I created a data only container containing static HTML files that are intended to be consumed by a nginx container. Goal is that my webapp is providing a volume that nginx can use.
For this reason I created a simple Dockerfile:
FROM scratch
MAINTAINER me <me#me.com>
ADD dist/ /webappp/
When I run the created container from command line run -d -v /webappp --name webapp myOrg/webapp echo yo
I get the error Error response from daemon: Cannot start container db7fd5cd40d76311f8776b1710b4fe6d66284fe75253a806e281cd8ae5169637: exec: "echo": executable file not found in $PATH which if of course correct because the image has no commands at all the can be executed. Running a container without a command is not possible.
While this error on command line is not a big problem for me because I know the data container is still created and can now be accessed by nginx it turns out to be a no go if I want to automate it with Vagrant. The automated processes always fail because of this error.
My only solution so far is to extend my little handy image from from a distro which IMHO doesn't make sense for a data only container in order just to call echo or true!
Is there a NOP exec command in docker or does docker need always to execute something, is it possible to run a scratch container that does nothing or does not produce an error.
As mentioned in the Docker manual: The container don't need to be running. It also doesn't say that the container "should" be able to run at all.
So instead of echoing something stupid by running a data only container e.g. docker run -v /webappp --name webapp myOrg/webapp echo yo
It is already enough to just create the container and never run/start it.
docker create -v /webappp --name webapp myOrg/webapp
Note to self: Vagrant does not support docker create when provisioning!
Why are you using scratch?
Just use the nginx image as a base. You already have the image cached so it won't take up any more space and you'll be able to call echo.
Some references for data containers:
Data-only container madness
Understanding Volumes in Docker
Offiical docs on data containers
Related
I am trying Docker for the first time and do not yet have a "mental model". Total beginner.
All the examples that I am looking at have included the --rm flag to run, such as
docker run -it --rm ...
docker container run -it --rm ...
Question:
Why do these commands include the --rm flag? I would think that if I were to go through the trouble of setting up or downloading a container with the good stuff in it, why remove it? I want to keep it to use again.
So, I know I have the wrong idea of Docker.
Containers are merely an instance of the image you use to run them.
The state of mind when creating a containerized app is not by taking a fresh, clean ubuntu container for instance, and downloading the apps and configurations you wish to have in it, and then let it run.
You should treat the container as an instance of your application, but your application is embedded into an image.
The proper usage would be creating a custom image, where you embed all your files, configurations, environment variables etc, into the image. Read more about Dockerfile and how it is done here
Once you did that, you have an image that contains everything, and in order to use your application, you just run the image with proper port settings or other dynamic variables, using docker run <your-image>
Running containers with --rm flag is good for those containers that you use for very short while just to accomplish something, e.g., compile your application inside a container, or just testing something that it works, and then you are know it's a short lived container and you tell your Docker daemon that once it's done running, erase everything related to it and save the disk space.
The flag --rm is used when you need the container to be deleted after the task for it is complete.
This is suitable for small testing or POC purposes and saves the headache for house keeping.
From https://docs.docker.com/engine/reference/run/#clean-up---rm
By default a container’s file system persists even after the container exits. This makes debugging a lot easier (since you can inspect the final state) and you retain all your data by default. But if you are running short-term foreground processes, these container file systems can really pile up. If instead you’d like Docker to automatically clean up the container and remove the file system when the container exits, you can add the --rm flag
In short, it's useful to keep the host clean from stopped and unused containers.
When you run a container from an image using a simple command like (docker run -it ubuntu), it spins up a container. You attach to your container using docker attach container-name (or using exec for different session).
So, when you're within your container and working on it and you type exit or ctrl+z or any other way to come out of the container, other than ctrl+p+q, your container exits. That means that your container has stopped, but it is still available on your disk and you can start it again with : docker start container-name/ID.
But when you run the container with —rm tag, on exit, the container is deleted permanently.
I use --rm when connecting to running containers to perform some actions such as database backup or file copy. Here is an example:
docker run -v $(pwd):/mnt --link app_postgres_1:pg --rm postgres:9.5 pg_dump -U postgres -h pg -f /mnt/docker_pg.dump1 app_db
The above will connect a running container named 'app_postgres_1' and create a backup. Once the backup command completes, the container is fully deleted.
The "docker run rm " command makes us run a new container and later when our work is completed then it is deleted by saving the disk space.
The important thing to note is, the container is just like a class instance and not for data storage. We better delete them once the work is complete. When we start again, it starts fresh.
The question comes then If the container is deleted then what about the data in a container? The data is actually saved in the local system and get linked to it when the container is started. The concept is named as "Volume or shared volume".
So, is there a point in the command "start"? like in "docker start -i albineContainer".
If I do this, I can't really do anything with the albine inside the container, I would have to do a run and create another container with the "-it" command and "sh" after (or "/bin/bash", don't remember it correctly right now).
Is that how it will go most of the times? delete and rebuilt containers and do the command "-it" if you want to do stuff in them? or would it more depend on the Dockerfile, how you define the cmd.
New to Docker in general and trying to understand the basics on how to use it. Thanks for the help.
