This is a collection of snippets showing some common use-cases for the plugin and its caveats.
The following pipeline will run test.sh
inside a app
service container using Docker Compose, the equivalent to running docker-compose run app test.sh
:
steps:
- command: test.sh
plugins:
- docker-compose#v5.5.0:
run: app
;
or the plugin's command
option instead:
steps:
- plugins:
- docker-compose#v5.5.0:
run: app
command: ["custom", "command", "values"]
The plugin will honor the value of the COMPOSE_FILE
environment variable if one exists (for example, at the pipeline or step level). But you can also specify custom Docker Compose config files with the config
option:
steps:
- command: test.sh
plugins:
- docker-compose#v5.5.0:
run: app
config: docker-compose.tests.yml
env:
- BUILDKITE_BUILD_NUMBER
You can leverage the docker-login plugin in tandem for authenticating with a registry. For example, the following will build and push an image to a private repo, and pull from that private repo in subsequent run commands:
steps:
- plugins:
- docker-login#v2.0.1:
username: xyz
- docker-compose#v5.5.0:
build: app
push: app:index.docker.io/myorg/myrepo:tag
- wait
- command: test.sh
plugins:
- docker-login#v2.0.1:
username: xyz
- docker-compose#v5.5.0:
run: app
Note, you will need to add the configuration to all steps in which you use this plugin.
If you’re generating artifacts in the build step, you’ll need to ensure your Docker Compose configuration volume mounts the host machine directory into the container where those artifacts are created.
For example, if your app
service generates information that you want as artifacts in the /folder/dist
folder, you would need to ensure the app
service in your Docker Compose config has a host volume mount defined as ./dist:/folder/dist
or specify it in the plugin's configuration:
steps:
- command: generate-dist.sh
artifact_paths: "dist/*"
plugins:
- docker-compose#v5.5.0:
run: app
volumes:
- "./dist:/folder/dist"
If you want to use environment variables in the volumes
element, you will need to activate the (unsafe) option expand-volume-vars
(and most likely escape it using $$VARIABLE_NAME
to ensure they are not interpolated when the pipeline is uploaded).
By default, docker-compose makes whatever environment variables it gets available for interpolation of docker-compose.yml, but it doesn't pass them in to your containers.
You can use the environment key in docker-compose.yml to either set specific environment vars or "pass through" environment variables from outside docker-compose.
If you want to add extra environment above what is declared in your docker-compose.yml
,
this plugin offers a environment
block of its own:
steps:
- command: generate-dist.sh
plugins:
- docker-compose#v5.5.0:
run: app
env:
- BUILDKITE_BUILD_NUMBER
- BUILDKITE_PULL_REQUEST
- MY_CUSTOM_ENV=llamas
Note how the values in the list can either be just a key (so the value is sourced from the environment) or a KEY=VALUE pair.
Alternatively, you can have the plugin add all environment variables defined for the job by the agent as defined in BUILDKITE_ENV_FILE
activating the propagate-environment
option:
steps:
- command: use-vars.sh
plugins:
- docker-compose#v5.5.0:
run: app
propagate-environment: true
You can take advantage of Compose profiles defined in your compose file by setting the appropriate environment variable in the step. For example:
steps:
- key: test
command: echo 'from inside the container'
env:
COMPOSE_PROFILES: "frontend,debug"
plugins:
- docker-compose#v5.5.0:
run: app
It is important to understand that, as documented in the official documentation, profiles may prevent some service dependencies from being started up unless the compose file is setup correctly which may cause unforseen issues with your steps when used.
When running a command, the plugin will automatically add the following Docker labels to the container specified in the run
option:
com.buildkite.pipeline_name=${BUILDKITE_PIPELINE_NAME}
com.buildkite.pipeline_slug=${BUILDKITE_PIPELINE_SLUG}
com.buildkite.build_number=${BUILDKITE_BUILD_NUMBER}
com.buildkite.job_id=${BUILDKITE_JOB_ID}
com.buildkite.job_label=${BUILDKITE_LABEL}
com.buildkite.step_key=${BUILDKITE_STEP_KEY}
com.buildkite.agent_name=${BUILDKITE_AGENT_NAME}
com.buildkite.agent_id=${BUILDKITE_AGENT_ID}
These labels can make it easier to query containers on hosts using docker ps
for example:
docker ps --filter "label=com.buildkite.job_label=Run tests"
This behaviour can be disabled with the run-labels: false
option.
