Custom image creation
Custom images allow you to define workspaces that include the dependencies, scripts, and user preferences helpful for your project.
This guide assumes that you're familiar with:
Resources
For ideas on what you can include in your images, see:
Creating a custom image
Instead of starting from scratch, we recommend extending one of our sample images:
# Dockerfile
FROM codercom/enterprise-base:ubuntu
USER root
# Add software, files, dev tools, and dependencies here
RUN apt-get install -y ...
COPY file ./
USER coder
...
Please note:
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Coder workspaces mount a home volume, which is a persistent volume that will replace any files in the image's home directory. If you have installation scripts (e.g., those for Rust), you must configure them to install software in another directory.
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If you're using a different base image, see our image minimum requirements to ensure that your image will work with all of Coder's features.
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You can leverage your Coder deployment and its compute resources to build images inside a CVM-enabled workspacewith Docker installed (see our base image for an example of how you can do this). This is a way to free up your local machine from the compute-heavy image building process.
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If you're using CVM-only features during an image's build time (e.g., you're pre-loading images in workspaces), you may need to install the sysbox runtime onto your local machine and build your images locally. Note that this isn't usually necessary, even if your image installs and enables Docker.
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If you're installing additional IDEs (like JetBrains), you may need to include installation instructions for the language interpreter, development kit, build tool, and compiler in the image. Check the docs for your IDE to see what components it requires.
Example: Installing a JetBrains IDE
This snippet shows you how to install a JetBrains IDE onto your image so that you can use it in your Coder workspace:
# Dockerfile
FROM ...
# Install IDEs as root
USER root
RUN mkdir -p /opt/[IDE]
RUN curl -L \
"https://download.jetbrains.com/product?code=[CODE]&latest&distribution=linux" \
| tar -C /opt/[IDE] --strip-components 1 -xzvf -
# Add a binary to the PATH that points to the IDE startup script.
RUN ln -s /opt/[IDE]/bin/idea.sh /usr/bin/[IDE]
# Set back to coder user
USER coder
Make sure that you replace [IDE] with the name of the IDE in lowercase and
provide its
corresponding [CODE].
Here's how to install IntelliJ IDEA Ultimate onto your image:
# Dockerfile
FROM ...
USER root
# Install IntelliJ IDEA Ultimate
RUN mkdir -p /opt/idea
RUN curl -L "https://download.jetbrains.com/product?code=IU&latest&distribution=linux" \
| tar -C /opt/idea --strip-components 1 -xzvf -
# Create a symbolic link in PATH that points to the Intellij startup script.
RUN ln -s /opt/idea/bin/idea.sh /usr/bin/intellij-idea-ultimate
# Set back to coder user
USER coder
Here's how to install PyCharm Professional onto your image:
# Dockerfile
FROM ...
USER root
# Install pycharm professional
RUN mkdir -p /opt/pycharm
RUN curl -L "https://download.jetbrains.com/product?code=PCP&latest&distribution=linux" | tar -C /opt/pycharm --strip-components 1 -xzvf -
# Add a binary to the PATH that points to the pycharm startup script.
RUN ln -s /opt/pycharm/bin/pycharm.sh /usr/bin/pycharm
# Set back to coder user
USER coder