supports configurable Docker images via environment variables, enabling flexible deployment across different registries, environments, and versions.

🎯 Docker Image Variable

DOCKER_IMAGE

The complete Docker image specification including registry, repository, and tag.

Format: [registry/]repository:tag

🌐 Registry Examples

Public Registries

Docker Hub

# Official image on Docker Hub
DOCKER_IMAGE=rxminder/rxminder:latest
DOCKER_IMAGE=rxminder/rxminder:v1.2.0
DOCKER_IMAGE=rxminder/rxminder:stable

GitHub Container Registry (ghcr.io)

# GitHub Packages
DOCKER_IMAGE=ghcr.io/username/rxminder:latest
DOCKER_IMAGE=ghcr.io/organization/rxminder:v1.2.0
DOCKER_IMAGE=ghcr.io/username/rxminder:dev-branch

GitLab Container Registry

# GitLab Registry
DOCKER_IMAGE=registry.gitlab.com/username/rxminder:latest
DOCKER_IMAGE=registry.gitlab.com/group/rxminder:production

Private/Self-Hosted Registries

Gitea Registry

# Current default (Gitea)
DOCKER_IMAGE=gitea-http.taildb3494.ts.net/will/meds:latest
DOCKER_IMAGE=gitea-http.taildb3494.ts.net/will/meds:v1.2.0

Harbor Registry

# Harbor enterprise registry
DOCKER_IMAGE=harbor.company.com/rxminder/rxminder:latest
DOCKER_IMAGE=harbor.company.com/rxminder/rxminder:production

Local Registry

# Local development registry
DOCKER_IMAGE=localhost:5000/rxminder:latest
DOCKER_IMAGE=registry.local:5000/rxminder:dev

Cloud Provider Registries

AWS Elastic Container Registry (ECR)

# AWS ECR
DOCKER_IMAGE=123456789012.dkr.ecr.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/rxminder:latest
DOCKER_IMAGE=123456789012.dkr.ecr.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/rxminder:v1.2.0

Google Container Registry (GCR)

# Google Cloud Registry
DOCKER_IMAGE=gcr.io/project-id/rxminder:latest
DOCKER_IMAGE=us.gcr.io/project-id/rxminder:production

Azure Container Registry (ACR)

# Azure Container Registry
DOCKER_IMAGE=myregistry.azurecr.io/rxminder:latest
DOCKER_IMAGE=myregistry.azurecr.io/rxminder:stable

🏷️ Tagging Strategies

Environment-Based Tagging

# Development
DOCKER_IMAGE=myregistry.com/rxminder:dev
DOCKER_IMAGE=myregistry.com/rxminder:develop-20250906

# Staging
DOCKER_IMAGE=myregistry.com/rxminder:staging
DOCKER_IMAGE=myregistry.com/rxminder:release-candidate

# Production
DOCKER_IMAGE=myregistry.com/rxminder:stable
DOCKER_IMAGE=myregistry.com/rxminder:v1.2.0

Git-Based Tagging

# Branch-based
DOCKER_IMAGE=myregistry.com/rxminder:main
DOCKER_IMAGE=myregistry.com/rxminder:feature-auth

# Commit-based
DOCKER_IMAGE=myregistry.com/rxminder:sha-abc1234
DOCKER_IMAGE=myregistry.com/rxminder:pr-123

Semantic Versioning

# Semantic versions
DOCKER_IMAGE=myregistry.com/rxminder:v1.0.0
DOCKER_IMAGE=myregistry.com/rxminder:v1.2.3-beta
DOCKER_IMAGE=myregistry.com/rxminder:v2.0.0-rc1

🎪 Environment-Specific Configurations

Development (.env)

APP_NAME=rxminder-dev
DOCKER_IMAGE=localhost:5000/rxminder:dev
STORAGE_CLASS=local-path
STORAGE_SIZE=5Gi
INGRESS_HOST=rxminder-dev.local

Staging (.env.staging)

APP_NAME=rxminder-staging
DOCKER_IMAGE=myregistry.com/rxminder:staging
STORAGE_CLASS=longhorn
STORAGE_SIZE=10Gi
INGRESS_HOST=staging.rxminder.company.com

Production (.env.production)

APP_NAME=rxminder
DOCKER_IMAGE=myregistry.com/rxminder:v1.2.0  # Fixed version for stability
STORAGE_CLASS=fast-ssd
STORAGE_SIZE=50Gi
INGRESS_HOST=rxminder.company.com

🚀 CI/CD Integration

GitHub Actions Example

# .github/workflows/deploy.yml
- name: Deploy to Kubernetes
  env:
    DOCKER_IMAGE: ghcr.io/${{ github.repository }}:${{ github.sha }}
  run: |
    echo "DOCKER_IMAGE=${DOCKER_IMAGE}" >> .env
    ./scripts/k8s-deploy-template.sh deploy

GitLab CI Example

# .gitlab-ci.yml
deploy:
  variables:
    DOCKER_IMAGE: $CI_REGISTRY_IMAGE:$CI_COMMIT_SHA
  script:
    - echo "DOCKER_IMAGE=${DOCKER_IMAGE}" >> .env
    - ./scripts/k8s-deploy-template.sh deploy

🔒 Registry Authentication

Docker Registry Secrets

# Create registry secret for private registries
kubectl create secret docker-registry regcred \
  --docker-server=myregistry.com \
  --docker-username=username \
  --docker-password=password \
  --docker-email=email@company.com

# Update deployment to use the secret
# (Add imagePullSecrets to deployment template if needed)

Cloud Provider Authentication

# AWS ECR
aws ecr get-login-password --region us-west-2 | docker login --username AWS --password-stdin 123456789012.dkr.ecr.us-west-2.amazonaws.com

# Google GCR
gcloud auth configure-docker

# Azure ACR
az acr login --name myregistry

💡 Best Practices

Production Recommendations

• ✅ Use specific tags (not :latest) for production
• ✅ Pin to exact versions for stability
• ✅ Use semantic versioning for releases
• ✅ Separate registries for different environments
• ✅ Enable vulnerability scanning on registries

Development Workflow

• ✅ Use :dev or :latest for development
• ✅ Branch-based tags for feature development
• ✅ Local registries for fast iteration
• ✅ Automated builds on code changes

Security Considerations

• ✅ Private registries for proprietary code
• ✅ Registry authentication properly configured
• ✅ Image scanning for vulnerabilities
• ✅ Supply chain security with signed images

🎭 Example Deployments

Multi-Environment Setup

# Development
export DOCKER_IMAGE=localhost:5000/rxminder:dev
./scripts/k8s-deploy-template.sh deploy

# Staging
export DOCKER_IMAGE=registry.company.com/rxminder:staging
./scripts/k8s-deploy-template.sh deploy

# Production
export DOCKER_IMAGE=registry.company.com/rxminder:v1.2.0
./scripts/k8s-deploy-template.sh deploy

This flexible Docker image configuration makes RxMinder truly portable and CI/CD-ready across any container registry and deployment environment!