🗓️ 14042026 1200

SWARM STACKS

What it is:

  • A named group of services deployed together to a docker_swarm cluster from a single compose file
  • The Swarm equivalent of docker compose up — but distributed across a cluster
  • Bundles services, networks, and volumes into one deployment unit

Why it exists:

  • Deploying services one-by-one with docker service create is tedious and error-prone
  • Stacks let you define an entire application in a docker_compose file and deploy it as a single unit
  • A naming convention keeps resources from different stacks isolated on the same cluster

How Stacks Work​

  • docker stack deploy -c compose.yml <stack-name> reads the compose file, creates all services in the cluster
  • Swarm interprets the deploy key (replicas, update_config, resources, placement)
  • Every resource is prefixed with the stack name to prevent collisions
  • Re-running the same command with a modified compose file triggers updates (e.g. rolling_deployment)

Stack Naming​

  • Service api in stack go2c-platform becomes go2c-platform_api
  • Networks and volumes also prefixed: go2c-platform_default, go2c-platform_db-data
  • Enables multiple independent stacks on the same cluster (e.g. go2c-platform, go2c-gateway, go2c-data)
  • Makes docker service ls output readable — you can tell which stack owns each service

Stack vs Standalone Services​

Stacks (declarative)​

  • Deploy from compose file — version-controlled, reproducible
  • All services deployed/removed together as a unit
  • Networks scoped to the stack automatically (each stack gets its own swarm_overlay_networking)
  • Update by re-running docker stack deploy with modified compose file

Standalone services (imperative)​

  • Created with docker service create — one at a time
  • Must manage relationships, networks, and dependencies manually
  • Useful for one-off utilities, but doesn't scale for multi-service apps

Lifecycle Commands​

CommandPurpose
docker stack deploy -c compose.yml <name>Deploy or update a stack
docker stack lsList all stacks
docker stack services <name>List services in a stack
docker stack ps <name>List tasks (containers) across nodes
docker stack rm <name>Remove entire stack
WARNING

docker stack rm removes services and networks but leaves named volumes intact. Safety feature — data survives stack removal. But orphaned volumes accumulate; audit with docker volume ls.

EXAMPLE

docker stack deploy -c docker-compose.yml go2c-platform creates services like go2c-platform_api, go2c-platform_db, go2c-platform_redis — all managed as one unit. Updating the image tag and re-running the same command triggers a rolling update.

References​