CODEWITHSUNDEEP
dockerdockerfiledocker-image
Alireza
Alireza

Reputation: 2449

Why Docker COPY works differently with single file and directory?

I have a front end project which includes package.json inside it.(imagine create-react-app for example)

When I run below command everything works fine with no error.

first DockerFile

COPY . develop
WORKDIR develop

But in case I want COPY, package.json next command I will face an error.

second DockerFile

COPY package.json develop
WORKDIR develop

error message: Cannot mkdir: /develop is not a directory

I know how to dockerize my project with the below command.

WORKDIR develop
COPY package.json .

I am just curious to know why the first Dockerfile works and the second one won't work.

I also used RUN ls after COPY command and find out in both case the develop directory has been generated.

Upvotes: 0

Views: 56

Answers (1)

Dexter
Dexter

Reputation: 1409

It is because COPY package.json develop is instructed to copy the packages.json to the container as develop. So the next directive WORKDIR fails because develop is not a directory but a file.

Use the / before && after develop and it should work. 

FROM alpine
COPY temp.txt /develop/
WORKDIR develop

Upvotes: 2

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