Creating a Docker Image with Git Installed

Version control is one of the most important aspects of any software development project and when we talk about version control, there is no better tool than Git. The majority of the developers depend upon Git to manage and share their project components among the team members. 

Even if you are running your project on Docker, you can still access your git account inside Docker Containers. All you need to do is just install Git inside your Docker Container. In this article, we will discuss exactly the same. We will create an Ubuntu Image, install Git inside it, create a Container associated with the Image, and verify whether Git has been installed or not.

What is Git?

Git is a distributed version control system (DVCS) that allows developers to track changes in their codebase, collaborate with others, and manage different versions of their projects efficiently. On using the git we can come to the know the information when some changes happened to code that is commit such as who made the changes, when made the changes and what changes are made.

What is Docker Image?

Docker images are built using the Dockerfile which consists of a set of instructions that are required to containerize an application. The docker image includes the following to run a piece of software. A docker image is a platform-independent image that can be built in the Windows environment and it can be pushed to the docker hub and pulled by others with different OS environments like Linux.

How to Create a Docker Image with Git Installed? A Step-By-Step Guide

The following steps guide you on how to create a docker image with git installed on it:

Step 1: Create the Dockerfile

• Create the dockerfile by using the below command. It creates the dockerfile, and we need to add the instructions to the dockerfile.

touch Dockerfile

Step 2: Select a Base Image

• Select the base image based on your requirements. Here we have selected Ubuntu as the base image for the latest version.

FROM ubuntu:latest

Step 3: Install Git

• First we need to update the package manager because the images are light weight. Next we need to add the git install command with out manual approve.

RUN apt-get -y update
RUN apt-get -y install git

• RUN: This instruction is used to execute commands inside the Docker container during the image build process.
• apt-get: This is the package management tool used in Ubuntu-based systems for installing, upgrading, and removing software packages.
• -y: This flag tells apt-get to assume “yes” to all prompts and proceed with the installation without asking for user confirmation.
• update: This sub-command for apt-get updates the package lists for available software packages and their versions. It does not upgrade the packages themselves but ensures that the system knows what packages are available and what versions are currently installed.
• install git: This sub-command for apt-get installs the Git package.
• git: Git is a widely used distributed version control system designed to handle everything from small to very large projects with speed and efficiency.

Step 4: Contents of the Dockerfile

• Here are the contents in the dockerfile for installation of the git using the dockerfile.
• Based on your base image and requirements you can change the contents on the dockerfile.

FROM ubuntu:latest
RUN apt-get -y update
RUN apt-get -y install git

• In the above Dockerfile, we have specified instructions to pull the Ubuntu base image, update the OS, and install Git inside it.

Step 5: Build the Docker Image

• After creating the Dockerfile, we can build the Docker Image using the Docker build command.

sudo docker build -t sample-image .

• sudo: This command is used to execute the subsequent command with administrative privileges. It grants the user permission to perform administrative tasks.
• docker: This is the command-line interface (CLI) tool used to interact with Docker, which is a platform for developing, shipping, and running applications inside containers.
• build: This is a Docker subcommand that is used to build an image from a Dockerfile and a context. The context is the set of files located in the specified path or directory.
• -t sample-image: The -t option tags the resulting image with a name. In this case, sample-image is the name chosen for the image. This allows you to reference the image by name later on when running containers.
• .: The dot (.) at the end of the command specifies the build context. It indicates the current directory as the build context. The build context includes all files in the current directory and its subdirectories. These files are sent to the Docker daemon during the build process.

step 6: Checking Docker Images

• To verify whether the image has been built or not, you can list all the Images.

sudo docker images

Step 7: Run the Docker Container

• After you have built the Image, you can run the Container associated with the Image, using the Docker Run command.

sudo docker run -it sample-image bash

• sudo: This command is used to execute subsequent commands with superuser privileges. Docker typically requires superuser privileges to run, hence the use of sudo.
• docker: This is the command-line interface (CLI) tool used to interact with the Docker daemon. It allows you to build, manage, and run Docker containers.
• run: This subcommand is used to run a command in a new container.
• -it: These are two separate options combined together.
  • The -i option stands for “interactive” and keeps STDIN open even if not attached.
  • The -t option allocates a pseudo-TTY, which allows you to interact with the container through a terminal interface.

