Phusion Blog

Baseimage-docker is a special Docker image that is configured for correct use within Docker containers. It is Ubuntu, plus modifications for Docker-friendliness. You can use it as a base for your own Docker images. Learn more at the Github repository and the website, which explain in detail what the problems are with the stock Ubuntu base image, and why you should use baseimage-docker.

Changes in this release

• We now officially support nsenter as an alternative way to login to the container. With official support, we mean that we’ve provided extensive documentation on how to use nsenter, as well as related convenience tools. However, because nsenter has various issues, and for backward compatibility reasons, we still support SSH. Please refer to the README for details about nsenter, and what the pros and cons are compared to SSH.
  • The docker-bash tool has been modified to use nsenter instead of SSH.
  • What was previously the docker-bash tool, has now been renamed to docker-ssh. It now also works on a regular sh shell too, instead of bash specifically.
• Added a workaround for Docker’s inability to modify /etc/hosts in the container (Docker bug 2267). Please refer to the README for details.
• Fixed an issue with SSH X11 forwarding. Thanks to Anatoly Bubenkov. Closes GH-105.
• The init system now prints its own log messages to stderr. Thanks to mephi42. Closes GH-106.

Using baseimage-docker

Please learn more at the README.