Create a custom Docker dev environment - docker

Question

I like the Docker dev environment tool but I'd like to also be able have some tools preinstalled when a user clones the repository using the Docker Dev Environment tool.
I've have a .devcontainer folder in the repository with a Dockerfile:
# [Choice] Alpine version: 3.13, 3.12, 3.11, 3.10
ARG VARIANT="3.13"
FROM mcr.microsoft.com/vscode/devcontainers/base:0-alpine-${VARIANT}
# Install Terraform CLI
# Install GCloud SDK
And a devcontainer.json file:
{
"name": "Alpine",
"build": {
"dockerfile": "Dockerfile",
// Update 'VARIANT' to pick an Alpine version: 3.10, 3.11, 3.12, 3.13
"args": { "VARIANT": "3.13" }
},
// Set *default* container specific settings.json values on container create.
"settings": {},
// Add the IDs of extensions you want installed when the container is created.
// Note that some extensions may not work in Alpine Linux. See https://aka.ms/vscode-remote/linux.
"extensions": [],
// Use 'forwardPorts' to make a list of ports inside the container available locally.
// "forwardPorts": [],
// Use 'postCreateCommand' to run commands after the container is created.
// "postCreateCommand": "uname -a",
// Uncomment when using a ptrace-based debugger like C++, Go, and Rust
// "runArgs": [ "--cap-add=SYS_PTRACE", "--security-opt", "seccomp=unconfined" ],
// Comment out connect as root instead. More info: https://aka.ms/vscode-remote/containers/non-root.
"remoteUser": "vscode"
}
I've tried to include curl and install commands in the Dockerfile but the commands just don't seem to work. To clarify, once the container is built I can't seem to access the CLI tools eg. terraform --version says terraform not found.
The docker launches as a VSCode window running in the container and I am attempting to use the CLI tools from the VSCode terminal if that makes a difference.

Answer 1

EDIT: So the issue is that creating an environment from the Docker dashboard doesn't read in your .devcontainer folder and files, it jus creates a stock basic container. You need to clone the repository, open in VSCode, and then Reopen in Container and it will build your environment.
I swapped to Ubuntu as the base image instead of Alpine and then instead of creating the dev environment from the Docker dashboard I instead opened the project folder locally in VSCode and selected "Reopen in Container". It then seemed to install everything and I have the CLI tools available now.
The below install commands come from the official documentation from each provider. I'm going to retest pulling the repository down through the Docker dashboard to see if it works.
# [Choice] Ubuntu version: bionic, focal
ARG VARIANT="focal"
FROM mcr.microsoft.com/vscode/devcontainers/base:0-${VARIANT}
# Installs Terragrunt + Terraform
ARG TERRAGRUNT_PATH=/bin/terragrunt
ARG TERRAGRUNT_VERSION=0.31.1
RUN wget https://github.com/gruntwork-io/terragrunt/releases/download/v${TERRAGRUNT_VERSION}/terragrunt_linux_amd64 -O ${TERRAGRUNT_PATH} \
&& chmod 755 ${TERRAGRUNT_PATH}
# Installs GCloud SDK
RUN echo "deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/cloud.google.gpg] http://packages.cloud.google.com/apt cloud-sdk main" | tee -a /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-cloud-sdk.list && curl https://packages.cloud.google.com/apt/doc/apt-key.gpg | apt-key --keyring /usr/share/keyrings/cloud.google.gpg add - && apt-get update -y && apt-get install google-cloud-sdk -y