---
title: "Build and run your image"
keywords: containers, images, dockerfiles, node, code, coding, build, push, run
description: Learn how to create a Docker image by writing a Dockerfile, and use it to run a simple container.
---

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## Prerequisites

Work through the orientation and setup in [Part 1](index.md).

## Introduction

Now that you've set up your development environment, you can begin to develop containerized applications. In general, the development workflow looks like this:

1. Create and test individual containers for each component of your application by first creating Docker images.

2. Assemble your containers and supporting infrastructure into a complete application.

3. Test, share, and deploy your complete containerized application.

In this stage of the tutorial, let's focus on step 1 of this workflow: creating the images that your containers will be based on. Remember, a Docker image captures the private filesystem that your containerized processes will run in; you need to create an image that contains just what your application needs to run.

## Set up

Let us download the `node-bulletin-board` example project. This is a simple bulletin board application written in Node.js.

<ul class="nav nav-tabs">
  <li class="active"><a data-toggle="tab" href="#clonegit">Git</a></li>
  <li><a data-toggle="tab" href="#clonewin">Windows (without Git)</a></li>
  <li><a data-toggle="tab" href="#clonemac">Mac or Linux (without Git)</a></li>
</ul>
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### Git

If you are using Git, you can clone the example project from GitHub:

```shell
git clone https://github.com/dockersamples/node-bulletin-board
cd node-bulletin-board/bulletin-board-app
```

{% endcapture %}
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</div>
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### Windows (without Git)

If you are using a Windows machine and prefer to download the example project without installing Git, run the following commands in PowerShell:

```shell
curl.exe -LO https://github.com/dockersamples/node-bulletin-board/archive/master.zip
tar.exe xf master.zip
cd node-bulletin-board-master\bulletin-board-app
```

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### Mac or Linux (without Git)

If you are using a Mac or a Linux machine and prefer to download the example project without installing Git, run the following commands in a terminal:

```shell
curl -LO https://github.com/dockersamples/node-bulletin-board/archive/master.zip
unzip master.zip
cd node-bulletin-board-master/bulletin-board-app
```

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<hr>
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## Define a container with Dockerfile

After downloading the project, take a look at the file called `Dockerfile` in the bulletin board application. Dockerfiles describe how to assemble a private filesystem for a container, and can also contain some metadata describing how to run a container based on this image.

For more information about the Dockerfile used in the bulletin board application, see [Sample Dockerfile](#sample-dockerfile).

## Build and test your image

Now that you have some source code and a Dockerfile, it's time to build your first image, and make sure the containers launched from it work as expected.

Make sure you're in the directory `node-bulletin-board/bulletin-board-app` in a terminal or PowerShell using the `cd` command. Run the following command to build your bulletin board image:

```script
docker build --tag bulletinboard:1.0 .
```

You'll see Docker step through each instruction in your Dockerfile, building up your image as it goes. If successful, the build process should end with a message `Successfully tagged bulletinboard:1.0`.

> **Windows users:**
>
> This example uses Linux containers. Make sure your environment is running Linux containers by right-clicking on the Docker logo in your system tray, and clicking **Switch to Linux containers**. Don't worry - all the commands in this tutorial work the exact same way for Windows containers.
>
> You may receive a message titled 'SECURITY WARNING' after running the image, noting the read, write, and execute permissions being set for files added to your image. We aren't handling any sensitive information in this example, so feel free to disregard the warning in this example.

## Run your image as a container

1.  Run the following command to start a container based on your new image:

    ```script
    docker run --publish 8000:8080 --detach --name bb bulletinboard:1.0
    ```

    There are a couple of common flags here:

    - `--publish` asks Docker to forward traffic incoming on the host's port 8000 to the container's port 8080. Containers have their own private set of ports, so if you want to reach one from the network, you have to forward traffic to it in this way. Otherwise, firewall rules will prevent all network traffic from reaching your container, as a default security posture.
    - `--detach` asks Docker to run this container in the background.
    - `--name` specifies a name with which you can refer to your container in subsequent commands, in this case `bb`.

2.  Visit your application in a browser at `localhost:8000`. You should see your bulletin board application up and running. At this step, you would normally do everything you could to ensure your container works the way you expected; now would be the time to run unit tests, for example.

3.  Once you're satisfied that your bulletin board container works correctly, you can delete it:

    ```script
    docker rm --force bb
    ```

    The `--force` option stops a running container, so it can be removed. If you stop the container running with `docker stop bb` first, then you do not need to use `--force` to remove it.

## Conclusion

At this point, you've successfully built an image, performed a simple containerization of an application, and confirmed that your app runs successfully in its container. The next step will be to share your images on [Docker Hub](https://hub.docker.com/), so they can be easily downloaded and run on any destination machine.

[On to Part 3 >>](part3.md){: class="button outline-btn" style="margin-bottom: 30px; margin-right: 100%"}

## Deploying to the cloud

To run your containers in the cloud with either Azure or AWS, check out our docs on getting started with cloud deployments.
* [Deploying with Docker and AWS](https://docs.docker.com/engine/context/ecs-integration/)
* [Deploying with Docker and Azure](https://docs.docker.com/engine/context/aci-integration/)

## Sample Dockerfile

Writing a Dockerfile is the first step to containerizing an application. You can think of these Dockerfile commands as a step-by-step recipe on how to build up your image. The Dockerfile in the bulletin board app looks like this:

```dockerfile
# Use the official image as a parent image.
FROM node:current-slim

# Set the working directory.
WORKDIR /usr/src/app

# Copy the file from your host to your current location.
COPY package.json .

# Run the command inside your image filesystem.
RUN npm install

# Add metadata to the image to describe which port the container is listening on at runtime.
EXPOSE 8080

# Run the specified command within the container.
CMD [ "npm", "start" ]

# Copy the rest of your app's source code from your host to your image filesystem.
COPY . .
```

The dockerfile defined in this example takes the following steps:

- Start `FROM` the pre-existing `node:current-slim` image. This is an *official image*, built by the node.js vendors and validated by Docker to be a high-quality image containing the Node.js Long Term Support (LTS) interpreter and basic dependencies.
- Use `WORKDIR` to specify that all subsequent actions should be taken from the directory `/usr/src/app` *in your image filesystem* (never the host's filesystem).
- `COPY` the file `package.json` from your host to the present location (`.`) in your image (so in this case, to `/usr/src/app/package.json`)
- `RUN` the command `npm install` inside your image filesystem (which will read `package.json` to determine your app's node dependencies, and install them)
- `COPY` in the rest of your app's source code from your host to your image filesystem.

You can see that these are much the same steps you might have taken to set up and install your app on your host. However, capturing these as a Dockerfile allows you to do the same thing inside a portable, isolated Docker image.

The steps above built up the filesystem of our image, but there are other lines in your Dockerfile.

The `CMD` directive is the first example of specifying some metadata in your image that describes how to run a container based on this image. In this case, it's saying that the containerized process that this image is meant to support is `npm start`.

The `EXPOSE 8080` informs Docker that the container is listening on port 8080 at runtime.

What you see above is a good way to organize a simple Dockerfile; always start with a `FROM` command, follow it with the steps to build up your private filesystem, and conclude with any metadata specifications. There are many more Dockerfile directives than just the few you see above. For a complete list, see the [Dockerfile reference](https://docs.docker.com/engine/reference/builder/).

## CLI references

Further documentation for all CLI commands used in this article are available here:

- [docker image](https://docs.docker.com/engine/reference/commandline/image/)
- [docker container](https://docs.docker.com/engine/reference/commandline/container/)
- [Dockerfile reference](https://docs.docker.com/engine/reference/builder/)