Dockerfile creates a file and then it's not there - docker

Question

This is just a piece of a Dockefile that's confusing me. It has some extra debugging lines in it by the way. In the first line I create /home/ubuntu/.bashrc. However then at the last line, it acts as if it cannot run it.
RUN echo 'source /opt/ros/kinetic/setup.bash' >> /home/ubuntu/.bashrc
RUN echo 'source /home/ubuntu/catkin_ws/devel/setup.bash' >> /home/ubuntu/.bashrc
RUN /bin/bash -c "echo 'export HOME=/home/ubuntu' >> /root/.bashrc && source /root/.bashrc"
RUN pwd
RUN cd ~ && pwd
RUN cat /home/ubuntu/.bashrc
RUN mkdir -p ~/catkin_ws/src
RUN source /home/ubuntu/.bashrc && \
cd ~/catkin_ws/src && \
/opt/ros/kinetic/bin/catkin_init_workspace && \
cd ~/catkin_ws && \
catkin_make
Here's the output:
Step 13/32 : RUN echo 'source /opt/ros/kinetic/setup.bash' >> /home/ubuntu/.bashrc
---> Using cache
---> a60c2d1482d8
Step 14/32 : RUN echo 'source /home/ubuntu/catkin_ws/devel/setup.bash' >> /home/ubuntu/.bashrc
---> Using cache
---> 3be964ee0c36
Step 15/32 : RUN /bin/bash -c "echo 'export HOME=/home/ubuntu' >> /root/.bashrc && source /root/.bashrc"
---> Using cache
---> 83cf2e5f4b1c
Step 16/32 : RUN pwd
---> Using cache
---> 40915ecc834d
Step 17/32 : RUN cd ~ && pwd
---> Using cache
---> 92f2cee78a48
Step 18/32 : RUN cat /home/ubuntu/.bashrc
---> Using cache
---> c8f467775b33
Step 19/32 : RUN mkdir -p ~/catkin_ws/src
---> Using cache
---> 53e5c403949f
Step 20/32 : RUN source /home/ubuntu/.bashrc && cd ~/catkin_ws/src && /opt/ros/kinetic/bin/catkin_init_workspace && cd ~/catkin_ws && catkin_make
---> Running in 708d485325e2
/bin/sh: 1: source: not found
The command '/bin/sh -c source /home/ubuntu/.bashrc && cd ~/catkin_ws/src && /opt/ros/kinetic/bin/catkin_init_workspace && cd ~/catkin_ws && catkin_make' returned a non-zero code: 127
Naturally, it's my bug but I cant see it nor the gap in my understanding.Thanks!

Answer 1

source is not a valid command, it's a bash builtin.
It's not telling you that the file /home/ubuntu/.bashrc but that source is not a command
Just put the RUN parameter in a sh script, started correctly with #!/bin/bash.
Then just copy the sh to the container using COPY, and run it with RUN.
Don't forget to give the exec permission to the script:
COPY script.sh /
RUN ["chmod", "+x", "/script.sh"]
RUN /script.sh
Or:
RUN /bin/bash -c "source ...."

Answer 2

As pointed out by #michael_bitard, source is a bash built-in. Default shell in ubuntu is dash as can be seen here:
# ls -l /bin/sh
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 4 Jan 22 17:49 /bin/sh -> dash
To use bash to run the command, change the RUN instruction to
RUN cd ~/catkin_ws/src && \
/opt/ros/kinetic/bin/catkin_init_workspace && \
cd ~/catkin_ws && \
/bin/bash -c "source /home/ubuntu/.bashrc; catkin_make"
Another option is to set the BASH_ENV environment variable, which should source the specified file (/home/ubuntu/.bashrc) before running the bash script catkin_make as mentioned here.
ENV BASH_ENV /home/ubuntu/.bashrc
RUN cd ~/catkin_ws/src && \
/opt/ros/kinetic/bin/catkin_init_workspace && \
cd ~/catkin_ws && \
/bin/bash -c "catkin_make"