How to rebuild docker container in docker-compose.yml?

Question

There are scope of services which are defined in docker-compose.yml. These services have been started. I need to rebuild only one of these and start it without up other services. I run the following commands:

docker-compose up -d # run all services
docker-compose stop nginx # stop only one. but it is still running !!!
docker-compose build --no-cache nginx 
docker-compose up -d --no-deps # link nginx to other services

At the end I get the old nginx container. Docker-compose doesn't kill all running containers!

Conduction

docker-compose up --build – Sufferable

Just to clarify upper comment: docker-compose up --build rebuild all containers. Use docker-compose up --build <service_name> as stated in @denov comment. – Barnwell

docker-compose up --build <service_name> does not work if you have a docker-compose.yml with containers coming from a container-registry – Monicamonie

docker-compose build --no-cache when you want to build from the first level. – Persson

Should be easy to get these semantics straight (not you @Conduction - the compose team). Not sure why we still struggle with this in this millennium. – Infundibulum

--build --force-recreate --no-deps don't rebuild :S on latest version. compare images before and after, are the same! – Fancier

Pull the image you want to rebuild first. Unless you specify this (using pull_policy: always) in your docker-compose file, docker-compose will just rebuild the existing image. – Benbow

Answer 1

docker-compose up

$ docker-compose up -d --no-deps --build <service_name>

or newer versions of docker

$ docker compose up -d --no-deps --build <service_name>

--no-deps - Don't start linked services.

--build - Build images before starting containers.

Longs

@evgpisarchik The orders a bit out, it should be docker-compose build --no-cache service1 service2 – Roughneck

why y'all talking about service? the question was to rebuild container not service – Madaras

@Madaras container inside compose is defined under services block – Pregnant

Answer 2

With docker-compose 1.19 up

docker-compose up --build --force-recreate --no-deps [-d] [<service_name>..]

Without one or more service_name arguments all images will be built if missing and all containers will be recreated.

From the help menu

Options:
    -d, --detach        Detached mode: Run containers in the background,
                        print new container names. Incompatible with
                        --abort-on-container-exit.
    --no-deps           Don't start linked services.
    --force-recreate    Recreate containers even if their configuration
                        and image haven't changed.
    --build             Build images before starting containers.

Without cache

To force a rebuild to ignore cached layers, we have to first build a new image

docker-compose build --no-cache [<service_name>..]

From the help menu

Options:
    --force-rm              Always remove intermediate containers.
    -m, --memory MEM        Set memory limit for the build container.
    --no-cache              Do not use cache when building the image.
    --no-rm                 Do not remove intermediate containers after a successful build.

Then recreate the container

docker-compose up --force-recreate --no-deps [-d] [<service_name>..]

Poultryman

I'm confused how this answers the question. How do we rebuild just the one container? – Tintoretto

You can rebuild only one container by appending it's name to the end of the command. docker-compose up -d --force-recreate --build container_name – Poultryman

Wait a sec, this recreates container, it is not equivalent to build --no-cache option, unless the command description is completely wrong – Enclose

what exactly does 'Dont start lined services' mean? – Tymothy

--force-recreate is exactly what I needed, thank you. – Easeful

Answer 3

This should fix your problem:

docker-compose ps # lists all services (id, name)
docker-compose stop <id/name> #this will stop only the selected container
docker-compose rm <id/name> # this will remove the docker container permanently 
docker-compose up # builds/rebuilds all not already built container 

Jewish

if you want to stop and rm all containers then you can use the command docker-compose down. Your solution is better if you only want to get rid of some. – Professionalism

This solution is a good fit for the setup where you don't want to stop the entire docker application and just recreate one of the services – Peridotite

I needed to actually run docker-compose build <id/name> before up to rebuild the changed Dockerfile. – Leatherette

but then you are stopping a live container, which isn't really feasible for a live site. – Harmless

Answer 4

As @HarlemSquirrel posted, it is the best and I think the correct solution.

But, to answer the OP specific problem, it should be something like the following command, as he doesn't want to recreate ALL services in the docker-compose.yml file, but only the nginx one:

docker-compose up -d --force-recreate --no-deps --build nginx

Options description:

Options:
  -d                  Detached mode: Run containers in the background,
                      print new container names. Incompatible with
                      --abort-on-container-exit.
  --force-recreate    Recreate containers even if their configuration
                      and image haven't changed.
  --build             Build images before starting containers.
  --no-deps           Don't start linked services.

