package.json file won't persist in docker container - docker

Question

I am trying to build a docker environment. I have made a Dockerfile which builds my image. Everything seems to work fine except for the issue that my package.json file won't persist inside the container. It seems as if it is getting removed somewhere. What I am doing wrong? Here is my Docker file content:
FROM ubuntu:14.04
RUN groupadd -r webuser && useradd -r -g webuser webuser && mkdir /home/webuser/ && chown webuser:webuser /home/webuser/
# install curl, apache, php
RUN sudo DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive \
apt-get -y update && \
apt-get -y install software-properties-common python-software-properties && \
add-apt-repository ppa:ondrej/php && \
apt-get -y update && \
apt-get install -y --force-yes \
curl \
git-core \
apache2 \
php5.6 php5.6-mcrypt php5.6-mbstring php5.6-curl php5.6-cli php5.6-mysql php5.6-gd php5.6-intl php5.6-xsl \
php5.6-bz2 php5.6-zip && \
php -r "copy('https://getcomposer.org/installer', 'composer-setup.php');" && \
php composer-setup.php && \
php -r "unlink('composer-setup.php');" && \
mv composer.phar /usr/local/bin/composer && \
chmod +x /usr/local/bin/composer
# install PHPUnit
RUN curl -L https://phar.phpunit.de/phpunit.phar -o phpunit.phar && \
chmod +x phpunit.phar && \
mv phpunit.phar /usr/local/bin/phpunit && \
chmod +x /usr/local/bin/phpunit
ADD package.json /var/www/html/package.json
WORKDIR /var/www/html
RUN chown -R webuser:webuser /var/www/html
USER webuser
# install node js 6
RUN NVM_DIR="/home/webuser/.nvm" && \
curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/creationix/nvm/v0.32.0/install.sh | bash && \
[ -s "$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh" ] && . "$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh" && \
nvm install 6 && \
npm install -g webpack && \
npm install
RUN echo 'export NVM_DIR="/home/webuser/.nvm"\n\
[ -s "$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh" ] && . "$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh"'\
>> /home/webuser/.bashrc
COPY src /var/www/html/
USER root
EXPOSE 80
CMD ["/usr/sbin/apache2ctl", "-D", "FOREGROUND"]

Answer 1

Try changing your ADD command to the following :
RUN mkdir -p /var/www/html
ADD package.json /var/www/html
Also make sure the package.json is present in the

Answer 2

FROM ubuntu:14.04
ADD package.json /var/www/html/package.json
RUN groupadd -r webuser && useradd -r -g webuser webuser && mkdir /home/webuser/ && chown webuser:webuser /home/webuser/
# install curl, apache, php
RUN sudo DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive \
apt-get -y update && \
apt-get -y install software-properties-common python-software-properties && \
add-apt-repository ppa:ondrej/php && \
apt-get -y update && \
apt-get install -y --force-yes \
curl \
git-core \
apache2 \
php5.6 php5.6-mcrypt php5.6-mbstring php5.6-curl php5.6-cli php5.6-mysql php5.6-gd php5.6-intl php5.6-xsl \
php5.6-bz2 php5.6-zip && \
php -r "copy('https://getcomposer.org/installer', 'composer-setup.php');" && \
php composer-setup.php && \
php -r "unlink('composer-setup.php');" && \
mv composer.phar /usr/local/bin/composer && \
chmod +x /usr/local/bin/composer
# install PHPUnit
RUN curl -L https://phar.phpunit.de/phpunit.phar -o phpunit.phar && \
chmod +x phpunit.phar && \
mv phpunit.phar /usr/local/bin/phpunit && \
chmod +x /usr/local/bin/phpunit
WORKDIR /var/www/html
RUN chown -R webuser:webuser /var/www/html
USER webuser
# install node js 6
RUN NVM_DIR="/home/webuser/.nvm" && \
curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/creationix/nvm/v0.32.0/install.sh | bash && \
[ -s "$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh" ] && . "$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh" && \
nvm install 6 && \
npm install -g webpack && \
npm install
RUN echo 'export NVM_DIR="/home/webuser/.nvm"\n\
[ -s "$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh" ] && . "$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh"'\
>> /home/webuser/.bashrc
COPY src /var/www/html/
USER root
EXPOSE 80
CMD ["/usr/sbin/apache2ctl", "-D", "FOREGROUND"]
i have executed your Dockerfile and had the same problem. It works if the ADD is at the beginning of the Dockerfile. But there are some other problems. The build process is stopping right after
chmod +x /usr/local/bin/composer
it wont install PHPUnit and nodeJS, set owner of the www directory and so on.
Maybe you should chain the whole RUN into one.

Answer 3

It seems like we need to have the package.json file within the source directory. Copying package.json separately and running the npm install pattern is used to make use of docker's caching system.