Envbuilder
Envbuilder is an open-source tool that builds development environments from dev container configuration files. Unlike the Dev Containers integration, Envbuilder transforms the workspace image itself rather than running containers inside the workspace.
Note
For most use cases, we recommend the
Dev Containers integration,
which uses the standard @devcontainers/cli and Docker. Envbuilder is an
alternative for environments where Docker is not available or for
administrator-controlled dev container workflows.
Dev containers provide developers with increased autonomy and control over their Coder cloud development environments.
By using dev containers, developers can customize their workspaces with tools pre-approved by platform teams in registries like JFrog Artifactory. This simplifies workflows, reduces the need for tickets and approvals, and promotes greater independence for developers.
Prerequisites
An administrator should construct or choose a base image and create a template
that includes a devcontainer_builder image before a developer team configures
dev containers.
Devcontainer Features
Dev container Features allow owners of a project to specify self-contained units of code and runtime configuration that can be composed together on top of an existing base image. This is a good place to install project-specific tools, such as language-specific runtimes and compilers.
Coder Envbuilder
Envbuilder is an open-source project maintained by Coder that runs dev containers via Coder templates and your underlying infrastructure. Envbuilder can run on Docker or Kubernetes.
It is independently packaged and versioned from the centralized Coder open-source project. This means that Envbuilder can be used with Coder, but it is not required. It also means that dev container builds can scale independently of the Coder control plane and even run within a CI/CD pipeline.