dockerode

What is dockerode?

dockerode is a Node.js module that provides a way to interact with Docker's Remote API. It allows you to manage Docker containers, images, networks, volumes, and more programmatically.

What are dockerode's main functionalities?

Manage Containers

This feature allows you to create and manage Docker containers. The code sample demonstrates how to create and start a container using the 'ubuntu' image.

const Docker = require('dockerode');
const docker = new Docker();

// Create a container
const createContainer = async () => {
  const container = await docker.createContainer({
    Image: 'ubuntu',
    Cmd: ['/bin/bash'],
    name: 'my-ubuntu-container'
  });
  await container.start();
  console.log('Container started');
};

createContainer();

Manage Images

This feature allows you to manage Docker images. The code sample demonstrates how to pull an image from Docker Hub.

const Docker = require('dockerode');
const docker = new Docker();

// Pull an image
const pullImage = async () => {
  await docker.pull('ubuntu', (err, stream) => {
    docker.modem.followProgress(stream, onFinished, onProgress);
    function onFinished(err, output) {
      console.log('Image pulled');
    }
    function onProgress(event) {
      console.log(event);
    }
  });
};

pullImage();

Manage Networks

This feature allows you to manage Docker networks. The code sample demonstrates how to create a network with the 'bridge' driver.

const Docker = require('dockerode');
const docker = new Docker();

// Create a network
const createNetwork = async () => {
  const network = await docker.createNetwork({
    Name: 'my-network',
    Driver: 'bridge'
  });
  console.log('Network created');
};

createNetwork();

Manage Volumes

This feature allows you to manage Docker volumes. The code sample demonstrates how to create a volume.

const Docker = require('dockerode');
const docker = new Docker();

// Create a volume
const createVolume = async () => {
  const volume = await docker.createVolume({
    Name: 'my-volume'
  });
  console.log('Volume created');
};

createVolume();

Other packages similar to dockerode

node-docker-api

node-docker-api is another Node.js module for interacting with Docker's Remote API. It provides similar functionalities to dockerode, such as managing containers, images, networks, and volumes. However, its API design and usage patterns may differ slightly.

docker-cli-js

docker-cli-js is a Node.js module that allows you to interact with Docker using the command line interface (CLI). Unlike dockerode, which interacts directly with Docker's Remote API, docker-cli-js executes Docker CLI commands and parses the output. This can be useful if you prefer working with the CLI or need to execute specific Docker commands not covered by the API.

README

dockerode

Not another Node.js Docker Remote API module.

dockerode objectives:

• streams - dockerode does NOT break any stream, it passes them to you allowing for some stream voodoo.
• stream demux - Supports optional stream demultiplexing.
• entities - containers, images and execs are defined entities and not random static methods.
• run - dockerode allow you to seamless run commands in a container ala docker run.
• tests - dockerode really aims to have a good test set, allowing to follow Docker changes easily, quickly and painlessly.
• feature-rich - There's a real effort in keeping All Docker Remote API features implemented and tested.
• interfaces - Features callback and promise based interfaces, making everyone happy :)

Ecosystem

• docker-modem https://github.com/apocas/docker-modem - Docker's API network stack
• dockerode-compose https://github.com/apocas/dockerode-compose - docker-compose in Node.js

Installation

npm install dockerode

Usage

• Input options are directly passed to Docker. Check Docker API documentation for more details.
• Return values are unchanged from Docker, official Docker documentation will also apply to them.
• Check the tests and examples folder for more examples.

Getting started

To use dockerode first you need to instantiate it:

var Docker = require('dockerode');
var docker = new Docker({socketPath: '/var/run/docker.sock'});
var docker1 = new Docker(); //defaults to above if env variables are not used
var docker2 = new Docker({host: 'http://192.168.1.10', port: 3000});
var docker3 = new Docker({protocol:'http', host: '127.0.0.1', port: 3000});
var docker4 = new Docker({host: '127.0.0.1', port: 3000}); //defaults to http

//protocol http vs https is automatically detected
var docker5 = new Docker({
  host: '192.168.1.10',
  port: process.env.DOCKER_PORT || 2375,
  ca: fs.readFileSync('ca.pem'),
  cert: fs.readFileSync('cert.pem'),
  key: fs.readFileSync('key.pem'),
  version: 'v1.25' // required when Docker >= v1.13, https://docs.docker.com/engine/api/version-history/
});

var docker6 = new Docker({
  protocol: 'https', //you can enforce a protocol
  host: '192.168.1.10',
  port: process.env.DOCKER_PORT || 2375,
  ca: fs.readFileSync('ca.pem'),
  cert: fs.readFileSync('cert.pem'),
  key: fs.readFileSync('key.pem')
});

//using a different promise library (default is the native one)
var docker7 = new Docker({
  Promise: require('bluebird')
  //...
});
//...

