How to list all directories and files inside docker container?

Question

Following is my dockerfile:

FROM python:3.6.5-windowsservercore
COPY . /app
WORKDIR /app
RUN pip download -r requirements.txt -d packages

To get list of files in the image, I have tried both the following options, but there is error:

encountered an error during CreateProcess: failure in a Windows system call: 
The system cannot find the file specified. (0x2) extra info: 
{"CommandLine":"dir","WorkingDirectory":"C:\\app"......

1. Run docker run -it <container_id> dir
2. Modify the dockerfile and add CMD at end of dockerfile - CMD ["dir"], then run docker run <container_id> dir

How to list all directories and files inside docker?

Solution 1

Simply use the exec command.

Now because you run a windowsservercore based image use powershell command (and not /bin/bash which you can see on many examples for linux based images and which is not installed by default on a windowsservercore based image) so just do:

docker exec -it <container_id> powershell

Now you should get an iteractive terminal and you can list your files with simply doing ls or dir

By the way, i found this question :

Exploring Docker container's file system

It contains a tons of answers and suggestions, maybe you could find other good solutions there (there is for example a very friendly CLI tool to exploring containers : https://github.com/wagoodman/dive)

Solution 2

In your Dockerfile add the below command:

FROM python:3.6.5-windowsservercore
COPY . /app
WORKDIR /app
RUN dir #Added
RUN pip download -r requirements.txt -d packages

Comments

[Andrei Mustata]

Note that docker run needs the image name, not a container ID. The image being the thing that you've just built based off of the Dockerfile, and the container being the thing that you ran, instantiating the image, so to say.