Create Droplet to run single task then destroy

Question

Hello,

I have a function in my workflow that does some video encoding and needs a CPU optimized droplet to run efficiently.

The thing is I only need it to run a few times a day. So I wanted a way to initiate a task that creates a droplet (possibly a docker container), has it run a task and then destroy it.

I know I can create a cheap droplet and code it with the DigitalOcean API to accept tasks, create a droplet, run the task and then destroy it but I was wondering if there was already something built out that I can use to not reinvent the wheel.

Any help or hints in the right direction would be helpful. Thank you!

Bobby · Accepted Answer

Hi there @mindglitch , I don’t think that there is built-in functionality to do that via the DigitalOcean control panel directly. Though I think that this is a great idea, sounds like it’d be super useful! The best thing to do to get your voice heard regarding this would be to head over to our Product Ideas board and post a new idea, including as much information as possible for what you’d like to see implemented. https://ideas.digitalocean.com/ On another note, I have a small bash script that I use for similar tasks. NOTE: Please, carefully review the whole script before using it. The prerequisites are: You need to have the doctl installed and authenticated, you can do that by following the steps here: https://www.digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/how-to-use-doctl-the-official-digitalocean-command-line-client You need to have your SSH Key on the machine that you are going to run the script on You need Your SSH key ID What the script does is: Creates a new Droplet with the details that you’ve specified Waits for the Droplet to become active Runs a key scan Executes a set of commands on the new Droplet over SSH Deletes the Droplet #!/bin/bash ## # Variables # Add the details of the Droplet that you would like to create ## droplet_name='test-droplet' droplet_size='s-1vcpu-1gb' droplet_image='ubuntu-18-04-x64' droplet_region='fra1' ssh_key_id='<^>your_ssh_key_id<^>' ## # Droplet info session file ## temp_droplet=$(mktemp /tmp/temp-droplet.XXXXXX) ## # Create Droplet ## function new_droplet() { echo "Creating Droplet with the following details:" echo "Droplet name: ${droplet_name}" echo "Droplet size: ${droplet_size}" echo "Droplet image: ${droplet_image}" echo "Droplet regon: ${droplet_region}" doctl compute droplet create ${droplet_name} --size ${droplet_size} --image ${droplet_image} --region ${droplet_region} --ssh-keys ${ssh_key_id} > ${temp_droplet} echo "Waiting 60 seconds for Droplet to be created..." sleep 1m new_droplet_id=$(cat ${temp_droplet} | tail -1 | awk '{ print $1 }') new_droplet_ip=$(doctl compute droplet get ${new_droplet_id} --template "{{ .PublicIPv4}}") echo "Droplet IP: ${new_droplet_ip}" } new_droplet ## # Check if Droplet is running ## function ssh_key_scan() { while [ "$status" != "active" ] ; do echo "Waiting for status to become active.." sleep 5 status=$(doctl compute droplet get ${new_droplet_id} --template "{{ .Status}}") done echo "Droplet status is: ${status}. Proceeding to SSH Key Scan" ssh-keyscan ${new_droplet_ip} >> ~/.ssh/known_hosts } ssh_key_scan ## # Execute a command ## function run_commands() { echo "Running commands.." ssh root@${new_droplet_ip} 'cat /etc/os-release' } run_commands ## # Delete Droplet and session file ## function clean_up(){ echo "Deleting Droplet and temp files.." doctl compute droplet delete -f ${new_droplet_id} rm ${temp_droplet} } clean_up In the run_commands function you can change the command/commands which you would like to execute. Hope that this helps!Regards,Bobby

fmillion · Answer

I wrote a script that is similar to Bobby’s but I used cloud-init to provide the script to execute to the droplet. The only downside to this approach is that you still need a machine running locally to either make the SSH connection, or to monitor the droplet to figure out when it’s done. If that local machine goes away (e.g. needs to be rebooted), or your locally running script errors out (the one that monitors the droplet), or whatever, the droplet will sit there until you go manually remove it. In my case, the last thing my script does is shut down the droplet, so I just poll every 30 seconds to see if the droplet is powered on and if it is not, I destroy it. What would really be nice is if there was an “ephemeral” droplet option, where you could instruct DO to automatically destroy the droplet when it is powered off. Much like the --rm option on a Docker container. Could be a parameter in the create API for example. Then you could just use cloud-init to provide the script to run.

Become a contributor for community

DigitalOcean Documentation

Resources for startups and AI-native businesses

The developer cloud

Start building today

Report this

Create Droplet to run single task then destroy

Related questions

What’s the status of CopyFail patches in shared hosts?

unauthorized: (Error when pushing container to docr)

App platform worker hangs, sometimes giving exit code 12

Trouble deploying CTFd in the kubernetes containers

How to run Docker Compose project serverless.

NFS type storage for containers on DO

Unable to push to Container Registry

How can I make it so my local code is in the same origin as my apps in Docker?

Setting up a Web App With Docker Containers - Security

What is the difference between Basic and Professional tiers?

How can I deploy NGINX Ingress Controller with enable ssl passthrough true?

Hosting multiple Nuxtjs apps on same domain in app platform

Report this

Create Droplet to run single task then destroy

Related questions

What’s the status of CopyFail patches in shared hosts?

unauthorized: (Error when pushing container to docr)

App platform worker hangs, sometimes giving exit code 12

Trouble deploying CTFd in the kubernetes containers

How to run Docker Compose project serverless.

NFS type storage for containers on DO

Unable to push to Container Registry

How can I make it so my local code is in the same origin as my apps in Docker?

Setting up a Web App With Docker Containers - Security

What is the difference between Basic and Professional tiers?

How can I deploy NGINX Ingress Controller with enable ssl passthrough true?

Hosting multiple Nuxtjs apps on same domain in app platform