Quick Start with Docker Extension

The Docker Extension for Meshery extends Docker Desktop’s position as the developer’s go-to Kubernetes environment with easy access to full the capabilities of Meshery’s collaborative cloud native management features.

Prerequisites

  • You need Docker Desktop version of 4.10 or higher for this.
  • This document applies only when Docker Desktop uses kubeadm with Kubernetes enabled. If you are using kind, please refer to the Kind section.

Install the Docker Meshery Extension

Select one of the following three options to install the Docker Meshery Extension:

Using Docker Desktop

Navigate to the Extensions marketplace of Docker Desktop. Search for Meshery and click the Install button to install the extension.

Docker Meshery Extension Install

Click Open when installation is done or click Meshery on the left under Extensions.

Docker Meshery Extension Open

Click Login to open the Layer5 Cloud login page. Login or Sign up and you will be redirected back to Docker Desktop.

Docker Meshery Extension Login

Finally, click Launch Meshery to load Meshery Dashboard on a browser window. It runs at http://localhost:9081/ by default.

Docker Meshery Extension Launch

You can also open http://localhost:9081/ directly on a browser on the local machine after installing the Docker extension and complete the Layer5 Cloud login process to achieve the same result.

Using Docker Hub

Another way to install the Meshery Docker Extension is from the Docker Hub. Navigate to the Meshery Docker Extension page and click Open in Docker Desktop to get started. Once installed, the rest of the process is same as above.

Docker Hub Extension

Using Docker CLI

Finally, you can also install the Meshery Docker Extension using the Docker CLI. Follow the commands in the clipboard below.

  

    
    

      docker extension install meshery/docker-extension-meshery 
    

    

    

      docker extension install meshery/docker-extension-meshery
      
      Successfully installed Meshery
      mesheryctl system dashboard

It runs as a set of one or more containers inside your Docker Desktop virtual machine.

Finally, you can now fully utilize Meshery to manage and monitor your cloud-native infrastructure.

Remove Meshery as a Docker Extension

You can remove the Docker Extension from Docker Desktop interface or from the CLI.

Removing from Docker Desktop

Navigate to Manage under Extensions, click the ellipsis button (three vertical dots) and select Uninstall.

Remove Meshery Docker Desktop Extension

Removing using Docker CLI

To remove the extension from the command line, use the docker extension rm command.


$ docker extension rm meshery/docker-extension-meshery

Additional Cleanup

There could be redisual Images and Networks to remove after removing/uninstalling the extension. Follow the steps below to do so.

Remove Meshery Images (if necessary)

Meshery pulls Docker images for deploying the extension and there could be additional Meshery/Layer5 images based on how it was configured. You can remove these images using the docker rmi command. Start by listing all the images and then running the command for each image you want to remove. For example:


$ docker rmi layer5/meshery:stable-latest

Remove Meshery Docker Networks (if necessary)

Meshery creates custom Docker networks, and they could still be left after the extension uninstall. These can be removed using the docker network rm command. For example:


$ docker network rm meshery_default


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Suggested Reading

  • Docker - Install Meshery on Docker