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Docker Best Practices for Production

March 5, 2024 1 min read
docker devops containers

Running Docker in production requires more than just docker run. Here are some best practices I’ve learned.

Use Multi-Stage Builds

Keep your images small by using multi-stage builds:

FROM golang:1.21 AS builder
WORKDIR /app
COPY . .
RUN go build -o main .

FROM alpine:latest
COPY --from=builder /app/main /main
CMD ["/main"]

Don’t Run as Root

Always specify a non-root user:

RUN adduser -D appuser
USER appuser

Health Checks

Add health checks so orchestrators know when your container is ready:

HEALTHCHECK --interval=30s --timeout=3s \
  CMD wget -q --spider http://localhost:8080/health || exit 1

Key Takeaways

  • Use specific image tags, not latest
  • Minimize layers and image size
  • Scan images for vulnerabilities
  • Use .dockerignore to exclude unnecessary files