Manipulating a container:

// create a container entity. does not query API
var container = docker.getContainer('71501a8ab0f8');

// query API for container info
container.inspect(function (err, data) {
  console.log(data);
});

container.start(function (err, data) {
  console.log(data);
});

container.remove(function (err, data) {
  console.log(data);
});

// promises are supported
var auxContainer;
docker.createContainer({
  Image: 'ubuntu',
  AttachStdin: false,
  AttachStdout: true,
  AttachStderr: true,
  Tty: true,
  Cmd: ['/bin/bash', '-c', 'tail -f /var/log/dmesg'],
  OpenStdin: false,
  StdinOnce: false
}).then(function(container) {
  auxContainer = container;
  return auxContainer.start();
}).then(function(data) {
  return auxContainer.resize({
    h: process.stdout.rows,
    w: process.stdout.columns
  });
}).then(function(data) {
  return auxContainer.stop();
}).then(function(data) {
  return auxContainer.remove();
}).then(function(data) {
  console.log('container removed');
}).catch(function(err) {
  console.log(err);
});

You may also specify default options for each container's operations, which will always be used for the specified container and operation.

container.defaultOptions.start.Binds = ["/tmp:/tmp:rw"];

Stopping all containers on a host

docker.listContainers(function (err, containers) {
  containers.forEach(function (containerInfo) {
    docker.getContainer(containerInfo.Id).stop(cb);
  });
});

Building an Image

Context: provides the path to the Dockerfile. Additionaly files that are involved in the build must be explicitly mentioned in src array, since they are sent to a temp env to build. Example: file for COPY command are extracted from that temporary environment.

docker.buildImage('archive.tar', {t: imageName}, function (err, response){
  //...
});

docker.buildImage({
  context: __dirname,
  src: ['Dockerfile', 'file1', 'file2']
}, {t: imageName}, function (err, response) {
  //...
});

buildImage returns a Promise of NodeJS stream. In case you want to find out when the build has finished, you must follow the progress of the build with the modem instance in dockerode:

let dockerode = new Dockerode();
let stream = await dockerode.buildImage(...);
await new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
  dockerode.modem.followProgress(stream, (err, res) => err ? reject(err) : resolve(res));
});
// Build has finished

Creating a container:

docker.createContainer({Image: 'ubuntu', Cmd: ['/bin/bash'], name: 'ubuntu-test'}, function (err, container) {
  container.start(function (err, data) {
    //...
  });
});
//...

Streams goodness:

//tty:true
docker.createContainer({ /*...*/ Tty: true /*...*/ }, function(err, container) {

  /* ... */

  container.attach({stream: true, stdout: true, stderr: true}, function (err, stream) {
    stream.pipe(process.stdout);
  });

  /* ... */
});

//tty:false
docker.createContainer({ /*...*/ Tty: false /*...*/ }, function(err, container) {

  /* ... */

  container.attach({stream: true, stdout: true, stderr: true}, function (err, stream) {
    //dockerode may demultiplex attach streams for you :)
    container.modem.demuxStream(stream, process.stdout, process.stderr);
  });

  /* ... */
});

docker.createImage({fromImage: 'ubuntu'}, function (err, stream) {
  stream.pipe(process.stdout);
});

//...

There is also support for HTTP connection hijacking, which allows for cleaner interactions with commands that work with stdin and stdout separately.

docker.createContainer({Tty: false, /*... other options */}, function(err, container) {
  container.start(function(err) {
    container.exec({Cmd: ['shasum', '-'], AttachStdin: true, AttachStdout: true}, function(err, exec) {
      exec.start({hijack: true, stdin: true}, function(err, stream) {
        // shasum can't finish until after its stdin has been closed, telling it that it has
        // read all the bytes it needs to sum. Without a socket upgrade, there is no way to
        // close the write-side of the stream without also closing the read-side!
        fs.createReadStream('node-v5.1.0.tgz', 'binary').pipe(stream);

        // Fortunately, we have a regular TCP socket now, so when the readstream finishes and closes our
        // stream, it is still open for reading and we will still get our results :-)
        docker.modem.demuxStream(stream, process.stdout, process.stderr);
      });
    });
  });
});

Equivalent of docker run in dockerode:

• image - container image
• cmd - command to be executed
• stream - stream(s) which will be used for execution output.
• create_options - (optional) Options used for container creation. Refer to the DockerEngine ContainerCreate documentation for the possible values
• start_options - (optional) Options used for container start. Refer to the DockerEngine ContainerStart documentation for the possible values
• callback - callback called when execution ends (optional, promise will be returned if not used).

