Add support for setting user, workingDir and env when executing a command in a container

docs/features/containers.md

@@ -495,6 +495,9 @@ const container = await new GenericContainer("alpine")
 
 ## Running commands
 
+To run a command inside an already started container use the `exec` method. The command will be run in the container's 
+working directory, returning the command output and exit code:
+
 ```javascript
 const container = await new GenericContainer("alpine")
   .withCommand(["sleep", "infinity"])
@@ -503,6 +506,30 @@ const container = await new GenericContainer("alpine")
 const { output, exitCode } = await container.exec(["echo", "hello", "world"]);
 ```
 
+The following options can be provided to modify the command execution:
+
+1. **`user`:** The user, and optionally, group to run the exec process inside the container. Format is one of: `user`, `user:group`, `uid`, or `uid:gid`.
+
+2. **`workingDir`:** The working directory for the exec process inside the container.
+
+3. **`env`:** A map of environment variables to set inside the container.
+
+
+```javascript
+const container = await new GenericContainer("alpine")
+  .withCommand(["sleep", "infinity"])
+  .start();
+
+const { output, exitCode } = await container.exec(["echo", "hello", "world"], {
+	workingDir: "/app/src/",
+	user: "1000:1000",
+	env: {
+		"VAR1": "enabled",
+		"VAR2": "/app/debug.log",
+	}
+});
+````
+
 ## Streaming logs
 
 Logs can be consumed either from a started container:

packages/testcontainers/src/container-runtime/clients/container/container-client.ts

@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ import Dockerode, {
   Network,
 } from "dockerode";
 import { Readable } from "stream";
-import { ExecResult } from "./types";
+import { ExecOptions, ExecResult } from "./types";
 
 export interface ContainerClient {
   dockerode: Dockerode;
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ export interface ContainerClient {
   stop(container: Container, opts?: { timeout: number }): Promise<void>;
   attach(container: Container): Promise<Readable>;
   logs(container: Container, opts?: ContainerLogsOptions): Promise<Readable>;
-  exec(container: Container, command: string[], opts?: { log: boolean }): Promise<ExecResult>;
+  exec(container: Container, command: string[], opts?: Partial<ExecOptions>): Promise<ExecResult>;
   restart(container: Container, opts?: { timeout: number }): Promise<void>;
   remove(container: Container, opts?: { removeVolumes: boolean }): Promise<void>;
   connectToNetwork(container: Container, network: Network, networkAliases: string[]): Promise<void>;

packages/testcontainers/src/container-runtime/clients/container/docker-container-client.ts

@@ -4,11 +4,12 @@ import Dockerode, {
   ContainerInfo,
   ContainerInspectInfo,
   ContainerLogsOptions,
+  ExecCreateOptions,
   Network,
 } from "dockerode";
 import { PassThrough, Readable } from "stream";
 import { IncomingMessage } from "http";
-import { ExecResult } from "./types";
+import { ExecOptions, ExecResult } from "./types";
 import byline from "byline";
 import { ContainerClient } from "./container-client";
 import { log, execLog, streamToString } from "../../../common";
@@ -173,21 +174,31 @@ export class DockerContainerClient implements ContainerClient {
     }
   }
 
-  async exec(container: Container, command: string[], opts?: { log: boolean }): Promise<ExecResult> {
-    const chunks: string[] = [];
+  async exec(container: Container, command: string[], opts?: Partial<ExecOptions>): Promise<ExecResult> {
+    const execOptions: ExecCreateOptions = {
+      Cmd: command,
+      AttachStdout: true,
+      AttachStderr: true,
+    };
+
+    if (opts?.env !== undefined) {
+      execOptions.Env = Object.entries(opts.env).map(([key, value]) => `${key}=${value}`);
+    }
+    if (opts?.workingDir !== undefined) {
+      execOptions.WorkingDir = opts.workingDir;
+    }
+    if (opts?.user !== undefined) {
+      execOptions.User = opts.user;
+    }
 
+    const chunks: string[] = [];
     try {
       if (opts?.log) {
         log.debug(`Execing container with command "${command.join(" ")}"...`, { containerId: container.id });
       }
-      const exec = await container.exec({
-        Cmd: command,
-        AttachStdout: true,
-        AttachStderr: true,
-      });
 