Running docker run/exec with -it means you run the docker container and attach an interactive terminal to it.
Note that you can also run docker applications without attaching to them, and they will still run in the background.
Docker allows you to run a program (which can be bash, but does not have to be) in an isolated environment.
For example, try running the jenkins docker image: https://hub.docker.com/_/jenkins.
this will create a container, without you having attach to it, and you would still be able to use it.
You can also attach to an existing, running container by using docker exec -it [container_name] bash.
You can also use docker logs to peek at the stdout of a certain docker container, without actually attaching to its shell interactively.
You almost never use docker start. It's only possible to use it in two unusual circumstances:
If you've created a container with docker create, then docker start will run the process you named there. (But it's much more common to use docker run to do both things together.)
If you've stopped a container with docker stop, docker start will run its process again. (But typically you'll want to docker rm the container once you've stopped it.)
Your question and other comments hint at using an interactive shell in an unmodified Alpine container. Neither is a typical practice. Usually you'll take some complete application and its dependencies and package it into an image, and docker run will run that complete packaged application. Tutorials like Docker's Build and run your image go through this workflow in reasonable detail.
My general day-to-day workflow involves building and testing a program outside of Docker. Once I believe it works, then I run docker build and docker run, and docker rm the container once I'm done. I rarely run docker exec: it is a useful debugging tool but not the standard way to interact with a process. docker start isn't something I really ever run.
I run Joomla image with :
docker run --name some-joomla --link test-mysql:mysql -p 8080:80 -d joomla
How can I change Joomla files ?
I think it is possible when specifying volume mapping, but I did not use that to run Joomla: is there a way to access Joomla files now ?
If I understand your question correctly, this thread should help you out.
Commit your container and create a new image from it.
Run a container from your just created image (and add the volume you need). Watch out for the port mappings, you either have to use other ports temporarily to check functionality of your new container, or you do step 3 beforehand.
If all works out, stop the old one.
If you want to check what's currently in the container, you can jump into it by running docker exec -it some-joomla bash (or sh, whatever Shell is installed in this image). You can then look for the files you want inside the container.
If you found them and you want to copy them on your local machine, you can run docker cp some-joomla:/your/path /path/on/local/machine.
I have a container (i'm using this container https://hub.docker.com/_/mysql/) which had started before, with ID 5f96e9570d1b1475a888d7a615acdd9a7715c1ed6f0c40900f2e9c1ab485c7cf, but now how can i restart it ? I tried this command but not work
$ docker run --name mysql -e MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD=*Abcd1234 -d mysql:5.7
D:\CWindow10\Docker Toolbox\docker.exe: Error response from daemon: Conflict. The container name "/mysql" is already in use by container "5f96e9570d1b1475a888d7a615acdd9a7715c1ed6f0c40900f2e9c1ab485c7cf". You have to remove (or rename) that container to be able to reuse that name.
See 'D:\CWindow10\Docker Toolbox\docker.exe run --help'.
If i delete the container and retype the command, will the old data still exist in new container?
To restart an existing container, simply run docker start <container_name_or_id>.
Regarding the data: docker uses the concept of volumes to put data. For the mysql image, there's a section "Where to Store Data" on the docker hub site. If you don't manually declare where the image should go, docker will create one for you. If you want your data to be kept, the easiest way is to create a folder and tell the docker run command to map that volume. That way, you can still use it if you throw away your container.
use this command to restart container docker restart <CONTAINER>
starting new container will not preserve your data unless you have mounted external volume and stored data on it. Have a look at this blog http://blog.arungupta.me/docker-mysql-persistence/
I'm running the official solr 6.6 container used in a docker-compose environment without any relevant volumes.
If i modify a running solr container the data survives a restart.
I dont see any volumes mounted and it works for a plain solr container:
docker run --name solr_test -d -p 8983:8983 -t library/solr:6.6
docker exec -it solr_test /bin/bash -c 'echo woot > /opt/solr/server/solr/testfile'
docker stop solr_test
docker start solr_test
docker exec -it solr_test cat /opt/solr/server/solr/testfile
Above example prints 'woot'. I thought that a container doesnt persist any data? Also the documentation mentions that the solr cores are persisted in the container.
All i found, regarding container persistence is that i need to add volumes on my own like mentioned here.
So i'm confused: do containers store the data changed within the container or not? And how does the solr container achive this behaviour? The only option i see is that i misunderstood peristence in case of docker or the build of the container can set some kind of option to achieve this which i dont know about and didnt see in the solr Dockerfile.
This is expected behaviour.
The data you create inside a container persist as long as you don't delete the container.
But think containers in some way of throw away mentality. Normally you would want to be able to remove the container with docker rm and spawn a new instance including your modified config files. That's why you would need an e.g. named volume here, which survives a container life cycle on your host.
The Dockerfile, because you mention it in your question, actually only defines the image. When you call docker run you create a container from it. Exactly as defined in the image. A fresh instance without any modifications.
When you call docker commit on your container you snapshot it (including the changes you made to the files) and create a new image out of it. They achieve the data persistence this way.
The documentation you referring to explains this in detail.