home / skills / pluginagentmarketplace / custom-plugin-devops / containers

containers skill

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This skill helps you automate Docker and Kubernetes deployments, optimize configurations, and manage production workflows with CI/CD integration.

npx playbooks add skill pluginagentmarketplace/custom-plugin-devops --skill containers

Review the files below or copy the command above to add this skill to your agents.

Files (7)

SKILL.md

2.8 KB

---
name: containers-skill
description: Docker and Kubernetes - containerization, orchestration, and production deployment.
sasmp_version: "1.3.0"
bonded_agent: 03-containers-orchestration
bond_type: PRIMARY_BOND

parameters:
  - name: platform
    type: string
    required: false
    enum: ["docker", "kubernetes", "both"]
    default: "both"
  - name: operation
    type: string
    required: true
    enum: ["build", "deploy", "debug", "optimize", "secure"]

retry_config:
  strategy: exponential_backoff
  initial_delay_ms: 1000
  max_retries: 3

observability:
  logging: structured
  metrics: enabled
---

# Containers & Orchestration Skill

## Overview
Master Docker and Kubernetes for production deployments.

## Parameters
| Name | Type | Required | Default | Description |
|------|------|----------|---------|-------------|
| platform | string | No | both | docker/kubernetes |
| operation | string | Yes | - | Operation type |

## Core Topics

### MANDATORY
- Docker fundamentals (images, containers, volumes)
- Dockerfile best practices (multi-stage, security)
- Docker Compose
- Kubernetes architecture
- Deployments, Services, Ingress
- Health checks

### OPTIONAL
- Helm charts
- ConfigMaps and Secrets
- Persistent storage
- Network policies

### ADVANCED
- Custom operators
- Service mesh
- Multi-cluster strategies

## Quick Reference

```bash
# Docker
docker build -t app:v1 .
docker run -d -p 8080:80 --name app app:v1
docker logs -f container
docker exec -it container sh
docker system prune -af

# Docker Compose
docker compose up -d
docker compose logs -f
docker compose down -v

# Kubernetes
kubectl get pods -A
kubectl describe pod pod-name
kubectl logs -f pod-name
kubectl exec -it pod-name -- sh
kubectl apply -f manifest.yaml
kubectl rollout status deployment/app
kubectl rollout undo deployment/app

# Debugging
kubectl get events --sort-by='.lastTimestamp'
kubectl top pods
kubectl run debug --rm -it --image=busybox -- sh

# Helm
helm install release chart
helm upgrade release chart
helm rollback release 1
```

## Troubleshooting

### Common Failures
| Symptom | Root Cause | Solution |
|---------|------------|----------|
| ImagePullBackOff | Image not found | Verify name, check creds |
| CrashLoopBackOff | Container crashing | Check logs, verify CMD |
| Pending | Cannot schedule | Check resources, selectors |
| OOMKilled | Out of memory | Increase limits |

### Debug Checklist
1. Pod status: `kubectl get pods -o wide`
2. Events: `kubectl describe pod`
3. Logs: `kubectl logs pod --previous`
4. Resources: `kubectl top pods`

### Recovery Procedures

#### CrashLoopBackOff
1. Get logs: `kubectl logs pod --previous`
2. Check events: `kubectl describe pod`
3. Test locally: `docker run -it image sh`

## Resources
- [Docker Docs](https://docs.docker.com)
- [Kubernetes Docs](https://kubernetes.io/docs)

Overview

This skill covers Docker and Kubernetes fundamentals for building, deploying, and operating containerized applications in production. It focuses on practical commands, troubleshooting steps, and deployment patterns to streamline CI/CD and runtime operations. The goal is to enable reliable, secure container workflows from development to multi-cluster production.

How this skill works

The skill inspects container lifecycle and orchestration tasks: image build and run, Compose workflows, Kubernetes manifests, rollouts, and runtime debugging. It provides concise command references, root-cause checks for common failures, and step-by-step recovery actions for issues like CrashLoopBackOff and ImagePullBackOff. Optional and advanced topics cover Helm, storage, and multi-cluster strategies for production readiness.

When to use it

Setting up CI/CD pipelines that build, test, and push container images.
Deploying applications to Kubernetes clusters or testing locally with Docker Compose.
Troubleshooting pod failures, image pull errors, or resource-related scheduling issues.
Implementing best practices for Dockerfiles, security, and multi-stage builds.
Upgrading or rolling back deployments and validating rollout status.

Best practices

Use multi-stage Dockerfiles to minimize image size and separate build/runtime concerns.
Define health checks and resource requests/limits for predictable scheduling and autoscaling.
Store sensitive data in Kubernetes Secrets and configuration in ConfigMaps, not baked into images.
Automate rollouts via CI/CD and validate with rollout status and canary/blue-green strategies.
Collect logs and metrics (kubectl logs, kubectl top) and centralize them for observability.

Example use cases

Build and push a production image, then deploy via kubectl apply and monitor rollout status.
Run local development with docker compose up and replicate production probes and env vars.
Recover a CrashLoopBackOff by retrieving previous logs, describing events, and testing the image locally.
Use Helm to templatize deployments and manage upgrades or rollbacks across environments.
Diagnose scheduling failures by checking node capacity, pod selectors, and resource requests.

FAQ

What command finds why a pod is failing?

Start with kubectl describe pod and kubectl logs --previous, then check events with kubectl get events --sort-by='.lastTimestamp'.

How do I reduce image size?

Use multi-stage builds, pick minimal base images, and remove build artifacts before final stage.