While working on docker projects, most of the time, existing docker images won’t meet your requirements, which is why it is useful to know what Dockerfile is and how to create a docker image.
With Dockerfile you can create custom Docker images. Hence, knowing about Dockerfile is essential.
What is Dockerfile?
It is a simple text file with a set of commands or instructions. These commands/instructions are executed successively to perform actions on the base image to create a new docker image.
comments and commands + arguments are two kinds of main line blocks in Dockerfile syntax
Comments Syntax
#Line blocks used for commenting
command argument argument1 …..Commands + Arguments Example
#Line blocks used for commenting
command argument argument1 …..Below is what your workflow will look like.
- Create a Dockerfile and mention the instructions to create your docker image
- Run docker build command which will build a docker image
- Now the docker image is ready to be used, use docker run command to create containers
Now let’s look at basic commands.
Basic Commands
When I’ve used Dockerfile I’ve found these basic commands coming in useful:
- FROM – Defines the base image to use and start the build process.
- RUN – It takes the command and its arguments to run it from the image.
- CMD – Similar function as a RUN command, but it gets executed only after the container is instantiated.
- ENTRYPOINT – It targets your default application in the image when the container is created.
- ADD – It copies the files from source to destination (inside the container).
- ENV – Sets environment variables.
Copy-paste these to a file so that you can look them up whenever you require or better get, bookmark my post!
How to Create a Docker Image with a Dockerfile?
Firstly, let’s create a Dockerfile.
geekflare@geekflare:~$ gedit DockerfilePut the below commands/instructions in it and save it.
# Set the base image to Ubuntu
FROM ubuntu
# Update the repository sources list and install gnupg2
RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y gnupg2
# Add the package verification key
RUN apt-key adv --keyserver hkp://keyserver.ubuntu.com:80 --recv 7F0CEB10
# Add MongoDB to the repository sources list
RUN echo 'deb http://downloads-distro.mongodb.org/repo/ubuntu-upstart dist 10gen' > tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mongodb.list
# Update the repository sources list
RUN apt-get update
# Install MongoDB package (.deb)
RUN apt-get install -y mongodb
# Create the default data directory
RUN mkdir -p /data/db
# Expose the default port
EXPOSE 27017
# Default port to execute the entrypoint (MongoDB)
CMD ["--port 27017"]
# Set default container command
ENTRYPOINT usr/bin/mongodbIn this Dockerfile, ubuntu is set as the base image. Then necessary commands and arguments are mentioned to install MongoDB. Port 27017 is exposed to MongoDB with default container command as usr/bin/mongodb
Next, I will run it to create a docker image.
Running a Dockerfile
The following command will create a docker image called geekflare_mongodb after successful execution.
geekflare@geekflare:~$ docker build -t geekflare_mongodb .
Sending build context to Docker daemon 667.2MB
Step 1/9 : FROM ubuntu
latest: Pulling from library/ubuntu
7413c47ba209: Pull complete
0fe7e7cbb2e8: Pull complete
1d425c982345: Pull complete
344da5c95cec: Pull complete
Digest: sha256:c303f19cfe9ee92badbbbd7567bc1ca47789f79303ddcef56f77687d4744cd7a
Status: Downloaded newer image for ubuntu:latest
---> 3556258649b2
Step 2/10 : RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y gnupg2
---> Running in de3706328761
Get:1 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-security InRelease [88.7 kB]
Get:2 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic InRelease [242 kB]
Fetched 16.9 MB in 38s (445 kB/s)
Reading package lists...
Reading package lists...
Building dependency tree...
Reading state information...
Need to get 5187 kB of archives.
After this operation, 15.8 MB of additional disk space will be used.
Get:1 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic/main amd64 readline-common all 7.0-3 [52.9 kB]
Get:2 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic/main amd64 libreadline7 amd64 7.0-3 [124 kB]
Get:3 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-updates/main amd64 libsqlite3-0 amd64 3.22.0-1ubuntu0.1 [497 kB]
Get:4 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-updates/main amd64 libssl1.1 amd64 1.1.1-1ubuntu2.1~18.04.4 [1300 kB]
debconf: delaying package configuration, since apt-utils is not installed
Fetched 5187 kB in 12s (416 kB/s)
Selecting previously unselected package readline-common.
(Reading database ... 4040 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack .../00-readline-common_7.0-3_all.deb ...
Unpacking readline-common (7.0-3) ...
Selecting previously unselected package libreadline7:amd64.
Preparing to unpack .../01-libreadline7_7.0-3_amd64.deb ...
Selecting previously unselected package dirmngr.
Setting up libnpth0:amd64 (1.5-3) ...
Setting up libksba8:amd64 (1.3.5-2) ...
Setting up gnupg-l10n (2.2.4-1ubuntu1.2) ...
Processing triggers for libc-bin (2.27-3ubuntu1) ...
