Learning Docker

The Dockerfile build instructions

So far, we have looked at the integrated build system, the Dockerfile syntax and a sample life cycle, including how a sample Dockerfile is leveraged to generate an image and how a container gets spun off from that image. In this section, we will introduce the Dockerfile instructions, their syntax, and a few fitting examples.

The FROM instruction

The FROM instruction is the most important one and it is the first valid instruction of a Dockerfile. It sets the base image for the build process. The subsequent instructions would use this base image and build on top of it. The docker build system lets you flexibly use the images built by anyone. You can also extend them by adding more precise and practical features to ...