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Ruby on Rails language-specific guide

This guide explains how to containerize Ruby on Rails applications using Docker.

Table of contents

The Ruby language-specific guide teaches you how to containerize a Ruby on Rails application using Docker. In this guide, you’ll learn how to:

  • Containerize and run a Ruby on Rails application
  • Set up a local environment to develop a Ruby on Rails application using containers

Start by containerizing an existing Ruby on Rails application.

Containerize a Ruby on Rails application

Prerequisites

  • You have installed the latest version of Docker Desktop.
  • You have a Git client. The examples in this section show the Git CLI, but you can use any client.

Overview

This section walks you through containerizing and running a Ruby on Rails application.

Starting from Rails 7.1 Docker is supported out of the box. This means that you will get a Dockerfile, .dockerignore and bin/docker-entrypoint files generated for you when you create a new Rails application.

If you have an existing Rails application, you will need to create the Docker assets manually from the examples below.

1. Create Docker assets

Tip

Gordon, Docker's AI assistant, can generate Docker assets for your project. Ask Gordon to create a Dockerfile, Compose file, and .dockerignore tailored to your application.

Rails 7.1 and newer generates multistage Dockerfile out of the box. Following are two versions of such a file: one using Docker Hardened Images (DHIs) and another using the Docker Official Image (DOIs). Although the Dockerfile is generated automatically, understanding its purpose and functionality is important. Reviewing the following example is highly recommended.

Docker Hardened Images (DHIs) are minimal, secure, and production-ready container base and application images maintained by Docker. DHIs are recommended whenever it is possible for better security. They are designed to reduce vulnerabilities and simplify compliance, freely available to everyone with no subscription required, no usage restrictions, and no vendor lock-in.

Multistage Dockerfiles help create smaller, more efficient images by separating build and runtime dependencies, ensuring only necessary components are included in the final image. Read more in the Multi-stage builds guide.

You must authenticate to dhi.io before you can pull Docker Hardened Images. Run docker login dhi.io to authenticate.

Dockerfile
# syntax=docker/dockerfile:1
# check=error=true

# This Dockerfile is designed for production, not development.
# docker build -t app .
# docker run -d -p 80:80 -e RAILS_MASTER_KEY=<value from config/master.key> --name app app

# For a containerized dev environment, see Dev Containers: https://guides.rubyonrails.org/getting_started_with_devcontainer.html

# Make sure RUBY_VERSION matches the Ruby version in .ruby-version
ARG RUBY_VERSION=3.4.8
FROM dhi.io/ruby:$RUBY_VERSION-dev AS base

# Rails app lives here
WORKDIR /rails

# Install base packages
# Replace libpq-dev with sqlite3 if using SQLite, or libmysqlclient-dev if using MySQL
RUN apt-get update -qq && \
    apt-get install --no-install-recommends -y curl libjemalloc2 libvips libpq-dev && \
    rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists /var/cache/apt/archives

# Set production environment
ENV RAILS_ENV="production" \
    BUNDLE_DEPLOYMENT="1" \
    BUNDLE_PATH="/usr/local/bundle" \
    BUNDLE_WITHOUT="development"

# Throw-away build stage to reduce size of final image
FROM base AS build

# Install packages needed to build gems
RUN apt-get update -qq && \
    apt-get install --no-install-recommends -y build-essential curl git pkg-config libyaml-dev && \
    rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists /var/cache/apt/archives

# Install JavaScript dependencies and Node.js for asset compilation
#
# Uncomment the following lines if you are using NodeJS need to compile assets
#
# ARG NODE_VERSION=18.12.0
# ARG YARN_VERSION=1.22.19
# ENV PATH=/usr/local/node/bin:$PATH
# RUN curl -sL https://github.com/nodenv/node-build/archive/master.tar.gz | tar xz -C /tmp/ && \
#     /tmp/node-build-master/bin/node-build "${NODE_VERSION}" /usr/local/node && \
#     npm install -g yarn@$YARN_VERSION && \
#     npm install -g mjml && \
#     rm -rf /tmp/node-build-master

# Install application gems
COPY Gemfile Gemfile.lock ./
RUN bundle install && \
    rm -rf ~/.bundle/ "${BUNDLE_PATH}"/ruby/*/cache "${BUNDLE_PATH}"/ruby/*/bundler/gems/*/.git && \
    bundle exec bootsnap precompile --gemfile

# Install node modules
#
# Uncomment the following lines if you are using NodeJS need to compile assets
#
# COPY package.json yarn.lock ./
# RUN --mount=type=cache,id=yarn,target=/rails/.cache/yarn YARN_CACHE_FOLDER=/rails/.cache/yarn \
#     yarn install --frozen-lockfile

# Copy application code
COPY . .

# Precompile bootsnap code for faster boot times
RUN bundle exec bootsnap precompile app/ lib/

# Precompiling assets for production without requiring secret RAILS_MASTER_KEY
RUN SECRET_KEY_BASE_DUMMY=1 ./bin/rails assets:precompile

# Final stage for app image
FROM base

# Copy built artifacts: gems, application
COPY --from=build "${BUNDLE_PATH}" "${BUNDLE_PATH}"
COPY --from=build /rails /rails

# Run and own only the runtime files as a non-root user for security
RUN groupadd --system --gid 1000 rails && \
    useradd rails --uid 1000 --gid 1000 --create-home --shell /bin/bash && \
    chown -R rails:rails db log storage tmp
USER 1000:1000

# Entrypoint prepares the database.
ENTRYPOINT ["/rails/bin/docker-entrypoint"]

# Start server via Thruster by default, this can be overwritten at runtime
EXPOSE 80
CMD ["./bin/thrust", "./bin/rails", "server"]
Dockerfile
# syntax=docker/dockerfile:1
# check=error=true

# This Dockerfile is designed for production, not development.
# docker build -t app .
# docker run -d -p 80:80 -e RAILS_MASTER_KEY=<value from config/master.key> --name app app

# For a containerized dev environment, see Dev Containers: https://guides.rubyonrails.org/getting_started_with_devcontainer.html

# Make sure RUBY_VERSION matches the Ruby version in .ruby-version
ARG RUBY_VERSION=3.4.8
FROM docker.io/library/ruby:$RUBY_VERSION-slim AS base

# Rails app lives here
WORKDIR /rails

# Install base packages
# Replace libpq-dev with sqlite3 if using SQLite, or libmysqlclient-dev if using MySQL
RUN apt-get update -qq && \
    apt-get install --no-install-recommends -y curl libjemalloc2 libvips libpq-dev && \