Docker containers wrap a piece of software in a complete filesystem that contains everything needed to run: code, runtime, system tools, system libraries – anything that can be installed on a server. This guarantees that the software will always run the same, regardless of its environment.

docker

vercel allows you to take your JavaScript (Node.js) or Docker powered websites, applications and services to the cloud with ease,
speed and reliability. In practical terms, any directory that contains a `package.json` or `Dockerfile` can be transported to the cloud with one command: `now`.


Vercel

Zeit’s mission statement is to ‘Make Cloud computing as easy and accessible as Mobile computing.’ To that end, they’ve released some pretty amazing and powerful tools. In this course we’re going to take a look at `now`, their deployment tool, to see why it’s hands-down the simplest way to launch node applications, docker containers and even static files to the cloud.


We’ll also dig into some of now’s more advanced capabilities, including host aliasing, environment variables and integration with hosted databases.

Use Zeit’s `now` to deploy a node application from your local machine to a remote cloud service in moments. 

vercel

Deploy a Node project with Zeit’s Now

Use Zeit’s `now` to quickly and easily share static files by making them accessible to anyone with the URL.

Deploy static assets with Zeit’s Now

Use Zeit’s now to deploy a docker container to the cloud quickly and easily. We will see that the process is exactly the same as deploying a Node project. This lesson will also show how log information is displayed on the generated url by `Now` while the app is being deployed.

Deploy a Docker project with Zeit’s Now

Zeit allows you to expose the inner working’s of your deployment’s source code to aid in debugging or understanding how your code works. Learn how to configure and use this powerful window into your live behavior.

View source on your remote Zeit Now server

Often your project will require some secret keys or tokens - for instance, API keys or database authentication information. Learn how to safely and easily deploy secrets to now, and how to expose them as environment variables that your applications can load without making them public to the world.

Configure secrets and environment variables with Zeit’s Now

Because `now` deploys are immutable, you can’t push changes to a running instance - you just push a new instance, which means you get a new URL. But doesn’t that mean your URL is always changing? How do you share a link to your application? By using `now alias` to point a custom name to a specific deployment.

Use Zeit’s Now to point a custom name to a specific deployment

Using now’s `alias` command you can point your own domain name to any now deployment. In this lesson I'll actually buy a new domain name and configure it to work with now, showing you every step along the way.

Setup a custom domain name with Zeit’s Now

If you need to persist data using `now`, it’s recommended that you use a hosted database service. In this lesson we'll create a new, free MongoDB database on http://mlab.com and wire it up to use with our node.js app running on Zeit's `now` hosting service.


Deploy Web Apps with Zeit Now

mykola bilokonsky

Course Content