---
description: Introduction and Overview of Docker Cluster
keywords: documentation, docs, docker, cluster, infrastructure, automation
title: Overview of Docker Cluster
---

>{% include enterprise_label_shortform.md %}

Docker Cluster is a tool for lifecycle management of Docker clusters.
With Cluster, you use a YAML file to configure your provider's resources.
Then, with a single command, you provision and install all the resources
from your configuration.

Using Docker Cluster is a three-step process:

1. Ensure you have the credentials necessary to provision a cluster.

2. Define the resources that make up your cluster in `cluster.yml`

3. Run `docker cluster create` to have Cluster provision resources and install Docker Enterprise on the resources.

A `cluster.yml` file resembles the following example:

{% raw %}
```yaml
variable:
  region: us-east-2
  ucp_password:
    type: prompt

provider:
  aws:
    region: ${region}

cluster:
  engine:
    version: "ee-stable-18.09.5"
  ucp:
    version: "docker/ucp:3.1.6"
    username: "admin"
    password: ${ucp_password}

resource:
  aws_instance:
    managers:
       quantity: 1
```
{% endraw %}

For more information about Cluster files, refer to the
[Cluster file reference](cluster-file.md).

Docker Cluster has commands for managing the whole lifecycle of your cluster:

 * Create and destroy clusters
 * Scale up or scale down clusters
 * Upgrade clusters
 * View the status of clusters
 * Backup and restore clusters

## Export Docker Cluster artifacts

You can export both Terraform and Ansible scripts to deploy certain components standalone or with custom configurations. Use the following commands to export those scripts:

```bash
docker container run --detach --name dci --entrypoint sh docker/cluster:latest
docker container cp dci:/cluster/terraform terraform
docker container cp dci:/cluster/ansible ansible
docker container stop dci
docker container rm dci
```

## Where to go next

- [Get started with Docker Cluster on AWS](aws.md)
- [Command line reference](/engine/reference/commandline/cluster/)
- [Cluster file reference](/ee/cluster-file.md)