Title

AWS re:Invent 2022 - Building containers for AWS (CON325)

Summary

Jesse Butler and Phil Estes presented a session on building containers for AWS, focusing on the difference between containers and images, open source tooling for container development, and best practices for building images.
They introduced a new open source project aimed at simplifying container and image building and testing locally.
The talk covered the basics of containers and images, including Linux namespaces, cgroups, and the Open Container Initiative (OCI) specs for runtime and image formats.
They discussed the importance of using base images, avoiding the use of "latest" tags, and the benefits of multi-stage builds.
The presenters introduced Finch, a new open source project for macOS that integrates with NerdCTL, Lima, ContainerD, and BuildKit, providing a native client for container development.
They emphasized the importance of security, such as not embedding secrets in images and using build-time secrets management.
The session concluded with a call to action for the community to contribute to the Finch project and a promise of a public roadmap and more resources.

The presenters highlighted the growth of AWS Container Services and the increasing use of containers by AWS customers.
They stressed the importance of understanding the underlying technology of containers to use them more effectively, especially at scale.
The talk underscored the need for smaller and more secure container images, faster build times, and limiting the scope of what each container does.
The introduction of Finch as an open source project for macOS users indicates AWS's commitment to supporting the developer community and contributing to open source projects.
The session provided practical advice for building better container images, such as using multi-stage builds, avoiding vanity tags, and managing secrets properly during the build process.
The presenters' advocacy for community involvement and open source collaboration reflects AWS's strategy to foster a community around its tools and services.