In software development, understanding and managing time is somewhat important. Whether you’re testing application behavior under specific time conditions or simply need a reliable tool for time simulation, having this tool is so useful. And this is where roura/siestabox comes in – a lightweight Docker image designed to simulate time delays, simple.

What is SiestaBox?

roura/siestabox is a Docker image built with simplicity and efficiency in mind. It’s built on top of Alpine Linux, a lightweight and reliable base image, to make it as light as possible. By executing a script with adjustable sleep durations, roura/siestabox can help in a wide range of time-related tasks.

How Does SiestaBox Work?

At its core, roura/siestabox operates very simply. Users can specify the duration of the time delay by setting the TIMEOUT environment variable when running the container. But, if no value is provided, roura/siestabox defaults to a 10-second delay.

A good use-case for roura/siestabox is Testing Time-sensitive Applications. SiestaBox enables you to simulate real-world scenarios where time plays a critical role. Whether you’re testing a scheduling algorithm, a time-based event trigger, or time-sensitive calculations, SiestaBox can be a nice tool for thorough testing and validation.

Getting Started with SiestaBox:

Using roura/siestabox is straightforward and requires minimal setup. Simply pull the Docker image from the repository and run the container with your desired TIMEOUT value.

Run SiestaBox with a custom TIMEOUT value (e.g., 20 seconds):

docker run -e TIMEOUT=20 roura/siestabox

In the above example, the Docker container will run for 20 seconds and then will stop.

Task started, taking a siesta for the next 20 seconds...
Task completed. Buenos días.

Then, the container will stop. Done.