Buildpacks-built images can contain multiple process types.
For this example we will use the hello-processes buildpack from our samples repo so make sure you have it cloned locally.
Let’s build the app.
pack build multi-process-app \ --builder cnbs/sample-builder:alpine \ --buildpack samples/java-maven \ --buildpack samples/buildpacks/hello-processes/ \ --path samples/apps/java-maven/ If you inspect the app image with pack, you will see multiple process types defined:
pack inspect-image multi-process-app The output should look similar to the below:
Inspecting image: multi-process-app REMOTE: (not present) LOCAL: Stack: io.buildpacks.samples.stacks.alpine Base Image: Reference: f5898fb2b30c2b66f5a69a424bae6473259fa48b387df35335f04332af7f1091 Top Layer: sha256:700c764e7c5d5c75e6a0fc7d272b7e1c70ab327c03fbdf4abd9313e5ec3217f7 Run Images: cnbs/sample-base-run:alpine Rebasable: true Buildpacks: ID VERSION HOMEPAGE samples/java-maven 0.0.2 https://github.com/buildpacks/samples/tree/main/buildpacks/java-maven samples/hello-processes 0.0.1 https://github.com/buildpacks/samples/tree/main/buildpacks/hello-process Processes: TYPE SHELL COMMAND ARGS web (default) bash java -jar target/sample-0.0.1-SNAPSHOT.jar sys-info bash /layers/samples_hello-processes/sys-info/sys-info.sh Notice that the java-maven buildpack defined web as the default process type. If we had run the pack build command above with --default-process sys-info, sys-info would be the default process for the app image!
Buildpacks are designed to give you much flexibility in how you run your app. The lifecycle includes a binary called the launcher which is present in the final app image and is responsible for starting your app. By default, the launcher will start processes with bash (these are referred to as non-direct processes). Processes that are started without bash are referred to as direct processes. The launcher will source any profile scripts (for non-direct processes) and set buildpack-provided environment variables in the app’s execution environment before starting the app process.
If you would like to run the default process, you can simply run the app image without any additional arguments:
docker run --rm -p 8080:8080 multi-process-app As an app developer, you can specify what the default process is; see the specify default launch process page for more information.
If you would like to pass additional arguments to the default process, you can run the app image with the arguments specified in the command:
docker run --rm -p 8080:8080 multi-process-app --spring.profiles.active=mysql To run a non-default process type, set the process type as the entrypoint for the run container:
docker run --rm --entrypoint sys-info multi-process-app You can pass additional arguments to a non-default process type:
docker run --rm --entrypoint sys-info multi-process-app --spring.profiles.active=mysql You can even override the buildpack-defined process types:
docker run --rm --entrypoint launcher -it multi-process-app bash Now let’s exit this shell and run an alternative entrypoint -
exit docker run --rm --entrypoint launcher -it multi-process-app echo hello "$WORLD" # $WORLD is evaluated on the host machine docker run --rm --entrypoint launcher -it multi-process-app echo hello '$WORLD' # $WORLD is evaluated in the container after profile scripts are sourced An entire script may be provided as a single argument:
docker run --rm --entrypoint launcher -it multi-process-app 'for opt in $JAVA_OPTS; do echo $opt; done' By passing -- before the command, we instruct the launcher to start the provided process without bash. Note that while buildpack-provided environment variables will be set in the execution environment, no profile scripts will be sourced (as these require bash):
docker run --rm --entrypoint launcher multi-process-app -- env # output will include buildpack-provided env vars docker run --rm --entrypoint launcher multi-process-app -- echo hello "$WORLD" # $WORLD is evaluated on the host machine docker run --rm --entrypoint launcher multi-process-app -- echo hello '$WORLD' # $WORLD is not evaluated, output will include string literal `$WORLD` You can bypass the launcher entirely by setting a new entrypoint for the run container:
docker run --rm --entrypoint bash -it multi-process-app # profile scripts have NOT been sourced and buildpack-provided env vars are NOT set in this shell To learn more about the launcher, see the platform spec.