Synchronizing configurations for container hosted applications

1. A method for configuring an application with user configuration information executing in a container, the method comprising:

deploying a container engine to execute on a first machine;

deploying a configuration agent to execute on the first machine;

deploying one or more containers to execute on the container engine, wherein each container performs operations including:

the container instantiating at least one corresponding application to execute in the container;

the container sending to the configuration agent a configuration request for configuration information relating to the application, the configuration request including information that identifies the container, information that identifies a user associated with the container, and information that identifies the application;

the container receiving from the configuration agent configuration information relating to the user's configuration of the application; and

the container configuring the application using the received configuration information.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, for each container, instantiating a configuration plugin to execute in the container, wherein the configuration plugin communicates with the configuration agent to obtain the configuration information and the configuration plugin configures the application using the received configuration information.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, the configuration agent receiving a request from one of the containers and in response:

communicating with a server separate from the first machine to obtain configuration information from the server for an application in the container; and

sending the obtained configuration information to the container.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising storing the obtained information in a database of the first machine.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the configuration agent receiving a request from one of the containers and in response:

accessing configuration information, stored on the first machine, for an application in the container; and

sending the accessed configuration information to the container.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the configuration agent storing configuration information on the first machine and periodically updating the stored configuration information with information received from a server separate from the first machine.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the configuration agent storing configuration information on the first machine; receiving update information from a first container; and updating the stored configuration information using the update information.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first machine is a physical computer system, the method further comprising deploying an operating system to execute on the physical computer system and deploying the container engine to execute on the operating system.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first machine is a virtual machine, the method further comprising deploying a hypervisor to execute on a physical computer system and deploying the virtual machine to execute on the hypervisor.

10. A system for configuring an application with user configuration information executing in a container, the system comprising:

a processor; and

a computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon executable program code, the executable program code, which when executed by the processor, being configured to cause the processor to:

deploy a container engine to execute on a first machine;

deploy a configuration agent to execute on the first machine;

deploy one or more containers to execute on the container engine, wherein each container performs operations to:

instantiate at least one corresponding application to execute in the container;

send to the configuration agent a configuration request for configuration information relating to the application, the configuration request including information that identifies the container, information that identifies a user associated with the container, and information that identifies the application;

receive from the configuration agent configuration information relating to the user's configuration of the application; and

configure the application using the received configuration information.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the executable program code, which when executed by the processor, is further configured to cause the processor to instantiate, for each container, a configuration plugin to execute in the container, wherein the configuration plugin communicates with the configuration agent to obtain the configuration information and the configuration plugin configures the application using the received configuration information.

12. The system of claim 10 , wherein when the configuration agent receives a request from one of the containers, the configuration agent:

communicates with a server separate from the first machine to obtain configuration information from the server for an application in the container; and

sends the obtained configuration information to the container.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the obtained information is stored in a database of the first machine.

14. The system of claim 10 , wherein when the configuration agent receives a request from one of the containers, the configuration agent:

accesses configuration information, stored on the first machine, for an application in the container; and

sends the accessed configuration information to the container.

15. The system of claim 10 , wherein the configuration agent stores configuration information on the first machine and periodically updates the stored configuration information with information received from a server separate from the first machine.

16. The system of claim 10 , wherein the configuration agent stores configuration information on the first machine; receives update information from a first container; and updates the stored configuration information using the update information.

17. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon computer executable instructions, which when executed by a computer device, cause the computer device to:

deploy a container engine to execute on a first machine;

deploy a configuration agent to execute on the first machine;

deploy one or more containers to execute on the container engine, wherein each container performs operations to:

instantiate at least one corresponding application to execute in the container;

send to the configuration agent a configuration request for configuration information relating to the application, the configuration request including information that identifies the container, information that identifies a user associated with the container, and information that identifies the application;

receive from the configuration agent configuration information relating to the user's configuration of the application; and

configure the application using the received configuration information.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 17 , wherein the computer executable instructions, which when executed by the computer device, is further configured to cause the computer device to instantiate, for each container, a configuration plugin to execute in the container, wherein the configuration plugin communicates with the configuration agent to obtain the configuration information and the configuration plugin configures the application using the received configuration information.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 17 , wherein when the configuration agent receives a request from one of the containers, the configuration agent:

communicates with a server separate from the first machine to obtain configuration information from the server for an application in the container; and

sends the obtained configuration information to the container.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 17 , wherein when the configuration agent receives a request from one of the containers, the configuration agent:

accesses configuration information, stored on the first machine, for an application in the container; and

sends the accessed configuration information to the container.