Network

The Network resource allows you to create and manage Docker networks using Alchemy, enabling container-to-container communication.

Usage

import * as docker from "alchemy/docker";

const network = await docker.Network("app-network", {
  name: "app-network"
});

Properties

Name	Type	Required	Description
name	string	Yes	Network name
driver	"bridge" | "host" | "none" | "overlay" | "macvlan" | string	No	Network driver to use
enableIPv6	boolean	No	Enable IPv6 on the network
labels	Record<string, string>	No	Network-scoped alias for containers

Outputs

Name	Type	Description
id	string	Network ID
createdAt	number	Time when the network was created

Example

import * as docker from "alchemy/docker";

// Create a simple bridge network
const appNetwork = await docker.Network("app-network", {
  name: "app-network"
});

// Create a custom network with driver
const overlayNetwork = await docker.Network("overlay-network", {
  name: "overlay-network",
  driver: "overlay",
  enableIPv6: true,
  labels: {
    "com.example.description": "Network for application services"
  }
});

// Create containers connected to the network
const service1 = await docker.Container("service1", {
  image: "service1:latest",
  name: "service1",
  networks: [{ name: appNetwork.name }],
  start: true
});

const service2 = await docker.Container("service2", {
  image: "service2:latest",
  name: "service2",
  networks: [{ name: appNetwork.name }],
  environment: {
    // Service discovery using container names
    SERVICE1_URL: `http://service1:8080`
  },
  start: true
});

Network Communication

When containers are connected to the same Docker network, they can communicate with each other using the container names as hostnames. This built-in DNS resolution simplifies service discovery in multi-container applications.

const service1 = await docker.Container("service1", {
  image: "service1:latest",
  name: "service1",
  networks: [{ name: appNetwork.name }],
  start: true
});

const service2 = await docker.Container("service2", {
  image: "service2:latest",
  name: "service2",
  networks: [{ name: appNetwork.name }],
  environment: {
    // Service discovery using container names
    SERVICE1_URL: `http://service1:8080`
  },
  start: true
});

Or, you can set aliases for the container to make it accessible by multiple names:

const service1 = await docker.Container("service1", {
  image: "service1:latest",
  name: "service1",
  networks: [{ name: appNetwork.name, aliases: ["api"] }],
  start: true
});

const service2 = await docker.Container("service2", {
  image: "service2:latest",
  name: "service2",
  networks: [{ name: appNetwork.name }],
  environment: {
    // Service discovery using container names
    SERVICE1_URL: `http://api:8080`
  },
  start: true
});