+      const exec = await container.exec(execOptions);
       const stream = await exec.start({ stdin: true, Detach: false, Tty: true });
-
       if (opts?.log && execLog.enabled()) {
         byline(stream).on("data", (line) => execLog.trace(line, { containerId: container.id }));
       }
@@ -200,7 +211,7 @@ export class DockerContainerClient implements ContainerClient {
       stream.destroy();
 
       const inspectResult = await exec.inspect();
-      const exitCode = inspectResult.ExitCode === null ? -1 : inspectResult.ExitCode;
+      const exitCode = inspectResult.ExitCode ?? -1;
       const output = chunks.join("");
       if (opts?.log) {
         log.debug(`Execed container with command "${command.join(" ")}"...`, { containerId: container.id });

packages/testcontainers/src/container-runtime/clients/container/podman-container-client.ts

@@ -1,20 +1,34 @@
-import { Container } from "dockerode";
-import { ExecResult } from "./types";
+import { Container, ExecCreateOptions } from "dockerode";
+import { ExecOptions, ExecResult } from "./types";
 import byline from "byline";
 import { DockerContainerClient } from "./docker-container-client";
 import { execLog, log } from "../../../common";
 
 export class PodmanContainerClient extends DockerContainerClient {
-  override async exec(container: Container, command: string[], opts?: { log: boolean }): Promise<ExecResult> {
-    const chunks: string[] = [];
+  override async exec(container: Container, command: string[], opts?: Partial<ExecOptions>): Promise<ExecResult> {
+    const execOptions: ExecCreateOptions = {
+      Cmd: command,
+      AttachStdout: true,
+      AttachStderr: true,
+    };
+
+    if (opts?.env !== undefined) {
+      execOptions.Env = Object.entries(opts.env).map(([key, value]) => `${key}=${value}`);
+    }
+    if (opts?.workingDir !== undefined) {
+      execOptions.WorkingDir = opts.workingDir;
+    }
+    if (opts?.user !== undefined) {
+      execOptions.User = opts.user;
+    }
 
+    const chunks: string[] = [];
     try {
-      const exec = await container.exec({
-        Cmd: command,
-        AttachStdout: true,
-        AttachStderr: true,
-      });
+      if (opts?.log) {
+        log.debug(`Execing container with command "${command.join(" ")}"...`, { containerId: container.id });
+      }
 
+      const exec = await container.exec(execOptions);
       const stream = await this.demuxStream(container.id, await exec.start({ stdin: true, Detach: false, Tty: true }));
       if (opts?.log && execLog.enabled()) {
         byline(stream).on("data", (line) => execLog.trace(line, { containerId: container.id }));
@@ -28,7 +42,7 @@ export class PodmanContainerClient extends DockerContainerClient {
       stream.destroy();
 
       const inspectResult = await exec.inspect();
-      const exitCode = inspectResult.ExitCode === null ? -1 : inspectResult.ExitCode;
+      const exitCode = inspectResult.ExitCode ?? -1;
       const output = chunks.join("");
 
       return { output, exitCode };

packages/testcontainers/src/container-runtime/clients/container/types.ts

@@ -1 +1,5 @@
+export type Environment = { [key in string]: string };
+
+export type ExecOptions = { workingDir: string; user: string; env: Environment; log: boolean };
+
 export type ExecResult = { output: string; exitCode: number };

packages/testcontainers/src/generic-container/abstract-started-container.ts

@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import { RestartOptions, StartedTestContainer, StopOptions, StoppedTestContainer } from "../test-container";
-import { ContentToCopy, DirectoryToCopy, ExecResult, FileToCopy, Labels } from "../types";
+import { ContentToCopy, DirectoryToCopy, ExecOptions, ExecResult, FileToCopy, Labels } from "../types";
 import { Readable } from "stream";
 
 export class AbstractStartedContainer implements StartedTestContainer {
@@ -79,8 +79,8 @@ export class AbstractStartedContainer implements StartedTestContainer {
     return this.startedTestContainer.copyArchiveFromContainer(path);
   }
 
-  public exec(command: string | string[]): Promise<ExecResult> {
-    return this.startedTestContainer.exec(command);
+  public exec(command: string | string[], opts?: Partial<ExecOptions>): Promise<ExecResult> {
+    return this.startedTestContainer.exec(command, opts);
   }
 
   public logs(): Promise<Readable> {

packages/testcontainers/src/generic-container/generic-container.test.ts

@@ -51,6 +51,40 @@ describe("GenericContainer", () => {
     await container.stop();
   });
 