  Together, -it makes the container run in an interactive mode, allowing you to input commands and see their output as if you were directly using the terminal inside the container.

• sample-image: This is the name of the Docker image you want to run a container from. In our case, it’s the image we built earlier, named “sample-image”.
• bash: This is the command to execute inside the container. In this case, we’re telling Docker to run the Bash shell within the container. This will give you a shell prompt inside the container, allowing you to interact with it and execute commands.

The above command creates and runs a Container and fires up the bash of the Docker Container.

Step 8: Verifying the Installation

• After you have the bash opened up, you can verify whether Git has been installed or not by checking the version of Git.

git --version

• This command returns the version of the git installed.

Step 9: Try to Use Git on the Docker

• Here we have tried few commands on inside the docker container refer the below image for your reference.

Why to Use Git in Dockerfile?

The following are the some of the reasons to use the git in Dockerfile:

• Version Control for Dockerfile: On inclusion of git in dockerfile, we can maintain the version controlling to the entire containerization process including dependencies, configurations and build steps.
• Efficient Collaborations: Git allows multiple developers to collaborate on the Dockerfile development concurrently facilitating efficient team work.
• Automated Build and Continuous Integration: Integrating of git with dockerfile supports the automated builds and continuous integration workflows. Services like Dockerhub and Github Actions helps in automatically triggering the builds in contaienrs whenever the changes happening.
• Code Reusability and Modularity: On usage of git enhances the dockerfile with code reusability and modularity. Through this developers can create a reusable base images, shared common Dockerfile templates with scalable appraoch to containerization.

What are the best practices of Dockerfile Git?

The following are the best practices of Dockerfile Git:

• Commit Regularly and Descriptively: Try on make the frequent commits to the git repository with descriptive commit messages. It helps in tracking the chnages effectively and provides the context for the future modifications.
• Use Branches for Isolation: Through utilizing the branches for isolating the experimental or features specific changes from the main codebase. It facilitate with parallel development efforts without affecting the stability of the main Dockerfile.
• Enhance Dockerignore: Create a .dockerignore file to exclude the unnecessary file sand directories from the dockerbuild context. This helps in reducing the size of the docker image and improves the build performance.
• Pin Dependencies Versions: Pinning the versions of dependencies and base images in the Dockerfile helps in ensuring the reproducibility and avoid the unexpected changes from the automatic updates.

What are the best practices of Dockerfile with Git?

The following are the best practices for managing the Dockerfile in Git Repositories:

• Use Version Control: On storing the dockerfiles in version controlled systems like Git repositories helps in tracking the chnages and to collaborate with team members.
• Commit Incrementally: Make small and incremental commits to the git with descriptive messages that hels in focusing on single logical changes to improve the tracebility and making it ease of understanding.
• Leverage Git Branches: On utilizing the git branches for different environments such as developement, testing and production stages, it provides the isolation changes with faiclitating the parallel development efforts.
• Automate Builds and Testing: Through integrating the Dockerfile builds into the CI/CD piplines helps in using the Git-based triggers. It supports with automating the image builds, testing and deployment processes to ensure consistency and reliability.

How to Git clone inside the Docker?

The following steps guide you on how to clone the git inside the Docker:

Step 1: Create a Dockerfile

• Create a Dockerfile with instructions to build the docker image. The dockerfile looks as follows:

FROM ubuntu:latest
RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y git

Step 2: Build the Docker Image

• Use the following command to build the docker image from the created Dockerfile:

docker build -t myimage .

Step 3: Run the Docker Container

• Run the docker container based on the image you built with the following command:

docker run -it --name mycontainer myimage /bin/bash

Step 4: Clone the Git Repository

• Onside you entered inside the docker container from the above step with shell program. Use the following git clone command to clone the git repository:

git clone <repository_url>

Conclusion

we discussed the integration of Git within Docker containers to facilitate version control in software development projects. By creating an Ubuntu image with Git installed, building the Docker image, and running a container, developers can seamlessly manage their projects. This streamlined process ensures accessibility to Git functionalities within Docker environments, enhancing collaboration and code management.

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Article Tags :

• Computer Subject
• Docker
• Docker Container
• linux