Earthfile reference
Earthfiles are comprised of a series of target declarations and recipe definitions. Earthfiles are named
Earthfile, regardless of their location in the codebase.Earthfiles have the following rough structure:
<base-recipe>
...
<target-name>:
<recipe>
...
<target-name>:
<recipe>
...
<command-name>:
<recipe>
...
Each recipe contains a series of commands, which are defined below. For an introduction into Earthfiles, see the Basics page.
FROM <image-name>FROM [--platform <platform>] [--allow-privileged] <target-ref> [--<build-arg-key>=<build-arg-value>...]
The
FROM command initializes a new build environment and sets the base image for subsequent instructions. It works similarly to the classical Dockerfile FROM instruction, but it has the added ability to use another target's image as the base image.Examples:
- Classical reference:
FROM alpine:latest - Local reference:
FROM +another-target - Relative reference:
FROM ./subdirectory+some-targetorFROM ../otherdirectory+some-target - Absolute reference:
FROM /absolute/path+some-target - Remote reference from a public or private git repository:
FROM github.com/example/project+remote-target
The
FROM command does not mark any saved images or artifacts of the referenced target for output, nor does it mark any push commands of the referenced target for pushing. For that, please use BUILD.Note
The
FROM ... AS ... form available in the classical Dockerfile syntax is not supported in Earthfiles. Instead, define a new Earthly target. For example, the following Dockerfile# Dockerfile
FROM alpine:3.18 AS build
# ... instructions for build
FROM build as another
# ... further instructions inheriting build
FROM busybox as yet-another
COPY --from=build ./a-file ./
can become
# Earthfile
build:
FROM alpine:3.18
# ... instructions for build
SAVE ARTIFACT ./a-file
another:
FROM +build
# ... further instructions inheriting build
yet-another:
FROM busybox
COPY +build/a-file ./
--<build-arg-key>=<build-arg-value>Sets a value override of
<build-arg-value> for the build arg identified by <build-arg-key>. See also BUILD for more details about build args.--platform <platform>Specifies the platform to build on.
--allow-privilegedAllows remotely-referenced targets to request privileged capabilities; this flag has no effect when referencing local targets.
Additionally, for privileged capabilities, earthly must be invoked on the command line with the
--allow-privileged (or -P) flag.For example, consider two Earthfiles, one hosted on a remote GitHub repo:
# github.com/earthly/example
FROM alpine:latest
elevated-target:
RUN --privileged echo do something requiring privileged access.
and a local Earthfile:
FROM alpine:latest
my-target:
FROM --allow-privileged github.com/earthly/example+elevated-target
# ... further instructions inheriting remotely referenced Earthfile
then one can build
my-target by invoking earthly with the --allow-privileged (or -P) flag:earthly --allow-privileged +my-target
--build-arg <key>=<value> (deprecated)This option is deprecated. Use
--<build-arg-key>=<build-arg-value> instead.RUN [--push] [--entrypoint] [--privileged] [--secret <env-var>=<secret-id>] [--ssh] [--mount <mount-spec>] [--] <command>(shell form)RUN [[<flags>...], "<executable>", "<arg1>", "<arg2>", ...](exec form)
The
RUN command executes commands in the build environment of the current target, in a new layer. It works similarly to the Dockerfile RUN command, with some added options.The command allows for two possible forms. The exec form runs the command executable without the use of a shell. The shell form uses the default shell (
/bin/sh -c) to interpret the command and execute it. In either form, you can use a \ to continue a single RUN instruction onto the next line.When the
--entrypoint flag is used, the current image entrypoint is used to prepend the current command.To avoid any ambiguity regarding whether an argument is a
RUN flag option or part of the command, the delimiter -- may be used to signal the parser that no more RUN flag options will follow.--pushMarks the command as a "push command". Push commands are never cached, thus they are executed on every applicable invocation of the build.
Push commands are not run by default. Add the
--push flag to the earthly invocation to enable pushing. For exampleearthly --push +deploy
Push commands were introduced to allow the user to define commands that have an effect external to the build. Good candidates for push commands are uploads of artifacts to artifactories, commands that make a change to an external environment, like a production or staging environment.
--no-cacheForce the command to run every time; ignoring any cache. Any commands following the invocation of
RUN --no-cache, will also ignore the cache. If --no-cache is used as an option on the RUN statement within a WITH DOCKER statement, all commands after the WITH DOCKER will also ignore the cache.--entrypointPrepends the currently defined entrypoint to the command.
