We have to go deeper: Local PostGRES databases in Docker for development environments

 

However, I keep...not being able to enter the PostGRES database via terminal when it's running in a Docker image. 

So I scuppered my work, redownloaded the image, took clearer notes with commands and examples on how prompts should appear, and got inside, taking all of 10 minutes.

It's like entering a multi-layered vault. 

If you're starting a Docker container through the terminal, it is case-sensitive.

docker exec -it RUNTCPIP-DBRep /bin/bash is different than

docker exec -it RUNTCPIP-DBREP /bin/bash

 

 

Downloading Open Datasets Two Ways For Test Data

Heard of Kaggle? Now you have.

The first way: I took this dataset (free to use) and downloaded it to the Linux system in the container. 

I updated packages with apt-get -y and installed curl -( apt-get -y install curl).

(Keep in mind you will likely have to change the path Kaggle gives. I used a period [.] and ended up putting it in a directory I could only reach via an odd song and dance of entering and exiting a directory. I expected it to download the zip file in the directory I was currently in. That's on me.)

The second way: In the end I used the docker cp command learned here after downloading the file locally to my Docker folder on Windows 11 and it worked flawlessly. 

I also unzipped it with unzip.  

 

After talking with people in the industry, we realized that this may not be the best way to have a reusable data-testing environment; It would take too long to start up each time with the amount of data.

So I encouraged a solution where the production data was backed up to an S3 bucket every so often that people could pull from and use to test.