//callback
docker.run('ubuntu', ['bash', '-c', 'uname -a'], process.stdout, function (err, data, container) {
  console.log(data.StatusCode);
});

//promise
docker.run(testImage, ['bash', '-c', 'uname -a'], process.stdout).then(function(data) {
  var output = data[0];
  var container = data[1];
  console.log(output.StatusCode);
  return container.remove();
}).then(function(data) {
  console.log('container removed');
}).catch(function(err) {
  console.log(err);
});

or, if you want to split stdout and stderr (you must to pass Tty:false as an option for this to work)

docker.run('ubuntu', ['bash', '-c', 'uname -a'], [process.stdout, process.stderr], {Tty:false}, function (err, data, container) {
  console.log(data.StatusCode);
});

If you provide a callback, run will return an EventEmitter supporting the following events: container, stream, data. If a callback isn't provided a promise will be returned.

docker.run('ubuntu', ['bash', '-c', 'uname -a'], [process.stdout, process.stderr], {Tty:false}, function (err, data, container) {
  //...
}).on('container', function (container) {
  //...
});

And here is one more complex example using auto-remove and Docker network.

docker.run('some-python-image', ['python', 'main.py', arg], process.stdout, {name: 'my-python-container', HostConfig: { AutoRemove: true, NetworkMode: 'my_network'}}, function(err, data, container) {
  // Do stuff
});

Equivalent of docker pull in dockerode:

• repoTag - container image name (optionally with tag) myrepo/myname:withtag
• options - extra options passed to create image.
• callback - callback called when execution ends.

docker.pull('myrepo/myname:tag', function (err, stream) {
  // streaming output from pull...
});

Pull from private repos

docker-modem already base64 encodes the necessary auth object for you.

var auth = {
  username: 'username',
  password: 'password',
  auth: '',
  email: '[e-mail]',
  serveraddress: 'https://index.docker.io/v1'
};

docker.pull('tag', {'authconfig': auth}, function (err, stream) {
  //...
});

If you already have a base64 encoded auth object, you can use it directly:

var auth = { key: 'yJ1J2ZXJhZGRyZXNzIjoitZSI6Im4OCIsImF1dGgiOiIiLCJlbWFpbCI6ImZvbGllLmFkcmc2VybmF0iLCJzZX5jb2aHR0cHM6Ly9pbmRleC5kb2NrZXIuaW8vdZvbGllYSIsInBhc3N3b3JkIjoiRGVjZW1icmUjEvIn0=' }

Helper functions

• followProgress - allows to fire a callback only in the end of a stream based process. (build, pull, ...)

//followProgress(stream, onFinished, [onProgress])
docker.pull(repoTag, function(err, stream) {
  //...
  docker.modem.followProgress(stream, onFinished, onProgress);

  function onFinished(err, output) {
    //output is an array with output json parsed objects
    //...
  }
  function onProgress(event) {
    //...
  }
});

• demuxStream - demux stdout and stderr

//demuxStream(stream, stdout, stderr)
container.attach({
  stream: true,
  stdout: true,
  stderr: true
}, function handler(err, stream) {
  //...
  container.modem.demuxStream(stream, process.stdout, process.stderr);
  //...
});

Sponsors

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Documentation

Docker

• docker.createContainer(options) - Docker API Endpoint
• docker.createImage([auth], options) - Docker API Endpoint
• docker.loadImage(file, options) - Docker API Endpoint
• docker.importImage(file, options) - Docker API Endpoint
• docker.buildImage(file, options) - Docker API Endpoint
• docker.checkAuth(options) - Docker API Endpoint
• docker.getContainer(id) - Returns a Container object.
• docker.getImage(name) - Returns an Image object.
• docker.getVolume(name) - Returns a Volume object.
• docker.getPlugin(name) - Returns a Plugin object.
• docker.getService(id) - Returns a Service object.
• docker.getTask(id) - Returns a Task object.
• docker.getNode(id) - Returns a Node object.
• docker.getNetwork(id) - Returns a Network object.
• docker.getSecret(id) - Returns a Secret object.
• docker.getConfig(id) - Returns a Config object.
• docker.getExec(id) - Returns a Exec object.
• docker.listContainers(options) - Docker API Endpoint
• docker.listImages(options) - Docker API Endpoint
• docker.listServices(options) - Docker API Endpoint
• docker.listNodes(options) - Docker API Endpoint
• docker.listTasks(options) - Docker API Endpoint
• docker.listSecrets(options) - Docker API Endpoint
• docker.listConfigs(options) - Docker API Endpoint
• docker.listPlugins(options) - Docker API Endpoint
• docker.listVolumes(options) - Docker API Endpoint
• docker.listNetworks(options) - Docker API Endpoint
• docker.createSecret(options) - Docker API Endpoint
• docker.createConfig(options) - Docker API Endpoint
• docker.createPlugin(options) - Docker API Endpoint
• docker.createVolume(options) - Docker API Endpoint
• docker.createService(options) - Docker API Endpoint
• docker.createNetwork(options) - Docker API Endpoint
• docker.pruneImages(options) - Docker API Endpoint
• docker.pruneBuilder() - Docker API Endpoint
• docker.pruneContainers(options) - Docker API Endpoint
• docker.pruneVolumes(options) - Docker API Endpoint
• docker.pruneNetworks(options) - Docker API Endpoint
• docker.searchImages(options) - Docker API Endpoint
• docker.info() - Docker API Endpoint
• docker.version() - Docker API Endpoint
• docker.ping() - Docker API Endpoint
• docker.df() - Docker API Endpoint
• docker.getEvents(options) - Docker API Endpoint
• docker.swarmInit(options) - Docker API Endpoint
• docker.swarmJoin(options) - Docker API Endpoint
• docker.swarmLeave(options) - Docker API Endpoint
• docker.swarmUpdate(options) - Docker API Endpoint
• docker.swarmInspect() - Docker API Endpoint
• docker.pull(repoTag, options, callback, auth) - Like Docker's CLI pull
• docker.run(image, cmd, stream, createOptions, startOptions) - Like Docker's CLI run

