package manager for docker container running image busybox:uclibc

Question

I want to install net-tools on one of my running containers, which is running busybox:uclibc image. But this image doesn't have any package manager like apt-get or apk. Is there a way to do it or should I just make changes to my image?

Naomanaomi

Answer 1

Anything based on Busybox doesn't have a package manager. It's a single binary with a bunch of symlinks into it, and the way to add software to it is to write C code and recompile. That is, /bin/busybox literally is ls and sed and sh and cp and ...

Wortman

Thanks David. Is there any hack that you can suggest to install few network/ system tools like net-tools and procps without me trying to write & compile C code for those binaries. Maybe a ready made repo with all the binaries that I require in one place(I know I'm not that lucky to find them in one place, but I can wish). I tried to install normal binaries using dpkg, but it didn't work (dependency issues). – Naomanaomi

Use a more full-featured Docker base image like ubuntu:18.04. – Wortman

Actually I'm using the pre-built image prom/prometheus in my environment, which is derived from busybox and wanted to troubleshoot a networking issue within my container. – Naomanaomi