Removing intermediate container de3706328761
---> a32533894ed1
Step 3/10 : RUN apt-key adv --keyserver hkp://keyserver.ubuntu.com:80 --recv 7F0CEB10
---> Running in 69c4dba38983
Warning: apt-key output should not be parsed (stdout is not a terminal)
Executing: /tmp/apt-key-gpghome.MuT5BDWwKZ/gpg.1.sh --keyserver hkp://keyserver.ubuntu.com:80 --recv 7F0CEB10
gpg: key 5F8F93707F0CEB10: public key "Totally Legit Signing Key <mallory@example.org>" imported
gpg: key 9ECBEC467F0CEB10: 1 signature not checked due to a missing key
gpg: key 9ECBEC467F0CEB10: public key "Richard Kreuter <richard@10gen.com>" imported
gpg: Total number processed: 2
gpg: imported: 2
Removing intermediate container 69c4dba38983
---> cffbe06c1b50
Step 4/10 : RUN echo 'deb http://downloads-distro.mongodb.org/repo/ubuntu-upstart dist 10gen' > tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mongodb.list
---> Running in 40630fd7b0a9
Removing intermediate container 40630fd7b0a9
---> a1bd9d8d7e51
Step 5/10 : RUN apt-get update
---> Running in 750717d9c0ea
Hit:1 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic InRelease
Hit:2 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-updates InRelease
Hit:3 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-security InRelease
Hit:4 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-backports InRelease
Reading package lists...
Removing intermediate container 750717d9c0ea
---> 397d6501db58
Step 6/10 : RUN apt-get install -y mongodb
---> Running in 88609c005e73
Reading package lists...
Building dependency tree...
Reading state information...
The following NEW packages will be installed:
libboost-filesystem1.65.1 libboost-iostreams1.65.1
libboost-program-options1.65.1 libboost-system1.65.1 libgoogle-perftools4
libpcap0.8 libpcrecpp0v5 libsnappy1v5 libstemmer0d libtcmalloc-minimal4
libunwind8 libyaml-cpp0.5v5 mongo-tools mongodb mongodb-clients
mongodb-server mongodb-server-core
0 upgraded, 17 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Need to get 53.7 MB of archives.
After this operation, 218 MB of additional disk space will be used.
Get:1 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-updates/universe amd64 mongodb-clients amd64 1:3.6.3-0ubuntu1.1 [20.2 MB]
Get:2 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-updates/universe amd64 mongodb-server-core amd64 1:3.6.3-0ubuntu1.1 [20.3 MB]
Get:3 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-updates/universe amd64 mongodb-server all 1:3.6.3-0ubuntu1.1 [12.6 kB]
Get:4 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-updates/universe amd64 mongodb amd64 1:3.6.3-0ubuntu1.1 [9968 B]
Fetched 53.7 MB in 10s (5485 kB/s)
Selecting previously unselected package libpcap0.8:amd64.
(Reading database ... 4390 files and directories currently installed.)
Selecting previously unselected package mongodb-clients.
Preparing to unpack .../13-mongodb-clients_1%3a3.6.3-0ubuntu1.1_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking mongodb-clients (1:3.6.3-0ubuntu1.1) ...
Selecting previously unselected package mongodb-server-core.
Preparing to unpack .../14-mongodb-server-core_1%3a3.6.3-0ubuntu1.1_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking mongodb-server-core (1:3.6.3-0ubuntu1.1) ...
Selecting previously unselected package mongodb-server.
Preparing to unpack .../15-mongodb-server_1%3a3.6.3-0ubuntu1.1_all.deb ...
Unpacking mongodb-server (1:3.6.3-0ubuntu1.1) ...
Selecting previously unselected package mongodb.
Preparing to unpack .../16-mongodb_1%3a3.6.3-0ubuntu1.1_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking mongodb (1:3.6.3-0ubuntu1.1) ...
Setting up mongodb-server-core (1:3.6.3-0ubuntu1.1) ...
Setting up mongo-tools (3.6.3-0ubuntu1) ...
Setting up mongodb-clients (1:3.6.3-0ubuntu1.1) ...
Setting up mongodb-server (1:3.6.3-0ubuntu1.1) ...
invoke-rc.d: could not determine current runlevel
invoke-rc.d: policy-rc.d denied execution of start.
Setting up mongodb (1:3.6.3-0ubuntu1.1) ...
Processing triggers for libc-bin (2.27-3ubuntu1) ...