Container

• container.inspect(options) - Docker API Endpoint
• container.rename(options) - Docker API Endpoint
• container.update(options) - Docker API Endpoint
• container.top(options) - Docker API Endpoint
• container.changes() - Docker API Endpoint
• container.export() - Docker API Endpoint
• container.start(options) - Docker API Endpoint
• container.stop(options) - Docker API Endpoint
• container.pause(options) - Docker API Endpoint
• container.unpause(options) - Docker API Endpoint
• container.exec(options) - Docker API Endpoint
• container.commit(options) - Docker API Endpoint
• container.restart(options) - Docker API Endpoint
• container.kill(options) - Docker API Endpoint
• container.resize(options) - Docker API Endpoint
• container.attach(options) - Docker API Endpoint
• container.wait(options) - Docker API Endpoint
• container.remove(options) - Docker API Endpoint
• container.getArchive(options) - Docker API Endpoint
• container.infoArchive(options) - Docker API Endpoint
• container.putArchive(file, options) - Docker API Endpoint
• container.logs(options) - Docker API Endpoint
• container.stats(options) - Docker API Endpoint

Exec

• exec.start(options) - Docker API Endpoint
• exec.resize(options) - Docker API Endpoint
• exec.inspect() - Docker API Endpoint

Image

• image.inspect() - Docker API Endpoint
• image.history() - Docker API Endpoint
• image.push(options, callback, auth) - Docker API Endpoint
• image.tag(options) - Docker API Endpoint
• image.remove(options) - Docker API Endpoint
• image.get() - Docker API Endpoint

Network

• network.inspect() - Docker API Endpoint
• network.remove(options) - Docker API Endpoint
• network.connect(options) - Docker API Endpoint
• network.disconnect(options) - Docker API Endpoint

Node

• node.inspect() - Docker API Endpoint
• node.remove(options) - Docker API Endpoint
• node.update(options) - Docker API Endpoint

Plugin

• plugin.privileges() - Docker API Endpoint
• plugin.pull(options) - Docker API Endpoint
• plugin.inspect() - Docker API Endpoint
• plugin.remove(options) - Docker API Endpoint
• plugin.enable(options) - Docker API Endpoint
• plugin.disable(options) - Docker API Endpoint
• plugin.update([auth], options) - Docker API Endpoint
• plugin.push(options) - Docker API Endpoint
• plugin.configure(options) - Docker API Endpoint

Secret

• secret.inspect() - Docker API Endpoint
• secret.remove() - Docker API Endpoint
• secret.update(options) - Docker API Endpoint

Service

• service.inspect() - Docker API Endpoint
• service.remove(options) - Docker API Endpoint
• service.update(options) - Docker API Endpoint
• service.logs(options) - Docker API Endpoint

Task

• task.inspect() - Docker API Endpoint
• task.logs(options) - Docker API Endpoint

Volume

• volume.inspect() - Docker API Endpoint
• volume.remove(options) - Docker API Endpoint

Tests

• docker pull ubuntu:latest to prepare your system for the tests.
• Tests are implemented using mocha and chai. Run them with npm test.

Examples

Check the examples folder for more specific use cases examples.

License

Pedro Dias - @pedromdias

Licensed under the Apache license, version 2.0 (the "license"); You may not use this file except in compliance with the license. You may obtain a copy of the license at:

http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0.html

Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software distributed under the license is distributed on an "as is" basis, without warranties or conditions of any kind, either express or implied. See the license for the specific language governing permissions and limitations under the license.