What are Docker images, and how are they created?
Jul 16, 2025 am 01:58 AMDocker images are read-only templates for running containers, containing all the files, dependencies, and configurations required by the application. It consists of multiple read-only layers, each representing an operation, such as installing software or copying files, supporting layer sharing to save space and speed up builds. The most common way to create a mirror is to define the construction process through Dockerfile. The specific steps include: 1. Select the basic image (FROM); 2. Copy the file (COPY); 3. Installation dependency (RUN); 4. Set the working directory (WORKDIR); 5. Specify the startup command (CMD). For example, use FROM node:18 to build a Node.js application image and generate an image through the docker build command. Practical suggestions include: using official basic images, merging operations to reduce the number of layers, using .dockerignore to exclude redundant files, and adding version tags when naming.
What is a Docker image? How is it created?
Simply put, Docker images are "templates" used to run containers. It contains all the files, dependencies, and configurations required for the application to run. You can understand it as a packaged system environment, such as an operating system snapshot with Python and related libraries installed.
What is a Docker image?
Docker image is a read-only template that includes a complete set of running environments. For example, if you develop a Python application and want to run on the server, you can package the code and the Python running environment into a mirror. This image can run anywhere that supports Docker, without picking up the operating system, and you don't have to worry about dependencies.
Common images such as nginx
, redis
, and python:3.10
can be pulled directly from Docker Hub. Mirroring is not a virtual machine, it starts up quickly and consumes less resources.
Mirror structure: hierarchical storage
Docker images are composed of multiple read-only layers . Each layer represents an operation, such as installing software or copying files. for example:
- Basic mirror layer (such as Ubuntu)
- The layer where Python is installed
- Add layers of your code
- Set the layer of startup command
This hierarchical mechanism makes mirror reuse easy. If you have two images that have Python installed on Ubuntu, they can share the first two layers, saving space and speeding up building.
How to create your own Docker image?
The most common way is to define the image build process through a Dockerfile . Dockerfile is a text file full of instructions to tell Docker how to build images step by step.
The basic process is as follows:
- Select a basic image (FROM)
- Copy the file to the mirror (COPY)
- Installation Dependencies (RUN)
- Set up the working directory (WORKDIR)
- Specify the default startup command (CMD)
For example, you want to package a simple Node.js application:
FROM node:18 WORKDIR /app COPY package*.json ./ RUN npm install COPY . . CMD ["node", "index.js"]
Then execute the following command to build the image:
docker build -t my-node-app .
This generates a local image called my-node-app
.
Several practical suggestions for creating mirrors
- Try to use official or well-maintained basic images : such as
nginx
,python
,alpine
, etc., for better stability. - Keep each step as merged as possible : For example, when installing dependencies, write multiple commands in one line to reduce the number of layers.
- Use
.dockerignore
files reasonably : avoid unnecessary files being copied into the mirror and reduce volume. - Mirror naming specification : It is recommended to add version tags, such as
myapp:1.0
, to facilitate management and updates.
Basically that's it. Creating a mirror looks simple, but when you are really doing it, you should pay attention to details, such as mirror size, security, maintainability, etc. However, as long as you master the basic syntax of Dockerfile, you can handle most of the situations.
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