Docker Stack

A comprehensive Docker-based application stack featuring a Flask web application with MySQL database, NGINX reverse proxy, and integrated observability tools for monitoring and logging.

🏗️ Architecture Overview

Docker Stack Architecture - Core components and data flow

This project implements a complete containerized application stack with built-in observability:

• Application Layer: Flask web application with MySQL database
• Reverse Proxy: NGINX for load balancing and routing
• Metrics Collection: Prometheus with Blackbox Exporter for application monitoring
• Log Aggregation: Grafana Loki for centralized logging
• Data Collection: Grafana Alloy for unified telemetry collection
• Visualization: Grafana dashboards for metrics and logs

📋 Services

Service	Port	Description
NGINX	80	Reverse proxy and load balancer
Flask App	5000	Python web application
MySQL	3306	Database server
Grafana	3000	Visualization and dashboards
Prometheus	9090	Metrics collection and storage
Loki	3100	Log aggregation system
Alloy	12345	Telemetry data collection agent
Blackbox Exporter	9115	Application health monitoring

🚀 Quick Start

1. Clone and Start

cd docker-stack

# Start all services
./scripts/start.sh

2. Access Services

• Application: http://localhost
• Grafana: http://localhost:3000 (admin/admin)
• Prometheus: http://localhost:9090
• Alloy: http://localhost:12345

🖥️ Service Interfaces

Flask Application

Main Flask web application interface

Prometheus Monitoring

Prometheus target monitoring and health status

Grafana Alloy

Grafana Alloy Components Graph

Alloy data flow and processing graph

Blackbox Exporter

Blackbox exporter metrics and probe results

📊 Monitoring Dashboards

The stack includes pre-configured Grafana dashboards for comprehensive observability:

System Monitoring

• Node Exporter Dashboard (ID: 1860) - System metrics and performance
• Docker Container Dashboard (ID: 193) - Container resource usage
• MySQL Dashboard (ID: 7587) - Database performance metrics
• Blackbox Exporter Dashboard (ID: 13639) - Application uptime monitoring

Dashboard Screenshots

Available Grafana dashboards overview

Configured Grafana data sources

System metrics and performance monitoring

Container resource usage and health

Application uptime and health monitoring

Centralized log analysis with Loki

Detailed metrics analysis and correlation

🔍 Features

Application Stack

• Flask Web Application: Python-based web server with health endpoints
• MySQL Database: Persistent data storage with initialization scripts
• NGINX Reverse Proxy: Load balancing and request routing
• Docker Orchestration: Multi-container deployment with health checks

Observability

• Metrics Collection: Application and system performance monitoring
• Log Aggregation: Centralized logging from all services
• Health Monitoring: Automated service health checks and alerts
• Visualization: Real-time dashboards and analytics

Security

• Docker Secrets: Production-grade secrets management for database credentials
• Read-only Mounts: Secrets mounted as read-only files in containers
• Least Privilege: Secrets only accessible to services that need them

See secrets/README.md for implementation details.

Domain & SSL Management

• NGINX Proxy Manager: Web-based reverse proxy management with SSL automation
• Let's Encrypt Integration: Automatic SSL certificate generation and renewal
• Custom Domain Support: Easy domain configuration and routing

Grafana dashboard showing Blackbox monitoring through proxy

For detailed setup and results, see Domain and SSL Configuration.

Clean Up

./scripts/stop.sh