Dockerfile placeholders not replaced during build - docker

Question

Using Docker for Windows, Community version 17.06.0-ce-win19 (12801), Windows 10
Dockerfile
FROM frolvlad/alpine-oraclejdk8:slim
ARG APP_NAME=client-default
RUN mkdir -p /client/
ADD build/libs/$APP_NAME.jar /client/$APP_NAME.jar
ENTRYPOINT ["java", "-jar", "/client/$APP_NAME.jar"]
Running
docker build --build-arg APP_NAME=client-1 -t test/client-1 .
Placeholders not replaced after build (tried ${APP_NAME}, %APP_NAME%)

Answer 1

ARG and ENV are not replaced by Docker in an ENTRYPOINT or a CMD when you use the EXEC form inside []. If the ENTRYPOINT or CMD use the shell form (string, not an array) the shell will be able to do the variable substitution for you.
ARG and ENV variables will be available in RUN commands in the container as environment variables.
Docker will also replace $VARIABLES in the Dockerfile in the following instructions:
ADD
COPY
ENV
EXPOSE
FROM
LABEL
STOPSIGNAL
USER
VOLUME
WORKDIR
Only ENV variables will become available in a CMD or ENTRYPOINT, only in the environment of the running container:
Using ARG
FROM frolvlad/alpine-oraclejdk8:slim
ARG APP_NAME=client-default
ENV APP_NAME=$APP_NAME
RUN mkdir -p /client/
ADD build/libs/$APP_NAME.jar /client/$APP_NAME.jar
ENTRYPOINT ["sh", "-c", "java -jar /client/$APP_NAME.jar"]
or with only ENV
FROM frolvlad/alpine-oraclejdk8:slim
ENV APP_NAME=client-default
RUN mkdir -p /client/
ADD build/libs/$APP_NAME.jar /client/$APP_NAME.jar
ENTRYPOINT ["sh", "-c", "java -jar /client/$APP_NAME.jar"]

Answer 2

Environment variables in Dockerfile are declared with the ENV statement.
In your case:
FROM frolvlad/alpine-oraclejdk8:slim
ENV APP_NAME client-default
RUN mkdir -p /client/
ADD build/libs/${APP_NAME}.jar /client/${APP_NAME}.jar
ENTRYPOINT ["java", "-jar", "/client/${APP_NAME}.jar"]

Answer 3

ARG is only available during the build of a Docker image (RUN etc), not after the image is created and containers are started from it (ENTRYPOINT OR CMD)
ARG variable doesn't get substituted in Dockerfile. ARG IS really an environment variable. During the build, docker "runs" the container using ARG variables as environment variables. Easy to prove (you can test it): Try RUN printenv on your Dockerfile and you'll see the ARG as environment variable
So, you've got two problems:
First:
The Steps in console DOESN'T substitute the ARG variable. So, your jar is really in the container, your line:
ADD build/libs/$APP_NAME.jar /client/$APP_NAME.jar
it's working. Try it.
Second:
Entrypoint is for the running container, not for the image, so you need to put your ARG into an ENV variable, and not to use the exec form. If your use the exec form of ENTRYPOINT does not invoke a command shell. This means that normal shell processing does not happen. If you want shell processing then either use the shell form or execute a shell directly, for example:
ENTRYPOINT cat ${APP_NAME_RUN}
So, try this working example:
FROM ubuntu
ARG APP_NAME=client
RUN mkdir -p /client/
ADD ./$APP_NAME.txt /client/$APP_NAME.txt
ENV APP_NAME_RUN="/client/${APP_NAME}.txt"
RUN echo $APP_NAME_RUN
ENTRYPOINT cat ${APP_NAME_RUN}