Container Runtime Onboarding

Installing Docker or container runtimes with Assistance ownership boundaries

Container runtime onboarding covers the host, runtime, registry access, logging, monitoring, security baseline, and change process needed before Docker or another OCI runtime becomes part of an Assistance-operated environment.

When to request runtime onboarding#

Need	Recommended path
Local development parity	Standardize developer and CI dependencies before production changes
Self-hosted runner images	Pair with Managed Runners and registry governance
Internal tools on a VM	Use a scoped host/runtime service with backups and monitoring for stateful parts
Kubernetes worker nodes	Use Managed Kubernetes rather than ad hoc runtime installs
One-off developer laptop help	Usually outside managed infrastructure unless part of enablement or troubleshooting scope

Prerequisites#

Before Assistance installs or takes over a runtime, provide:

target hosts, cloud accounts, or bare-metal access path
operating system version and patching owner
network and firewall requirements
registry endpoints and authentication method
expected images, ports, volumes, and persistence needs
data classification and secret-handling requirements
support contact, maintenance window, and rollback expectations

What Assistance operates#

Area	Assistance responsibility
Installation	Runtime package selection, repository setup, version pinning strategy, and initial configuration
Host integration	systemd/service supervision, log forwarding, storage driver review, disk alerts, and restart behavior
Access	least-privilege administrative access, registry credentials pattern, and break-glass procedure where scoped
Security	daemon exposure review, rootless or non-root guidance, firewall baseline, and vulnerability update process
Maintenance	runtime patch planning, upgrade notes, rollback approach, and maintenance communication
Support	incident triage for managed runtime failures, image pulls, daemon health, and host resource pressure

What the customer owns#

Area	Customer responsibility
Host approval	cloud account, VM, network, billing, and internal approval for the runtime location
Images	application image contents, licensing, vulnerability remediation, and release approval
Secrets	source-of-truth decisions, application consumption, and internal access approvals
State	which paths are persistent, which data must be backed up, and restore acceptance criteria
Business impact	release timing, customer communication, and product-impact decisions during incidents

Onboarding steps#

Access and risk review — confirm host, OS, network, provider billing, data sensitivity, and support expectations.
Runtime installation — install and configure the agreed runtime with secure defaults and log visibility.
Registry and image test — validate pull access, tag policy, and a representative workload.
Observability setup — add daemon, disk, container, and host health checks.
Runbook handoff — document restart, rollback, upgrade, and escalation steps.

Maintenance and incidents#

Runtime upgrades are planned changes unless a security issue requires emergency action. Assistance communicates the impact, rollback plan, and validation checks for managed hosts. Application failures inside a healthy container remain customer-owned unless a broader DevOps or application support scope is active.

Getting started#

Request runtime onboarding with the target host list, registry information, expected workloads, and who owns application releases.

Request infrastructure assessment →