Running a Docker Container with ENTRYPOINT

Let’s learn the details in this case by actually executing ENTRYPOINT in exec form. The following is an example of a Dockerfile that uses the exec form of ENTRYPOINT, which outputs a character string on the command line.

  FROM alpine
ENTRYPOINT ["echo", "Hello!"]

Build dockerfile 

  ➜  Dockerfile git:(main) ✗ docker build -t sangam14/entrypoint-dockerfile  -f dockerfile.entrypoint .
[+] Building 3.2s (6/6) FINISHED                                                                                            
 => [internal] load build definition from dockerfile.entrypoint                                                        0.0s
 => => transferring dockerfile: 94B                                                                                    0.0s
 => [internal] load .dockerignore                                                                                      0.0s
 => => transferring context: 2B                                                                                        0.0s
 => [internal] load metadata for docker.io/library/alpine:latest                                                       3.1s
 => [auth] library/alpine:pull token for registry-1.docker.io                                                          0.0s
 => [1/1] FROM docker.io/library/alpine@sha256:69665d02cb32192e52e07644d76bc6f25abeb5410edc1c7a81a10ba3f0efb90a        0.0s
 => => resolve docker.io/library/alpine@sha256:69665d02cb32192e52e07644d76bc6f25abeb5410edc1c7a81a10ba3f0efb90a        0.0s
 => => sha256:69665d02cb32192e52e07644d76bc6f25abeb5410edc1c7a81a10ba3f0efb90a 1.64kB / 1.64kB                         0.0s
 => => sha256:c41ab5c992deb4fe7e5da09f67a8804a46bd0592bfdf0b1847dde0e0889d2bff 528B / 528B                             0.0s
 => => sha256:d74e625d91152966d38fe8a62c60daadb96d4b94c1a366de01fab5f334806239 1.49kB / 1.49kB                         0.0s
 => exporting to image                                                                                                 0.0s
 => => exporting layers                                                                                                0.0s
 => => writing image sha256:0d5a798a648339f8ea8094b10568eb2dc44540480deff55f680dfd689f787013                           0.0s
 => => naming to docker.io/sangam14/entrypoint-dockerfile                                                              0.0s

run docker container 

   Dockerfile git:(main) ✗ docker run sangam14/entrypoint-dockerfile 
Hello!
➜  Dockerfile git:(main) ✗ docker run sangam14/entrypoint-dockerfile echo "sangam"
Hello! echo sangam
➜  Dockerfile git:(main) ✗

Overwrite with --entrypoint option

On the other hand, in ENTRYPOINT, you can change the instruction by using the option of —entrypoint as follows.

  docker run --rm --entrypoint sh sangam14/entrypoint-dockerfile  -c 'echo "test"'
test

CMD and ENTRYPOINT have similar roles and are confusing, but they have different functions. CMD, ENTRYPOINT, and ENTRYPOINT also behave differently between shell form and exec form, so it’s a good idea to use each function properly. The instructions in the Dockerfile are a bit complicated, but you can use them effectively if you understand them.

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Last updated 03 Jun 2024, 13:43 +0530 . history