You can use the build args key in docker-compose.yml to set specific build arguments when building an image.
Alternatively, if you want to set build arguments when pre-building an image, this plugin offers an args
block of its own:
steps:
- command: generate-dist.sh
plugins:
- docker-compose#v5.5.0:
build: app
args:
- MY_CUSTOM_ARG=panda
push: app
Note that the values in the list must be a KEY=VALUE
pair.
If you have multiple steps that use the same service/image (such as steps that run in parallel), you can use this plugin in a specific build
step to your pipeline. That will set specific metadata in the pipeline for this plugin to use in run
steps afterwards:
steps:
- label: ":docker: Build"
plugins:
- docker-compose#v5.5.0:
build: app
push: app
- wait
- label: ":docker: Test %n"
command: test.sh
parallelism: 25
plugins:
- docker-compose#v5.5.0:
run: app
require-prebuild: true
All run
steps for the service app
will automatically pull and use the pre-built image. Note that, for the example to work as-is, the app
service needs to have an image
element defined or the build/push step needs to be changed to push: app:the_registry:the_tag
(and the agent running all the steps need to be authenticated against the registry if required).
Note that the require-prebuild
option means that if no prebuilt image is found, all Test %n
jobs will fail. Without it, if the agent the Test %n
is running on has ever built such an image and has it appropriately tagged it may still run.
Sometimes your compose file has multiple services that need building. The example below will build images for the app
and tests
service and then the run step will pull them down and use them for the run as needed.
steps:
- label: ":docker: Build"
agents:
queue: docker-builder
plugins:
- docker-compose#v5.5.0:
build:
- app
- tests
push:
- app
- tests
- wait
- label: ":docker: Test %n"
command: test.sh
parallelism: 25
plugins:
- docker-compose#v5.5.0:
run: tests
If you want to push your Docker images ready for deployment, you can use the push
configuration (which operates similar to docker-compose push:
steps:
- label: ":docker: Push"
plugins:
- docker-compose#v5.5.0:
push: app
To push multiple images, you can use a list:
steps:
- label: ":docker: Push"
plugins:
- docker-compose#v5.5.0:
push:
- first-service
- second-service
If you want to push to a specific location (that's not defined as the image
in your docker-compose.yml), you can use the {service}:{repo}:{tag}
format, for example:
steps:
- label: ":docker: Push"
plugins:
- docker-compose#v5.5.0:
push:
- app:index.docker.io/myorg/myrepo/myapp
- app:index.docker.io/myorg/myrepo/myapp:latest
A newly spawned agent won't contain any of the docker caches for the first run which will result in a long build step. To mitigate this you can reuse caches from a previously built image (if it was pushed from a previous build):
steps:
- label: ":docker: Build an image"
plugins:
- docker-compose#v5.5.0:
build: app
push: app:index.docker.io/myorg/myrepo:my-branch
cache-from:
- "app:myregistry:port/myrepo/myapp:my-branch"
- "app:myregistry:port/myrepo/myapp:latest"
- wait
- label: ":docker: Push to final repository"
plugins:
- docker-compose#v5.5.0:
push:
- app:myregistry:port/myrepo/myapp:latest
For images to be pulled and used as a cache they need to be built with the BUILDKIT_INLINE_CACHE=1
build argument.
The values you add in the cache-from
will be mapped to the corresponding service's configuration. That means that you can use any valid cache type your environment supports:
steps:
- label: ":docker: Build an image"
plugins:
- docker-compose#v5.5.0:
build: app
push: app:index.docker.io/myorg/myrepo:my-branch
cache-from:
- "app:type=registry,ref=myregistry:port/myrepo/myapp:my-branch"
- "app:myregistry:port/myrepo/myapp:latest"
- wait
- label: ":docker: Push to final repository"
plugins:
- docker-compose#v5.5.0:
push:
- app:myregistry:port/myrepo/myapp:latest
Most Docker setups, unless configured, will use the docker
Builder Driver by default. More details on it here.
