Docker

Some basic information about Docker

Dockerfile

Dockerfile is a file to create a Docker image with specific values, configurations, etc. It's similar to create an small "server" to run our applications.

Basic instructions

The basic instructions for a Dockerfile are:

FROM

The FROM instruction initializes a new build stage and sets the Base Image for subsequent instructions. As such, a valid Dockerfile must start with a FROM instruction. The image can be any valid image – it is especially easy to start by pulling an image from the Public Repositories.

FROM debian

Or

FROM debian:latest

Or

FROM squidfunk/mkdocs-material

RUN

RUN has 2 forms:

• RUN <command> (shell form, the command is run in a shell, which by default is /bin/sh -c on Linux or cmd /S /C on Windows)
• RUN ["executable", "param1", "param2"] (exec form)

The RUN instruction will execute any commands in a new layer on top of the current image and commit the results. The resulting committed image will be used for the next step in the Dockerfile.

In the shell form you can use a \ (backslash) to continue a single RUN instruction onto the next line. For example, consider these two lines:

RUN /bin/bash -c 'source $HOME/.bashrc && \
echo $HOME'

Together they are equivalent to this single line:

RUN /bin/bash -c 'source $HOME/.bashrc && echo $HOME'

To use a different shell, other than ‘/bin/sh’, use the exec form passing in the desired shell. For example:

RUN ["/bin/bash", "-c", "echo hello"]

CMD

The CMD instruction has three forms:

• CMD ["executable","param1","param2"] (exec form, this is the preferred form)
• CMD ["param1","param2"] (as default parameters to ENTRYPOINT)
• CMD command param1 param2 (shell form)

There can only be one CMD instruction in a Dockerfile. If you list more than one CMD then only the last CMD will take effect.

The main purpose of a CMD is to provide defaults for an executing container. These defaults can include an executable, or they can omit the executable, in which case you must specify an ENTRYPOINT instruction as well.

When used in the shell or exec formats, the CMD instruction sets the command to be executed when running the image.

If you use the shell form of the CMD, then the <command> will execute in /bin/sh -c:

FROM ubuntu
CMD echo "This is a test." | wc -

If you want to run your <command> without a shell then you must express the command as a JSON array and give the full path to the executable. This array form is the preferred format of CMD. Any additional parameters must be individually expressed as strings in the array:

FROM ubuntu
CMD ["/usr/bin/wc","--help"]

EXPOSE

The EXPOSE instruction informs Docker that the container listens on the specified network ports at runtime.

The EXPOSE instruction does not actually publish the port. It functions as a type of documentation between the person who builds the image and the person who runs the container, about which ports are intended to be published. To actually publish the port when running the container, use the -p flag on docker run to publish and map one or more ports, or the -P flag to publish all exposed ports and map them to high-order ports.

EXPOSE 80

ENV

The ENV instruction sets the environment variable <key> to the value <value>. This value will be in the environment for all subsequent instructions in the build stage and can be replaced inline in many as well. The value will be interpreted for other environment variables, so quote characters will be removed if they are not escaped. Like command line parsing, quotes and backslashes can be used to include spaces within values.

ENV MY_NAME="John Doe"
ENV MY_DOG=Rex\ The\ Dog
ENV MY_CAT=fluffy

COPY

The COPY instruction copies new files or directories from <src> and adds them to the filesystem of the container at the path <dest>.

The <dest> is an absolute path, or a path relative to WORKDIR, into which the source will be copied inside the destination container.

The example below uses a relative path, and adds “test.txt” to <WORKDIR>/relativeDir/:

COPY test.txt relativeDir/

Whereas this example uses an absolute path, and adds “test.txt” to /absoluteDir/

COPY test.txt /absoluteDir/

ENTRYPOINT

ENTRYPOINT has two forms:

The exec form, which is the preferred form:

ENTRYPOINT ["executable", "param1", "param2"]

The shell form:

ENTRYPOINT command param1 param2

An ENTRYPOINT allows you to configure a container that will run as an executable.

Command line arguments to docker run <image> will be appended after all elements in an exec form ENTRYPOINT, and will override all elements specified using CMD. This allows arguments to be passed to the entry point, i.e., docker run <image> -d will pass the -d argument to the entry point. You can override the ENTRYPOINT instruction using the docker run --entrypoint flag.

WORKDIR

The WORKDIR instruction sets the working directory for any RUN, CMD, ENTRYPOINT, COPY and ADD instructions that follow it in the Dockerfile. If the WORKDIR doesn’t exist, it will be created even if it’s not used in any subsequent Dockerfile instruction.

WORKDIR /path/to/workdir

Example

There is an example for a simple Dockerfile

FROM debian
RUN mkdir /test
WORKDIR /test
RUN echo "Hello world!" > test.txt
CMD cat test.txt

How to build a Dockerfile

To build a new image from a Dockerfile in the same location, run the following command

docker build -t "image-name" .

To use a different Dockerfile (from another location or with a different name), run

docker build -t "image-name" -f /path/to/Dockerfile .