installing a GCC compiler onto a Docker Container

Question

I am trying to install mono package onto a Docker container, but mono requires git , autoconf, libtool, automake, build-essential , mono-devel, gettext packages.

the problem I am having is that libtool requires libc-dev, and libc-dev requires gcc compiler.

The docker container does not have any compiler installed, but my local machine does.

arcolombo@acolombo:~/Documents/bedgraph_dockerfile$ dpkg --list |grep    compiler
ii  g++                                                                 4:4.8.2-1ubuntu6                                    amd64        GNU C++ compiler
ii  g++-4.8                                                     4.8.2-19ubuntu1                                     amd64        GNU C++ compiler
ii  gcc                                                         4:4.8.2-1ubuntu6                                    amd64        GNU C compiler
ii  gcc-4.8                                                     4.8.2-19ubuntu1                                     amd64        GNU C compiler
ii  hardening-includes                                          2.5ubuntu2.1                                        all          Makefile for enabling compiler flags for security hardening
ii  libllvm3.5:amd64                                            1:3.5-4ubuntu2~trusty2                              amd64        Modular compiler and toolchain technologies, runtime library
ii  libmono-compilerservices-symbolwriter4.0-cil                   3.2.8+dfsg-4ubuntu1.1                               all          Mono.CompilerServices.SymbolWriter library (for CLI 4.0)
ii  libxkbcommon0:amd64                                         0.4.1-0ubuntu1                                      amd64        library interface to the XKB compiler - shared library
ii  mono-mcs                                                    3.2.8+dfsg-4ubuntu1.1                               all          Mono C# 2.0 / 3.0 / 4.0 / 5.0  compiler for CLI 2.0 / 4.0 / 4.5

so my question is , what is the easiest way to get a gcc compiler onto a Docker container? should I just create a volume of these compiler directories into my docker container?

The reason I think I may need it is because I am running a website, and the website executes a docker image directly.

Answer 1

You could also grab an official image that already has GCC and/or some/most of the tools you need already installed. The docker store has a lot of official images already setup: https://store.docker.com/search?page_size=99&q=&source=verified

I'm not sure if it's the right mono, but they have a mono image: https://store.docker.com/images/4234a761-444b-4dea-a6b3-31bda725c427?tab=description

And an official GCC image: https://store.docker.com/images/06ad851d-f666-47d3-9ef3-e90535c141ec?tab=description

There's also buildpack-deps if you're going to be building stuff yourself: https://store.docker.com/images/9e56c286-5b40-4838-89fe-fd513c9c3bd6

You can browse by category: https://store.docker.com/search?page_size=99&q=&source=verified

And also directly search docker hub for mono or whatever your needs are: https://hub.docker.com/search/?isAutomated=0&isOfficial=0&page=1&pullCount=0&q=mono&starCount=0

Answer 2

In your Dockerfile:

FROM ubuntu
# ...
ENV DEBIAN_FRONTEND noninteractive
RUN apt-get update && \
    apt-get -y install gcc mono-mcs && \
    rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*

Answer 3

As I understand it, the OP has confused the terminology, and probably meant to ask:

installing a GCC compiler onto a Docker image

My answer starts by addressing the title of the question (regarding containers), then moves on to the intent of the question (regarding images).

If you can run a BASH shell in the container, then you don't need to manipulate a Dockerfile.

Say, for example, you try the hint from the docker run hello-world example:

docker run -it ubuntu bash

Then just run these from the shell in the container...

apt-get update
apt-get install gcc

A key point is that apt-get install in a raw Docker container may not behave as expected if you don't first run apt-get update. Expect to see...

Unable to locate package gcc

The error message when trying to install g++ without apt-get update is even more confusing due to "regex" substitution.

---

See also: http://www.liquidweb.com/kb/how-to-list-and-attach-to-docker-containers

docker ps -a ## list all available containers

and

docker exec -ti [CONTAINER ID] bash

This live-manipulation approach can also be used to creates images as the OP probably intended. Use docker commit to save your live container as a new image.