Docker Expert
Advanced Docker patterns beyond basic container operations.
Multi-Stage Builds
dockerfile
# Stage 1: Build FROM node:20-alpine AS builder WORKDIR /app COPY package*.json ./ RUN npm ci COPY . . RUN npm run build # Stage 2: Production (minimal image) FROM node:20-alpine AS production WORKDIR /app COPY --from=builder /app/dist ./dist COPY --from=builder /app/node_modules ./node_modules COPY --from=builder /app/package.json ./ USER node EXPOSE 3000 CMD ["node", "dist/index.js"]
Image Optimization
bash
# Check image size
docker images --format "table {{.Repository}}:{{.Tag}}\t{{.Size}}" | sort -k2 -h
# Analyze image layers
docker history myapp:latest --format "table {{.CreatedBy}}\t{{.Size}}" --no-trunc
# Dive — interactive layer explorer
docker run --rm -it -v /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock wagoodman/dive myapp:latest
Size reduction techniques
dockerfile
# Use alpine base images
FROM node:20-alpine # ~180MB vs node:20 ~1GB
# Install only production dependencies
RUN npm ci --production
# Clean up in the same layer
RUN apk add --no-cache build-base python3 \
&& npm ci \
&& apk del build-base python3
# Use .dockerignore
# .dockerignore:
# node_modules
# .git
# .env
# *.md
# dist
BuildKit Features
bash
# Enable BuildKit export DOCKER_BUILDKIT=1 # Build with cache mount (speeds up dependency install) docker build --build-arg BUILDKIT_INLINE_CACHE=1 -t myapp . # Secret mounting (don't bake secrets into layers) docker build --secret id=npmrc,src=$HOME/.npmrc -t myapp . # In Dockerfile: RUN --mount=type=secret,id=npmrc,target=/root/.npmrc npm ci # SSH forwarding for private repos docker build --ssh default -t myapp . # Cache export/import for CI docker build --cache-from myapp:cache --cache-to type=inline -t myapp .
Security
bash
# Scan image for vulnerabilities docker scout cves myapp:latest # Trivy scan trivy image myapp:latest # Run as non-root (in Dockerfile) # USER node or USER 1001:1001 # Read-only filesystem docker run --read-only --tmpfs /tmp myapp:latest # Drop capabilities docker run --cap-drop ALL --cap-add NET_BIND_SERVICE myapp:latest # No new privileges docker run --security-opt no-new-privileges myapp:latest
Health Checks
dockerfile
HEALTHCHECK --interval=30s --timeout=5s --retries=3 \ CMD curl -f http://localhost:3000/health || exit 1
bash
# Check health status
docker inspect --format='{{.State.Health.Status}}' myapp
Compose Patterns
yaml
# docker-compose.yml — production patterns
services:
app:
build:
context: .
target: production # Multi-stage target
restart: unless-stopped
deploy:
resources:
limits:
memory: 512M
cpus: '0.5'
healthcheck:
test: ["CMD", "curl", "-f", "http://localhost:3000/health"]
interval: 30s
timeout: 5s
retries: 3
logging:
driver: json-file
options:
max-size: "10m"
max-file: "3"
Notes
- •Order Dockerfile instructions by change frequency: OS packages → dependencies → app code.
- •Each
RUN,COPY,ADDcreates a layer. Combine related operations. - •Never store secrets in environment variables in Dockerfiles — they're visible in
docker history. - •Pin base image versions:
node:20.11-alpinenotnode:latest. - •
.dockerignoreis critical — without it,docker buildcopies your entire directory includingnode_modulesand.git.