What is the workflow to build with docker AND docker-compose? - docker

Question

I have this repo, and docker-compose up will launch the project, create 2 containers (a DB and API), and everything works.
Now I want to build and deploy to Kubernetes. I try docker-compose build but it complains there's no Dockerfile. So I start writing a Dockerfile and then discover that docker/Dockerfiles don't support loading ENV vars from an env_file or .env file. What gives? How am I expected to build this image? Could somebody please enlighten me?
What is the intended workflow for building a docker image with the appropriate environment variables?

Answer 1

Those environment variables shouldn't be set at docker build step but at running the application on Kubernetes or docker-compose.
So:
Write a Dockerfile and place it at root folder. Something like this:
FROM node
COPY package.json .
RUN npm install
COPY . .
ENTRYPOINT ["npm", "start"]
Modify docker-compose.yaml. In the image field you must specify the name for the image to be built. It should be something like this:
image: YOUR-DOCKERHUB-USERNAME/node-rest-auth-arangodb
There is no need to set user and working_dir
Build the image with docker-compose build (you can also do this with docker build)
Now you can use docker-compose up to run your app locally, with the .env file
To deploy it on Kubernetes you need to publish your image in dockerhub (unless you run Kubernetes locally):
docker push YOUR-DOCKERHUB-USERNAME/node-rest-auth-arangodb
Finally, create a Kubernetes manifest. Sadly kubernetes doesn't support env files as docker-compose do, you'll need to manually set these variables in the manifest:
apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
name: platform-api
labels:
app: platform-api
spec:
replicas: 1
selector:
matchLabels:
app: platform-api
template:
metadata:
labels:
app: platform-api
spec:
containers:
- name: platform-api
image: YOUR-DOCKERHUB-USERNAME/node-rest-auth-arangodb
ports:
- containerPort: 8080
env:
- name: NODE_ENV
value: develop
---
apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
name: platform-db
labels:
app: platform-db
spec:
replicas: 1
selector:
matchLabels:
app: platform-db
template:
metadata:
labels:
app: platform-db
spec:
containers:
- name: arangodb
image: YOUR-DOCKERHUB-USERNAME/node-rest-auth-arangodb
ports:
- containerPort: 8529
env:
- name: ARANGO_ROOT_PASSWORD
value: localhost
Deploy it with kubectl create
Please note that this code is just indicative, I don't know exactly your user case. Find more information in docker-compose and kubernetes docs and tutorials. Good luck!

Answer 2

I've updated the project on github, it now all works, and the readme documents how to run it.
I realized that env vars are considered runtime vars, which is why --env-file is an option for docker run and not docker build. This must also (I assume) be why docker-compose.yml has the env_file option, which I assume just passes the file to docker build. And in Kubernetes, I think these are passed in from a configmap. This is done so the image remains more portable; same project can be run with different vars passed in, no rebuild required.
Thanks ignacio-millán for the input.