Big announcement from Docker! Looks like we have some new product names in the house. (Docker CE & Docker EE)
What is Docker Enterprise Edition?
Docker Enterprise Edition comes in three versions: basic, standard and advanced. The Basic edition comes with the Docker platform, support and certification, while the Standard and Advanced version add additional features such as container management (Docker Datacenter) and Docker Security Scanning.
Docker EE is supported by Alibaba, Canonical, HPE, IBM, Microsoft and by a network of regional partners. Those who want to test Docker EE can download a trial version for free from the official site.
Docker is also offering a certification program to help third-party vendors in ensuring their products work with Docker EE.
What is Docker Community Edition?
Docker Engine has been renamed to Docker Community Edition, and, as the name suggests, it’s a do-it-yourself, community supported version of Docker that’s available for free of cost.
The community edition will be available in two versions: Edge and Stable. Edge will be released each month with the latest features. Stable will be released on a quarterly basis. While Edge will receive security updates and bug fixes for the current release, the stable version will get similar updates for four months after the initial release. This update cycle will give users a big enough window to plan upgrades from older versions.
While the two versions are targeted at different audiences, there isn’t much, or any, difference at source code level. “Both Docker EE and CE are based on the open source Docker project, which is developed in the open with Docker’s community of partners and contributors, and this forms the open, modular core of all Docker CE and EE editions,” said Messina.”
Benefits:
- A clear release cadence for both EE and CE.
- EE will be following the stable CR releases
- New time-based versioning scheme (17.03.1, 17.03.2).
- So easy to understand!
- Ability to separate Community (CE) updates from Docker (EE) updates.
- Good!! – If all good features get put into CE, and not just EE!!
- Allowing 3rd party vendors to certify their products\add-on’s against EE.
- Good for Enterprises that need re-assurance!!
Something to point out from the above article is Docker CE and RHEL do not seem to be supported. However, using these CentOS install instructions, I was able to get it running as a quick test. (Fedora -> RHEL -> CentOS)
However, per the documentation, RHEL and CE do not align with the support matrix below. Also, it sounds like you could contact Docker about licensing EE for development purposes which seems to be what this article implies.