title: aliases for external containers linked through network
body: <p>Lets say we have two web services: alpha &amp; beta</p>
  
  <p>1) <code>docker-compose.yml</code> for <strong>alpha</strong>:</p>
  
  <pre><code>version: '2'
  
  services:
      web:
          build: .
          env_file: local.env
          networks:
            - default
            - beta
  
      networks:
          beta:
              external:
                  name: beta_default
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>2) <code>docker-compose.yml</code> for <strong>beta</strong>:</p>
  
  <pre><code>version: '2'
  
  services:
      web:
          build: .
          env_file: .env
          expose:
            - "5000"
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>That way I can interact (e.g ping) <code>beta_web_1</code> container from <code>alpha_web_1</code> container. What I want is to make an alias for <code>beta_web_1</code> container, so that I could name it after a valid URL, e.g: <code>beta.local</code>. </p>
  
  <p>I would like this to happen inside <code>docker-compose.yml</code> for <code>alpha</code> or in any way that keeps it inside alpha's scope of view, so that I wouldn't need to change the actual system-wide name for <code>beta_web_1</code> </p>
  
  <p>Is this possible?</p>