Building Custom Image

Build your own Docker image

The docker-custom directory contains files you need to build your own fully custom images.

If you just want to add some nodes or containerise a simple project you may want to use a Quick Custom Image.

The follow steps describe in short which steps to take to build your own images.

1. git clone

   Clone the Node-RED Docker project from github

   git clone https://github.com/node-red/node-red-docker.git

   Change dir to docker-custom

   cd node-red-docker/docker-custom

2. package.json

   • Change the node-red version in package.json (from the docker-custom directory) to the version you require
   • Add optionally packages you require

3. docker-make.sh

   The docker-make.sh is a helper script to build a custom Node-RED docker image.

   Change the build arguments as needed:

   - `--build-arg ARCH=amd64` : architecture your are building for (arm32v6, arm32v7, arm64v8, amd64)
   - `--build-arg NODE_VERSION=10` : NodeJS version you like to use
   - `--build-arg NODE_RED_VERSION=${NODE_RED_VERSION}` : don't change this, ${NODE_RED_VERSION} gets populated from package.json
   - `--build-arg OS=alpine` : don't change this (alpine)
   - `--build-arg BUILD_DATE="$(date +"%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ")"` : don't change this
   - `--build-arg TAG_SUFFIX=default` : to build the default or minimal image
   - `--file Dockerfile.custom` : Dockerfile to use to build your image.
   - `--tag testing:node-red-build` : set the image name and tag
   

4. Run docker-make.sh

   Run docker-make.sh

   $ ./docker-make.sh

   This starts building your custom image and might take a while depending on the system you are running on.

   When building is done you can run the custom image by the following command:

   $ docker run -it -p1880:1880 testing:node-red-build

   With the following command you can verify your docker image:

   $ docker inspect testing:node-red-build

Advanced Configuration

The Dockerfile.custom file can be modified as required. To add more applications the scripts/install_devtools.sh can be modified as needed.

Use Case - Installing extra Python packages

Assume you want to build your own custom image with the following Python packages pre-installed:

• adafruit-circuitpython-neopixel
• adafruit-circuitpython-motorkit
• above packages require python3-dev

1. Modify scripts/install_devtools.sh as follows:

   #!/bin/bash
   set -ex
   
   # Installing Devtools
   if [[ ${TAG_SUFFIX} != "minimal" ]]; then
    echo "Installing devtools"
    apk add --no-cache --virtual devtools build-base linux-headers udev python python3 python3-dev
    pip3 install --upgrade pip
    pip3 install adafruit-circuitpython-neopixel
    pip3 install adafruit-circuitpython-motorkit
   else
    echo "Skip installing devtools"
   fi
   

2. Run docker-make.sh

   $ ./docker-make.sh