This option is useful for replacing
docker run in a traditional build environment. For example, a command likedocker run --rm -v "$(pwd):/data" cytopia/golint .
Might become the following in an Earthfile
FROM cytopia/goling
COPY . /data
RUN --entrypoint .
--privilegedAllows the command to use privileged capabilities.
Note that privileged mode is not enabled by default. In order to use this option, you need to additionally pass the flag
--allow-privileged (or -P) to the earthly command. Example:earthly --allow-privileged +some-target
--secret <env-var>=<secret-id> | <secret-id>Makes available a secret, in the form of an env var (its name is defined by
<env-var>), to the command being executed. If you only specify <secret-id>, the name of the env var will be <secret-id> and its value the value of <secret-id>.Here is an example that showcases both syntaxes:
release:
RUN --push --secret GITHUB_TOKEN=GH_TOKEN github-release upload
release-short:
RUN --push --secret GITHUB_TOKEN github-release upload
earthly --secret GH_TOKEN="the-actual-secret-token-value" +release
earthly --secret GITHUB_TOKEN="the-actual-secret-token-value" +release-short
An empty string is also allowed for
<secret-id>, allowing for optional secrets, should it need to be disabled.release:
ARG SECRET_ID=GH_TOKEN
RUN --push --secret GITHUB_TOKEN=$SECRET_ID github-release upload
release-short:
ARG SECRET_ID=GITHUB_TOKEN
RUN --push --secret $SECRET_ID github-release upload
earthly +release --SECRET_ID=""
earthly +release-short --SECRET_ID=""
It is also possible to mount a secret as a file with
RUN --mount type=secret,id=secret-id,target=/path/of/secret,chmod=0400. See --mount below.For more information on how to use secrets see the build arguments and secrets guide. See also the Cloud secrets guide.
--sshAllows a command to access the ssh authentication client running on the host via the socket which is referenced by the environment variable
SSH_AUTH_SOCK.Here is an example:
RUN mkdir -p ~/.ssh && \
echo 'github.com ssh-rsa AAAAB3NzaC1yc2EAAAADAQABAAABgQCj7ndNxQowgcQnjshcLrqPEiiphnt+VTTvDP6mHBL9j1aNUkY4Ue1gvwnGLVlOhGeYrnZaMgRK6+PKCUXaDbC7qtbW8gIkhL7aGCsOr/C56SJMy/BCZfxd1nWzAOxSDPgVsmerOBYfNqltV9/hWCqBywINIR+5dIg6JTJ72pcEpEjcYgXkE2YEFXV1JHnsKgbLWNlhScqb2UmyRkQyytRLtL+38TGxkxCflmO+5Z8CSSNY7GidjMIZ7Q4zMjA2n1nGrlTDkzwDCsw+wqFPGQA179cnfGWOWRVruj16z6XyvxvjJwbz0wQZ75XK5tKSb7FNyeIEs4TT4jk+S4dhPeAUC5y+bDYirYgM4GC7uEnztnZyaVWQ7B381AK4Qdrwt51ZqExKbQpTUNn+EjqoTwvqNj4kqx5QUCI0ThS/YkOxJCXmPUWZbhjpCg56i+2aB6CmK2JGhn57K5mj0MNdBXA4/WnwH6XoPWJzK5Nyu2zB3nAZp+S5hpQs+p1vN1/wsjk=' >> ~/.ssh/known_hosts && \
echo 'gitlab.com ssh-rsa AAAAB3NzaC1yc2EAAAADAQABAAABAQCsj2bNKTBSpIYDEGk9KxsGh3mySTRgMtXL583qmBpzeQ+jqCMRgBqB98u3z++J1sKlXHWfM9dyhSevkMwSbhoR8XIq/U0tCNyokEi/ueaBMCvbcTHhO7FcwzY92WK4Yt0aGROY5qX2UKSeOvuP4D6TPqKF1onrSzH9bx9XUf2lEdWT/ia1NEKjunUqu1xOB/StKDHMoX4/OKyIzuS0q/T1zOATthvasJFoPrAjkohTyaDUz2LN5JoH839hViyEG82yB+MjcFV5MU3N1l1QL3cVUCh93xSaua1N85qivl+siMkPGbO5xR/En4iEY6K2XPASUEMaieWVNTRCtJ4S8H+9' >> ~/.ssh/known_hosts
RUN --ssh git config --global url."[email protected]:".insteadOf "https://github.com/" && \
go mod download
Note that
RUN --ssh option is only used for creating a tunnel to the host's ssh-agent's socket (set via $SSH_AUTH_SOCK); it is not related to the git section of the earthly configuration file.--mount <mount-spec>Mounts a file or directory in the context of the build environment.
