What is Docker Context and how to use it to manage remote Docker daemons?

Docker Context is a powerful tool that allows developers to easily switch between different instances of Docker daemons using a single command-line interface. This is especially useful when working with remote servers, cloud clusters, or a local development environment on a single machine. The context stores all necessary configuration, including API endpoints and security credentials, eliminating the need to constantly change environment variables.

To create a new context, the docker context create command is used. For example, you can connect to a remote server via SSH by specifying the context name and connection parameters. After creating a new context, it can be activated using the docker context use command, after which all subsequent docker commands will be executed on the remote server as if it were running locally.

In addition to remote servers, contexts are actively used to work with Kubernetes clusters via the Docker CLI. This allows building images and managing containers directly in the Kubernetes environment without complex manipulations with kubectl. Using contexts significantly simplifies the process of multi-platform development and infrastructure administration, minimizing the human factor when switching between working environments.