Gelding

Answer 5

Maybe these steps are not quite correct, but I do like this:

stop docker compose: $ docker-compose down

WARNING: The following prune -a will delete all images, you may not want this as it could effect other projects. you can read more here

remove the container: $ docker system prune -a

start docker compose: $ docker-compose up -d

Deckert

docker system prune -a will delete all images, even ones for other projects. I would recommend against using this. – Dolerite

aL_eX, flag -a (means all) you can select only the one you need by specifying its id – Deckert

@Dolerite I agree this method is somewhat dangerous. But this is working for sure. Other answers do not remove images. – Cite

I edited your answer, adding a warning. <3. Hope you don't mind. – Birthday

Brandon Bertelsen, ok, but to remove all images use -a (--all) - "Remove all unused images not just dangling ones" – Deckert

prune -a is a bit of an overkill here, no? Like killing an ant with a nuke.. – Brindled

Answer 6

docker-compose stop nginx # stop if running
docker-compose rm -f nginx # remove without confirmation
docker-compose build nginx # build
docker-compose up -d nginx # create and start in background

Removing container with rm is essential. Without removing, Docker will start old container.

Jimmie

Answer 7

For me it only fetched new dependencies from Docker Hub with both --no-cache and --pull (which are available for docker-compose build.

# other steps before rebuild
docker-compose build --no-cache --pull nginx # rebuild nginx
# other steps after rebuild, e.g. up (see other answers)

Funicle

Answer 8

You can use:

docker-compose build

And if you are using a docker profile:

docker-compose --profile profile_name build

Ringer

The fastest and easiest way to rebuild all your containers! – Cauldron

Answer 9

Simply use :

docker-compose build [yml_service_name]

Replace [yml_service_name] with your service name in docker-compose.yml file. You can use docker-compose restart to make sure changes are effected. You can use --no-cache to ignore the cache.

Hypophosphite

Answer 10

The problem is:

$ docker-compose stop nginx

didn't work (you said it is still running). If you are going to rebuild it anyway, you can try killing it:

$ docker-compose kill nginx

If it still doesn't work, try to stop it with docker directly:

$ docker stop nginx

or delete it

$ docker rm -f nginx

If that still doesn't work, check your version of docker, you might want to upgrade.

It might be a bug, you could check if one matches your system/version. Here are a couple, for ex: https://github.com/docker/docker/issues/10589

https://github.com/docker/docker/issues/12738

As a workaround, you could try to kill the process.

$ ps aux | grep docker 
$ kill 225654 # example process id

Dudeen

Answer 11

I suppose the image named nginx is defined in your docker-compose file. In this case, there is a key/value pair like this: image: repo_name. If this is the case, I suggest pulling the newer image first with docker pull repo_name. Then build the service docker-compose build nginx. This will then use the newly pulled image. Then you can docker-compose up -d nginx.

As a matter of fact, you don't need to stop the container at all while doing this.

(And if you do this a lot, take the trouble to clean out old images occasionally: docker image ls, and then docker image rm <id>for all the images where the value for TAG is <none>. If the image should still be in used regardless, Docker will tell you.)

EDIT: docker-compose stop doesn't "kill" (remove) containers, it just stops them. They're still there somehow, sort of suspended. If you want to really kill, i.e. remove containers, use docker-compose down instead; you'll see from the output that this command really gets rid of the containers.

Benbow

Answer 12

docker image rm -f nginx

to remove the docker nginx and

docker-compose up -d

to recreate nginx while keeping the other services running

Expansible

Answer 13

It appears you're aiming to rebuild and restart only the nginx service in your Docker Compose setup without affecting other services.I proposed bash script accomplishes this task efficiently. Here's your proposed script:

#!/bin/bash

# Check if the service name is provided
if [ -z "$1" ]; then
    echo "Usage: $0 <service_name>"
    exit 1
fi

# Stop the existing container of the specified service
docker-compose stop "$1"

# Rebuild the specified service
docker-compose build --no-cache "$1"

# Start only the specified service without starting linked services
docker-compose up -d --no-deps "$1"

You can save this script to a file, for example, rebuild_service.sh, make it executable using chmod +x rebuild_service.sh, and then use it to rebuild and restart a specific service in your Docker Compose setup by passing the service name as an argument, like so:

./rebuild_service.sh nginx

Just replace Nginx with the name of the service you want to rebuild and restart. This script ensures that only the specified service is affected, saving time and avoiding unnecessary restarts of other services.

Irreligious

Answer 14

Only:

$ docker-compose restart [yml_service_name]

Castellated

this will not build new changes. from the manual - If you make changes to your docker-compose.yml configuration these changes will not be reflected after running this command. – Longs