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# Portainer: Docker Container Management UI

Portainer is a lightweight management UI that allows you to easily manage your Docker environments (or other container orchestrators like Kubernetes). Changemaker V5 runs its applications as Docker containers, and Portainer provides a visual interface to see, manage, and troubleshoot these containers.

## Key Features

- Container Management: View, start, stop, restart, remove, and inspect Docker containers.
- Image Management: Pull, remove, and inspect Docker images.
- Volume Management: Manage Docker volumes used for persistent storage.
- Network Management: Manage Docker networks.
- Stacks/Compose: Deploy and manage multi-container applications defined in Docker Compose files (stacks).
- Logs & Stats: View container logs and resource usage statistics (CPU, memory).
- User-Friendly Interface: Simplifies Docker management for users who may not be comfortable with the command line.
- Multi-Environment Support: Can manage multiple Docker hosts or Kubernetes clusters (though in Changemaker, it's typically managing the local Docker environment).

## Documentation

For more detailed information about Portainer, visit the official documentation.

## Getting Started with Portainer

### Accessing Portainer

1. URL: Access Portainer locally via `http://localhost:9002/` (or your configured external URL).
2. Initial Setup/Login:
   - The first time you access Portainer, you will need to set up an administrator account (username and password).
   - You will then connect Portainer to the Docker environment it should manage. For Changemaker, this is usually the local Docker socket.

### Basic Usage

1. Dashboard: The main dashboard provides an overview of your Docker environment (number of containers, volumes, images, etc.).

2. Containers List:

   - Navigate to "Containers" from the sidebar.
   - You'll see a list of all running and stopped containers (e.g., `code-server`, `flatnotes`, `listmonk`, etc., that make up Changemaker).
   - Actions: For each container, you can perform actions like:
     - Logs: View real-time logs.
     - Inspect: See detailed configuration and state.
     - Stats: View resource usage.
     - Console: Connect to the container's terminal (if supported by the container).
     - Stop/Start/Restart/Remove.

3. Images List:

   - Navigate to "Images" to see all Docker images pulled to your server.
   - You can pull new images from Docker Hub or other registries, or remove unused images.

4. Volumes List:

   - Navigate to "Volumes" to see Docker volumes, which are used by Changemaker apps to store persistent data (e.g., your notes in Flatnotes, your Listmonk database).

5. Stacks (Docker Compose):

   - Navigate to "Stacks."
   - Changemaker itself is likely deployed as a stack using its `docker-compose.yml` file. You might see it listed here.
   - You can add new stacks (deploy other Docker Compose applications) or manage existing ones.

## Use Cases within Changemaker

- Monitoring Application Status: Quickly see if all Changemaker application containers are running.
- Viewing Logs: Troubleshoot issues by checking the logs of specific application containers.
- Restarting Applications: If an application becomes unresponsive, you can try restarting its container via Portainer.
- Resource Management: Check CPU and memory usage of containers if you suspect performance issues.
- Advanced Management: For users comfortable with Docker, Portainer provides an easier interface for tasks that would otherwise require command-line operations.

## Editing the Site

Portainer is for managing the Docker containers that run the applications. It is not used for editing this documentation site. Site editing is done via Code Server.

## Further Information

- Portainer Official Website: https://www.portainer.io/
- Portainer Documentation: https://docs.portainer.io/