Removing intermediate container 88609c005e73
---> d9c072cb1f84
Step 7/10 : RUN mkdir -p /data/db
---> Running in f817778f69ab
Removing intermediate container f817778f69ab
---> a3fbdb3def5c
Step 8/10 : EXPOSE 27017
---> Running in 8d070e2a1e07
Removing intermediate container 8d070e2a1e07
---> f770776a538c
Step 9/10 : CMD ["--port 27017"]
---> Running in ab612410df77
Removing intermediate container ab612410df77
---> e5830b80934f
Step 10/10 : ENTRYPOINT usr/bin/mongod
---> Running in 95f574727aab
Removing intermediate container 95f574727aab
---> 095d17727ca0
Successfully built 095d17727ca0
Successfully tagged geekflare_mongodb:latestLet us check if the docker image got created with the name geekflare_mongodb.
geekflare@geekflare:~$ docker images
REPOSITORY TAG IMAGE ID CREATED SIZE
geekflare_mongodb latest 095d17727ca0 3 minutes ago 325MB
ubuntu latest 3556258649b2 4 days ago 64.2MB
mean_express latest 35dcb3df9806 6 days ago 923MB
mean_angular latest 9f8d61db600c 6 days ago 1.29GBRun the docker image geekflare_mongodb inside a container mongo_container.
geekflare@geekflare:~$ docker run --name mongo_container -i -t geekflare_mongodb
2019-07-27T19:38:23.734+0000 I CONTROL [initandlisten] MongoDB starting : pid=6 port=27017 dbpath=/data/db 64-bit host=b0095c1e5536
2019-07-27T19:38:23.735+0000 I CONTROL [initandlisten] db version v3.6.3
2019-07-27T19:38:23.735+0000 I CONTROL [initandlisten] git version: 9586e557d54ef70f9ca4b43c26892cd55257e1a5
2019-07-27T19:38:23.736+0000 I CONTROL [initandlisten] OpenSSL version: OpenSSL 1.1.1 11 Sep 2018
2019-07-27T19:38:23.739+0000 I CONTROL [initandlisten] allocator: tcmalloc
2019-07-27T19:38:23.739+0000 I CONTROL [initandlisten] modules: none
2019-07-27T19:38:23.739+0000 I CONTROL [initandlisten] build environment:
2019-07-27T19:38:23.739+0000 I CONTROL [initandlisten] distarch: x86_64
2019-07-27T19:38:23.739+0000 I CONTROL [initandlisten] target_arch: x86_64
2019-07-27T19:38:23.739+0000 I CONTROL [initandlisten] options: {}
2019-07-27T19:38:23.745+0000 I STORAGE [initandlisten] wiredtiger_open config: create,cache_size=2038M,session_max=20000,eviction=(threads_min=4,threads_max=4),config_base=false,statistics=(fast),log=(enabled=true,archive=true,path=journal,compressor=snappy),file_manager=(close_idle_time=100000),statistics_log=(wait=0),verbose=(recovery_progress),
2019-07-27T19:38:24.733+0000 I CONTROL [initandlisten]
2019-07-27T19:38:24.734+0000 I CONTROL [initandlisten] ** WARNING: Access control is not enabled for the database.
2019-07-27T19:38:24.735+0000 I CONTROL [initandlisten] ** Read and write access to data and configuration is unrestricted.
2019-07-27T19:38:24.736+0000 I CONTROL [initandlisten] ** WARNING: You are running this process as the root user, which is not recommended.
2019-07-27T19:38:24.736+0000 I CONTROL [initandlisten]
2019-07-27T19:38:24.736+0000 I CONTROL [initandlisten] ** WARNING: This server is bound to localhost.
2019-07-27T19:38:24.737+0000 I CONTROL [initandlisten] ** Remote systems will be unable to connect to this server.
2019-07-27T19:38:24.737+0000 I CONTROL [initandlisten] ** Start the server with --bind_ip <address> to specify which IP
2019-07-27T19:38:24.737+0000 I CONTROL [initandlisten] ** addresses it should serve responses from, or with --bind_ip_all to
2019-07-27T19:38:24.737+0000 I CONTROL [initandlisten] ** bind to all interfaces. If this behavior is desired, start the
2019-07-27T19:38:24.738+0000 I CONTROL [initandlisten] ** server with --bind_ip 127.0.0.1 to disable this warning.
2019-07-27T19:38:24.738+0000 I CONTROL [initandlisten]
2019-07-27T19:38:24.739+0000 I STORAGE [initandlisten] createCollection: admin.system.version with provided UUID: 4b8b509d-633a-46c1-a302-cb8c82b0d5d3
2019-07-27T19:38:24.788+0000 I COMMAND [initandlisten] setting featureCompatibilityVersion to 3.6
2019-07-27T19:38:24.818+0000 I STORAGE [initandlisten] createCollection: local.startup_log with generated UUID: 6c1c0366-4b1b-4b92-9fcd-d18acc126072
2019-07-27T19:38:24.862+0000 I FTDC [initandlisten] Initializing full-time diagnostic data capture with directory '/data/db/diagnostic.data'
2019-07-27T19:38:24.866+0000 I NETWORK [initandlisten] waiting for connections on port 27017Open a new terminal and check if mongo_container is running.
geekflare@geekflare:~$ docker ps
CONTAINER ID IMAGE COMMAND CREATED STATUS PORTS NAMES
b0095c1e5536 geekflare_mongodb "/bin/sh -c usr/bin/…" 35 seconds ago Up 33 seconds 27017/tcp mongo_containerAs you can see, the container created from geekflare_mongodb image is up and running.
I hope this gives you an idea about Dockerfile and its benefits. You may also check out this documentation on Dockerfile best practices to learn more.