Linter and validator for Dockerfile

Dockerfilelint is an npm module that analyzes a Dockerfile and looks for common traps, mistakes and helps enforce best practices:

Testing

Start unit tests with npm test

Running

From the command line:

./bin/dockerfilelint <path/to/Dockerfile>

Configuring

You can configure the linter by creating a .dockerfilelintrc with the following syntax:

rules:
  uppercase_commands: off

The keys for the rules can be any file in the /lib/reference.js file. At this time, it's only possible to disable rules. They are all enabled by default.

The following rules are supported:

required_params
uppercase_commands
from_first
invalid_line
sudo_usage
apt-get_missing_param
apt-get_recommends
apt-get-upgrade
apt-get-dist-upgrade
apt-get-update_require_install
apkadd-missing_nocache_or_updaterm
apkadd-missing-virtual
invalid_port
invalid_command
expose_host_port
label_invalid
missing_tag
latest_tag
extra_args
missing_args
add_src_invalid
add_dest_invalid
invalid_workdir
invalid_format
apt-get_missing_rm

From a Docker container

(Replace the pwd/Dockerfile with the path to your local Dockerfile)

sudo docker run -v `pwd`/Dockerfile:/Dockerfile dockerfilelint /Dockerfile

Online

If you don't want to install this locally you can try it out on https://fromlatest.io.

Checks performed

FROM

• [x] This should be the first command in the Dockerfile
• [x] Base image should specify a tag
• [x] Base image should not use latest tag
• [x] Support FROM scratch without a tag
• [x] Support the FROM <image>@<digest> syntax
• [ ] Allow config to specify "allowed" base layers

MAINTAINER

• [x] Should be followed by exactly 1 parameter (@ sign)

RUN

• [x] sudo is not included in the command
• [x] apt-get [install | upgrade | remove] should include a -y flag
• [x] apt-get install commands should include a --no-install-recommends flag
• [x] apt-get install commands should be paired with a rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/* in the same layer
• [x] Avoid running apt-get upgrade or apt-get dist-upgrade
• [x] Never run apt-get update without apt-get install on the same line
• [x] apk add commands should include a --no-cache flag or be paired with an --update flag with rm -rf /var/cache/apk/* in the same layer
• [x] apk add support for --virtual flag
• [ ] handle best practices for yum operations and cleanup

CMD

• [x] Only a single CMD layer is allowed
• [ ] Better handling of escaped quotes
• [ ] Detect exec format with expected variable substitution

LABEL

• [x] Format should be key=value

EXPOSE

• [x] Only the container port should be listed
• [ ] All ports should be exposed in a single cache layer (line)
• [ ] The same port number should not be exposed multiple times
• [x] Exposed ports should be numeric and in the accepted range

ENV

• [x] Format of ENV
• [ ] Best practice of only using a single ENV line to reduce cache layer count

ADD

• [x] Command should have at least 2 parameters
• [x] Source command(s) cannot be absolute or relative paths that exist outside of the current build context
• [x] Commands with wildcards or multiple sources require that destination is a directory, not a file
• [ ] If an ADD command could be a COPY, then COPY is preferred
• [ ] Using ADD to fetch remote files is discouraged because they cannot be removed from the layer

COPY

• [ ] Implement checking (similar to ADD)
• [ ] Do not COPY multiple files on a single command to best use cache

ENTRYPOINT

• [ ] Support

VOLUME

• [ ] Format
• [ ] Any build steps after VOLUME is declare should not change VOLUME contents
• [ ] If JSON format, double quotes are required

USER

• [x] Should be followed by exactly 1 parameter

WORKDIR

• [x] Validate that it has exactly 1 parameter
• [x] WORKDIR can only expand variables previously set in ENV commands

ARG

• [ ] Support
• [ ] Prevent redefining the built in ARGs (proxy)

ONBUILD

• [ ] Support

STOPSIGNAL

• [ ] Validate input
• [ ] Only present one time

Misc

• [x] Only valid Dockerfile commands are present
• [x] All commands should have at least 1 parameter
• [x] Check that commands are written as upper case commands