The docker
driver can handle most situations but for advance features with the Docker, different Builder Drivers are required and this requires a Builder Instance being created first, which can be done manually or with the Plugin. To create a Builder Instance using a chosen Driver, requires the name
, driver
and create
parameters:
steps:
- label: ":docker: Build an image"
plugins:
- docker-compose#v5.5.0:
build: app
push: app:index.docker.io/myorg/myrepo:my-branch
cache-from:
- "app:myregistry:port/myrepo/myapp:my-branch"
- "app:myregistry:port/myrepo/myapp:latest"
builder:
name: container
driver: docker-container
create: true
If a Builder Instance with the same name
already exists, it will not be recreated.
By default, Builder Instances specified by name
or that are created with create
are not used, and the default Builder Instance on the Agent will be used. To use a Builder Instance, requires the name
and use
parameters and the Builder Instance to exist:
steps:
- label: ":docker: Build an image"
plugins:
- docker-compose#v5.5.0:
build: app
push: app:index.docker.io/myorg/myrepo:my-branch
cache-from:
- "app:myregistry:port/myrepo/myapp:my-branch"
- "app:myregistry:port/myrepo/myapp:latest"
builder:
name: container
use: true
By default, Builder Instances specified by name
or that are created with create
are not removed after the Job finishs. To remove a Builder Instance, requires the name
and remove
parameters and the Builder Instance to exist:
steps:
- label: ":docker: Build an image"
plugins:
- docker-compose#v5.5.0:
build: app
push: app:index.docker.io/myorg/myrepo:my-branch
cache-from:
- "app:myregistry:port/myrepo/myapp:my-branch"
- "app:myregistry:port/myrepo/myapp:latest"
builder:
name: container
driver: docker-container
create: true
use: true
remove: true
Removing a Builder Instance by default will remove the daemon running it and its state (which can be used for cache).
To keep the daemon or state, use the keep-daemon
or keep-state
parameters.
These parameter are only applicable with specific Drivers, for detail see docker buildx rm
.
A newly spawned agent won't contain any of the docker caches for the first run which will result in a long build step. To mitigate this you can reuse caches from a remote registry, but requires pushing cache and manifests to a registry using a Builder Driver that supports cache exports e.g., docker-container
- the docker
driver does not support this by default. For any remote registry used that requires authenication, see Authenticated registries for more details. This requires use of the cache-from
, cache-to
, name
and use
parameters but will use the create
and driver
parameters to create the Builder Instance across multiple Agents:
steps:
- label: ":docker: Build an image and push cache"
plugins:
- docker-compose#v5.5.0:
build: app
push: app:${DOCKER_REGISTRY}/${IMAGE_REPO}:cache
cache-from:
- "app:type=registry,ref=${DOCKER_REGISTRY}/${IMAGE_REPO}:cache"
cache-to:
- "app:type=registry,mode=max,image-manifest=true,oci-mediatypes=true,ref=${DOCKER_REGISTRY}/${IMAGE_REPO}:cache"
builder:
name: container
use: true
create: true
driver: docker-container
- wait
- label: ":docker: Build an image using remote cache"
plugins:
- docker-compose#v5.5.0:
build: app
cache-from:
- "app:type=registry,ref=${DOCKER_REGISTRY}/${IMAGE_REPO}:cache"
builder:
name: container
use: true
create: true
driver: docker-container
The first Step will build the Image using a Builder Instance with the docker-container
driver and push the image cache to the remote registry, as specified by cache-to
, with additional cache export options being used to export all the layers of intermediate steps with the image manifests. More details cache export options here.
The second Step will build the Image using a Builder Instance with the docker-container
driver and use remote registry for the image cache, as specified by cache-from
, speeding up Image building process.