Containerization Process Writeup for the Rust Axum Integer to Roman Microservice

This document details the process of containerizing a Rust Axum microservice designed to convert integers to Roman numerals. The process encompasses creating a Dockerfile, building a Docker image, and running the container locally.

1. Project Overview

The project is a microservice developed with the Rust programming language and the Axum framework. It accepts integers via HTTP requests and returns their Roman numeral representation. This functionality is encapsulated in a lightweight and efficient web service.

2. Creating the Dockerfile

The first step in containerization is crafting a Dockerfile. This file instructs Docker on how to build an image containing everything needed to run the microservice, including the Rust environment, project code, and dependencies.

# Use the official Rust image as the build environment
FROM rust:1.67 as builder
WORKDIR /app
COPY . .
# Build the application
RUN cargo build --release

# Use a minimal runtime image to reduce the final image size
FROM debian:buster-slim
COPY --from=builder /app/target/release/myapp /usr/local/bin/
# Specify the command to run on container startup
CMD ["myapp"]

This document details the process of containerizing a Rust Axum microservice designed to convert integers to Roman numerals. The process encompasses creating a Dockerfile, building a Docker image, and running the container locally.

3. Building the Docker Image

With the Dockerfile in place, the next step is to build the Docker image. This is done by executing the following command in the root directory of the project:

docker build -t rust-axum-integer-roman .

This command constructs a Docker image named 'rust-axum-integer-roman' that contains the Rust Axum application, ready to be run in a containerized environment.

4. Running the Container Locally

Once the image is built, the container can be run locally using the command:

docker run -p 3000:3000 rust-axum-integer-roman

This command starts a container instance and maps the container's internal port 3000 to port 3000 on the host, allowing the microservice to be accessed via http://localhost:3000.

5. Testing and Verification

The final step is to ensure that the microservice functions correctly within the container. This can be done by sending HTTP requests to http://localhost:3000/convert/{number}, where {number} is the integer you wish to convert to Roman numerals. The response should be verified for correctness.

Screenshot showing container running