Add Docker instructions to Cardinal website

[aprilnovak]

Reason

INL set up a Docker container for Cardinal; we can add these instructions to the website in order to streamline setup for new users.

Design

Add instructions to website.

Impact

Improved user experience.

[ahnaf-tahmid-chowdhury]

Could you please share the link to the Dockerfile?

[aprilnovak]

Hi @ahnaf-tahmid-chowdhury -- sorry about the slow response! I got caught up last week and forgot to respond. Right now I have a PDF with the instructions shared below. These are written for a workshop given at the UKAEA in August, but the instructions should still work.

Docker Instructions[2].pdf

[ahnaf-tahmid-chowdhury]

Thank you very much for sharing this. I can add these instructions to the documentation. However, I was wondering about the source code of the Dockerfile. We could use it in our CI and create some unit tests. I’m wondering if it’s possible to share the Dockerfile publicly or if we should write our own.

[aprilnovak]

@loganharbour can you address the above question? thanks!

[loganharbour]

This image unfortunately isn't produced using Docker. It's produced using a series of layered apptainer images produced by moose itself, which we then convert to a docker image.

[ahnaf-tahmid-chowdhury]

Thank you for the clarification, @loganharbour! Given that the Docker image is converted from layered apptainer images, do you think it would be possible to share the steps or configurations used for that process? It would help us understand how to integrate it into our CI and possibly adapt it for future testing purposes. Additionally, if there's any guidance on replicating or extending this setup, that would be greatly appreciated.

[loganharbour]

Due to the fact that we go from apptainer -> docker, the build history isn't retained like a typical docker container.

However, we do have folks that are using https://hub.docker.com/r/idaholab/moose-dev as a base image for CI for moose-based applications. You should be able to extend it as needed for adding additional dependencies. This is the docker version of the container that we use for all CI for cardinal (and many other apps).

This is a rocky8 based image with mpich, petsc, libmesh, and wasp (the standard moose based application dependencies). I'm in the process of releasing more of these, including an openmpi version (which we use as the base for running moose applications on INL hpc).

Within the moose-dev docker image, you'll have LIBMESH_DIR, PETSC_DIR, etc setup for you.

The version of these images correspond to a version that you can obtain by running:

./scripts/versioner.py moose-dev

within the MOOSE directory for your application.