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rootnode-academy/content/root/root-04-containers-and-docker/m04-container-networking/02-demonstration-container-to-container-by-name.md
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ced4568andClaude Sonnet 5 682ef2de47 feat(root04): author Containers & Docker
Adds all 8 ROOT 04 modules (why containers exist, images & containers, Docker CLI, container
networking, container storage, Dockerfile & image build, Docker Compose, containers →
Kubernetes) — 43 activities, using the nested Docker Engine Phase 6D built and tested. Modules
1, 2, and 8 are conceptual (no lab by design) — the honest bridge module (M8) explicitly names
what Kubernetes adds beyond what this course already taught, without re-teaching Kubernetes
itself.

Adds 5 new hands-on Docker scenarios plus 2 MCQs, all against the real nested Docker Engine:
docker-cli-basics (run/exec/inspect a real container), docker-container-networking (a genuine
"works internally, unreachable from host" port-publishing failure, diagnosed and fixed by
recreating the container with the correct `-p` flag), docker-container-storage (a real
destroy/recreate cycle proving named-volume persistence, not just described), docker-build-image
(a real Dockerfile, a real build, a real custom image run), and docker-compose-multiservice (a
real two-service Compose application with a real published port). All tested end-to-end via the
real scenario-validation API, including negative tests.

Wires rootnode-containers-assessment (2 required + 4 random-draw scenarios) using the existing
Phase 3B assessment engine.

This completes the entire ROOT_ Foundations sequence (ROOT 01-04) — see
docs/PHASE6E_ROOT_FOUNDATIONS_COMPLETION.md.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 5 <[email protected]>
2026-08-26 17:08:14 -05:00

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# Demonstration: Reaching a Container By Name, Not IP
## OBSERVE
```
$ docker network create demo-net
$ docker run -d --name api-server --network demo-net nginx:alpine
```
## HYPOTHESIS
Predict: can another container on `demo-net` reach `api-server` using its NAME as a hostname,
without knowing its IP?
## INSPECT
```
$ docker run --rm --network demo-net alpine:3.19 sh -c "wget -qO- http://api-server:80/ | head -1"
<!DOCTYPE html>
```
Yes — Docker's built-in DNS resolved `api-server` (a container NAME) directly, no IP address
needed anywhere in that command.
## CHANGE
Now try reaching it from a container that is NOT on the same network:
```
$ docker run --rm alpine:3.19 sh -c "wget -qO- http://api-server:80/ 2>&1 | head -1"
wget: bad address 'api-server'
```
Name resolution fails entirely — the container isn't even on the same Docker network, so there's
no DNS entry for it there.
## VERIFY
Container-to-container name resolution is scoped to a SPECIFIC Docker network, not global —
exactly like ROOT 02's subnet concept: reachability depends on which network you're actually on.
## Instructor Notes
**Demo goal:** Show container-name DNS resolution as a real, working feature — and show it
explicitly FAILING when containers aren't on the same network, reinforcing that this isn't
magic, it's scoped.
**Approximate timing:** 8 minutes live.
**Common mistake to watch for:** assuming any two containers can always reach each other by name
regardless of network — reinforce the "same network required" rule explicitly.