+  it("should execute a command in a different working directory", async () => {
+    const container = await new GenericContainer("cristianrgreco/testcontainer:1.1.14").withExposedPorts(8080).start();
+
+    const { output, exitCode } = await container.exec(["pwd"], { workingDir: "/var/log" });
+
+    expect(exitCode).toBe(0);
+    expect(output).toEqual(expect.stringContaining("/var/log"));
+
+    await container.stop();
+  });
+
+  it("should execute a command with custom environment variables", async () => {
+    const container = await new GenericContainer("cristianrgreco/testcontainer:1.1.14").withExposedPorts(8080).start();
+
+    const { output, exitCode } = await container.exec(["env"], { env: { TEST_ENV: "test" } });
+
+    expect(exitCode).toBe(0);
+    expect(output).toEqual(expect.stringContaining("TEST_ENV=test"));
+
+    await container.stop();
+  });
+
+  it("should execute a command with a different user", async () => {
+    // By default, node:alpine runs as root
+    const container = await new GenericContainer("cristianrgreco/testcontainer:1.1.14").withExposedPorts(8080).start();
+
+    const { output, exitCode } = await container.exec("whoami", { user: "node" });
+
+    expect(exitCode).toBe(0);
+    expect(output).toEqual(expect.stringContaining("node"));
+
+    await container.stop();
+  });
+
   it("should set environment variables", async () => {
     const container = await new GenericContainer("cristianrgreco/testcontainer:1.1.14")
       .withEnvironment({ customKey: "customValue" })

packages/testcontainers/src/generic-container/started-generic-container.ts

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import { RestartOptions, StartedTestContainer, StopOptions, StoppedTestContainer } from "../test-container";
 import Dockerode, { ContainerInspectInfo } from "dockerode";
-import { ContentToCopy, DirectoryToCopy, ExecResult, FileToCopy, Labels } from "../types";
+import { ContentToCopy, DirectoryToCopy, ExecOptions, ExecResult, FileToCopy, Labels } from "../types";
 import { Readable } from "stream";
 import { StoppedGenericContainer } from "./stopped-generic-container";
 import { WaitStrategy } from "../wait-strategies/wait-strategy";
@@ -170,12 +170,12 @@ export class StartedGenericContainer implements StartedTestContainer {
     return stream;
   }
 
-  public async exec(command: string | string[]): Promise<ExecResult> {
+  public async exec(command: string | string[], opts?: Partial<ExecOptions>): Promise<ExecResult> {
     const commandArr = Array.isArray(command) ? command : command.split(" ");
     const commandStr = commandArr.join(" ");
     const client = await getContainerRuntimeClient();
     log.debug(`Executing command "${commandStr}"...`, { containerId: this.container.id });
-    const output = await client.container.exec(this.container, commandArr);
+    const output = await client.container.exec(this.container, commandArr, opts);
     log.debug(`Executed command "${commandStr}"...`, { containerId: this.container.id });
 
     return output;

packages/testcontainers/src/index.ts

@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ export { Network, StartedNetwork, StoppedNetwork } from "./network/network";
 export { Wait } from "./wait-strategies/wait";
 export { StartupCheckStrategy, StartupStatus } from "./wait-strategies/startup-check-strategy";
 export { PullPolicy, ImagePullPolicy } from "./utils/pull-policy";
-export { InspectResult, Content, ExecResult } from "./types";
+export { InspectResult, Content, ExecOptions, ExecResult } from "./types";
 
 export { AbstractStartedContainer } from "./generic-container/abstract-started-container";
 export { AbstractStoppedContainer } from "./generic-container/abstract-stopped-container";

packages/testcontainers/src/test-container.ts

@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import {
   ContentToCopy,
   DirectoryToCopy,
   Environment,
+  ExecOptions,
   ExecResult,
   ExtraHost,
   FileToCopy,
@@ -73,7 +74,7 @@ export interface StartedTestContainer {
   copyDirectoriesToContainer(directoriesToCopy: DirectoryToCopy[]): Promise<void>;
   copyFilesToContainer(filesToCopy: FileToCopy[]): Promise<void>;
   copyContentToContainer(contentsToCopy: ContentToCopy[]): Promise<void>;
-  exec(command: string | string[]): Promise<ExecResult>;
+  exec(command: string | string[], opts?: Partial<ExecOptions>): Promise<ExecResult>;
   logs(): Promise<Readable>;
 }
 

packages/testcontainers/src/types.ts

@@ -81,6 +81,8 @@ export type RegistryConfig = {
 
 export type BuildArgs = { [key in string]: string };
 
+export type ExecOptions = { workingDir: string; user: string; env: Environment };
+
 export type ExecResult = { output: string; exitCode: number };
 
 export type HealthCheckStatus = "none" | "starting" | "unhealthy" | "healthy";