Suggestion(s): providing AppImages alongside Docker Images + Docker Pre Configuration Settings

CasaOS CasaOS - Apps
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I don’t know if this requires so much tinkering that it’s impractical, but…

Speaking as a user of ZimaBlade (the 2 core version), I am quite amazed at the performance it can achieve even when running about 12 containers + 2 bare metal databases, but I have noticed one thing.

This is something that is mostly up to the docker image maintainers, but by their nature dockerised applications and services tend to take a lot of space (many applications available from CasaOS take 1GB each) and do a lot of redundant stuff (like database stuff) as they need to be self-sufficient.

With enough tinkering anyone is able to edit settings (especially with Portainer as a companion) and save some space/ram, but still…

In my particular case, 32GB fills up very quickly. Also, as CasaOS is suitable for low spec machines, RAM and CPU usage could be a problem with Docker.

Thinking about it, I have two ideas:

  1. Having an AppImage store/support from the UI; AppImages are mostly self-sufficient, and even when they are not they are easy to tinker with. They have a fairly one-click type of installation process, just like the current workflow, and they use dramatically less space/redundancy/resources. Of course, there are several cases where AppImages are not suitable (such as non-easily configurable applications that require a db connection), but I am not really suggesting that we abandon the current implementation just to use them alongside

  2. Being able to configure the settings of Docker apps before installing them. Currently (or I could be wrong, happy if I am) we have to install an app and then edit the settings. Sometimes this is just slow and inconvenient, and sometimes I just want to set my paths beforehand. An improvement on this idea would also be to allow users to decide where Docker apps are installed, because of the storage issue mentioned above

Are these interesting proposals? Tell me your opinion :slight_smile:

Also OOT: is there a section to post our setups, just like “Hey look how cool is my Zima*” ?

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:heart: Thank you for valuable suggestions, we’ve feedbacked to our engineering team.

About ''Hey look how cool is my Zima”, you can join ZimaBlade Makes channel and feel free to share! Making a post here in specific product category is also welcome.

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One challenge with AppImage (or Flatpak) is that it doesn’t provide an mechanism to automatically register with systemd as a service.

These packaging mechanisms are meant for desktop apps, which are launched via app drawer and stopped by clicking close button. Its lifecycle is tied to the lifecycle of your desktop environment.

Whereas for ZimaOS/CasaOS, apps are automatically launched at boot time. Its lifecycle is equivalent to the lifecycle of the OS.

Desktop environment and OS are two different concepts.

To archive what you asked, we would have to ask every AppImage creator to include additional logic to get launched at boot time.

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I will have to say the second proposal is an interesting idea.

@icewhale please add this idea in the wish list we collected from this community.

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