docker CMD vs ENTRYPOINT

The ENTRYPOINT or CMD usually determine the single and main startup process inside the running container, The ENTRYPOINT and the CMD are the final Docker DSL invocation statements in a Dockerfile.A Dockerfile can not be complete without either one of them.

Both the ENTRYPOINT and CMD will execute a /bin/sh -c , but have significant differences.

ENTRYPOINT usually is straight forward with the and is often the statement that enables the  docker image as a runnable container. The ENTRYPOINT statement doesnot let the run time arguments get overwritten during the container runtime, instead the commands are passed on as arguments to the ENTRYPOINT, for Example when the container is started as docker run my-image -d, then the resultant -d argument is passed on as an argument to the ENTRYPOINT.
It means that only last ENTRYPOINT statement is valid in the Dockerfile

The ENTRYPOINT takes CMD as its arguments.

ENTRYPOINT command arg1 arg2

OR

ENTRYPOINT command
CMD ["arg1", "arg2"]
ENTRYPOINT ["java","-jar","app.jar"]
CMD ["-Dserver.port=8080"]

CMD on the other hand is subversive to the ENTRYPOINT.
CMD start statement can be overwritten with container arguments during the container runtime. The CMD does not execute anything at the build time.

CMD ["command","arg1", "arg2"]
CMD ["java","-Djava.security.egd=file:/dev/urandom","-jar","-Dserver.port=8080","app.jar"]

The major practical use with CMD is that the you will be able to overwrite the docker runtime command line arguments but you cannot override with you have ENTRYPOINT.

The CMD will be very beneficial in cases which require sending arguments to containers in runtime which in development and QA stages and is great for debugging environments.

The [] are not mandatory for ENTRYPOINT and CMD instruction statements inside Dockerfile but can be given for better readability when you have lot of arguments

What is the difference between CMD and run in Dockerfile?

RUN is an image build step, the state of the container after a RUN command will be committed to the container image. A Dockerfile can have many RUN steps that layer on top of one another to build the image. CMD is the command the container executes by default when you launch the built image.

What is the use of CMD in docker?

The CMD command​ specifies the instruction that is to be executed when a Docker container starts. This CMD command is not really necessary for the container to work, as the echo command can be called in a RUN statement as well. The main purpose of the CMD command is to launch the software required in a container.

What is docker ENTRYPOINT script?

entrypoint scripts are plugins that can be written in any language. inherited images can add to existing entrypoint scripts by simply adding to the /docker-entrypoint.

What is the purpose of ENTRYPOINT in Dockerfile?

In Dockerfiles, an ENTRYPOINT instruction is used to set executables that will always run when the container is initiated. Unlike CMD commands, ENTRYPOINT commands cannot be ignored or overridden—even when the container runs with command line arguments stated.

Can Dockerfile have multiple ENTRYPOINT?

According to the documentation however, there must be only one ENTRYPOINT in a Dockerfile.

What is Docker ENTRYPOINT Initdb?

3. 3. /docker-entrypoint-initdb. d/init. sql is executed the moment your database container starts running, while your entrypoint.sh is executed the moment your web container starts running.

Does docker start run ENTRYPOINT?

So yes, the ‘ CMD ‘ commands are executed after a ‘ docker start ‘.

Can Dockerfile have multiple CMD?

You are right, the second Dockerfile will overwrite the CMD command of the first one. Docker will always run a single command, not more. So at the end of your Dockerfile, you can specify one command to run.

What is in docker Run command?

The docker run command creates a container from a given image and starts the container using a given command. It is one of the first commands you should become familiar with when starting to work with Docker.

What is difference between CMD and entrypoint?

In a nutshell: CMD sets default command and/or parameters, which can be overwritten from command line when docker container runs. ENTRYPOINT command and parameters will not be overwritten from command line. Instead, all command line arguments will be added after ENTRYPOINT parameters.

What is the default entrypoint for docker?

/bin/sh -c
Docker defaults the entrypoint to /bin/sh -c . This means you’ll end up in a shell session when you start the container.

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