How can I ensure the Docker container starts and stays on the production server?

I would like to write a Bash script that will run on a production server. It will download the Docker image from the Docker Hub, launch it, and save the rendered container. Inside the container, I use Supervisor to keep the server and database running, and Supervisor will restart any process that dies inside the container.

But what about the container itself - are there any best practices / guidelines to ensure that the container starts after the host machine reboots and that the container is restarted if it crashes somehow? There is a --restart

flag that can be passed docker run

. So to ensure that the container starts and stays running, all that is needed is to add this line to /etc/rc.local

?

docker run -d --restart=always --name=container-name image-name command

      

        
        
        
      

    

Right? (And I don't need to use nohup

either &

.) Or are there some problems with this approach that I am missing, or something else that I am missing?

For example, do I not need to somehow guarantee that the docker service itself stays up and running? Can I believe he stays alive?

(A related question, but only about starting docker and not starting it on reboot: make sure the given docker container is running )

My host and OS container: Ubuntu 14.04.