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name: docker-containerization description: > Create optimized Docker containers with multi-stage builds, security best practices, and minimal image sizes. Use when containerizing applications, creating Dockerfiles, optimizing container images, or setting up Docker Compose services.

Docker Containerization

Table of Contents

• Overview
• When to Use
• Quick Start
• Reference Guides
• Best Practices

Overview

Build production-ready Docker containers following best practices for security, performance, and maintainability.

When to Use

• Containerizing applications for deployment
• Creating Dockerfiles for new services
• Optimizing existing container images
• Setting up development environments
• Building CI/CD container pipelines
• Implementing microservices

Quick Start

Minimal working example:

# Multi-stage build for Node.js application
# Stage 1: Build
FROM node:18-alpine AS builder
WORKDIR /app
COPY package*.json ./
RUN npm ci --only=production
COPY . .
RUN npm run build

# Stage 2: Production
FROM node:18-alpine
WORKDIR /app
# Copy only production dependencies and built files
COPY --from=builder /app/node_modules ./node_modules
COPY --from=builder /app/dist ./dist
COPY package*.json ./

# Security: Run as non-root user
RUN addgroup -g 1001 -S nodejs && adduser -S nodejs -u 1001
USER nodejs

EXPOSE 3000
CMD ["node", "dist/index.js"]

Reference Guides

Detailed implementations in the references/ directory:

| Guide | Contents | |---|---| | Multi-Stage Builds | Multi-Stage Builds | | Optimization Techniques | Optimization Techniques | | Security Best Practices | Security Best Practices, Environment Configuration | | Docker Compose for Multi-Container | Docker Compose for Multi-Container | | .dockerignore File | .dockerignore File | | Python | Python (Django/Flask), Java (Spring Boot), Go |

Best Practices

✅ DO

• Use official base images
• Implement multi-stage builds
• Run as non-root user
• Use .dockerignore
• Pin specific versions
• Include health checks
• Scan for vulnerabilities
• Minimize layers
• Use build caching effectively

❌ DON'T

• Use 'latest' tag in production
• Run as root user
• Include secrets in images
• Create unnecessary layers
• Install unnecessary packages
• Ignore security updates
• Store data in containers