The
<mount-spec> is defined as a series of comma-separated list of key-values. The following keys are allowedKey | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
type | The type of the mount. Currently only cache, tmpfs, and secret are allowed. | type=cache |
target | The target path for the mount. | target=/var/lib/data |
mode, chmod | The permission of the mounted file, in octal format (the same format the chmod unix command line expects). | chmod=0400 |
id | The cache ID for a global cache mount to be used across other targets or Earthfiles, when type=cache. The secret ID for the contents of the target file, when type=secret. Use VERSION --global-cache 0.7 to enable. | id=my-shared-cache, id=my-password |
sharing | The sharing mode ( locked, shared, private) for the cache mount, only applicable for type=cache. | sharing=shared |
For cache mounts, the sharing mode can be one of the following:
locked(default) - the cache mount is locked for the duration of the execution, other concurrent builds will wait for the lock to be released.shared- the cache mount is shared between all concurrent builds.private- if another concurrent build attempts to use the cache, a new (empty) cache will be created for the concurrent build.
Examples
Persisting cache for a single
RUN command, even when its dependencies change:ENV GOCACHE=/go-cache
RUN --mount=type=cache,target=/go-cache go build main.go
Note that mounts cannot be shared between targets, nor can they be shared within the same target, if the build-args differ between invocations.
Mounting a secret as a file:
RUN --mount=type=secret,id=netrc,target=/root/.netrc curl https://example.earthly.dev/restricted/example-file-that-requires-auth > data
The contents of the secret
/root/.netrc file can then be specified from the command line as:earthly --secret netrc="machine example.earthly.dev login myusername password mypassword" +base
or by passing the contents of an existing file from the host filesystem:
earthly --secret-file netrc="$HOME/.netrc" +base
--interactive / --interactive-keepOpens an interactive prompt during the target build. An interactive prompt must:
- 1.Be the last issued command in the target, with the exception of
SAVE IMAGEcommands. This also means that you cannotFROMa target containing aRUN --interactive. - 2.Be the only
--interactivetarget within the run. - 3.Not be within a
LOCALLY-designated target.
Examples:
Start an interactive python REPL:
python:
FROM alpine:3.18
RUN apk add python
RUN --interactive python
Start
bash to tweak an image by hand. Changes made will be included:build:
FROM alpine:3.18
RUN apk add bash
RUN --interactive-keep bash
COPY [options...] <src>... <dest>(classical form)COPY [options...] <src-artifact>... <dest>(artifact form)COPY [options...] (<src-artifact> --<build-arg-key>=<build-arg-value>...) <dest>(artifact form with build args)
The command
COPY allows copying of files and directories between different contexts.The command may take a couple of possible forms. In the classical form,
COPY copies files and directories from the build context into the build environment - in this form, it works similarly to the Dockerfile COPY command. In the artifact form, COPY copies files or directories (also known as "artifacts" in this context) from the artifact environment of other build targets into the build environment of the current target. Either form allows the use of wildcards for the sources.The parameter
<src-artifact> is an artifact reference and is generally of the form <target-ref>/<artifact-path>, where <target-ref> is the reference to the target which needs to be built in order to yield the artifact and <artifact-path> is the path within the artifact environment of the target, where the file or directory is located. The <artifact-path> may also be a wildcard.The
COPY command does not mark any saved images or artifacts of the referenced target for output, nor does it mark any push commands of the referenced target for pushing. For that, please use BUILD.The classical form of the
COPY command differs from Dockerfiles in three cases:- URL sources are not yet supported.
- Absolute paths are not supported - sources in the current directory cannot be referenced with a leading
/ - The Earthly
COPYis a classicalCOPY --link. It uses layer merging for the copy operations.
Note
To prevent Earthly from copying unwanted files, you may specify file patterns to be excluded from the build context using an
.earthlyignore file. This file has the same syntax as a .dockerignore file.--dirThe option
--dir changes the behavior of the COPY command to copy the directories themselves, rather than the contents of the directories. It allows the command to behave similarly to a cp -r operation on a unix system. This allows the enumeration of several directories to be copied over on a single line (and thus, within a single layer). For example, the following two are equivalent with respect to what is being copied in the end (but not equivalent with respect to the number of layers used).COPY dir1 dir1
COPY dir2 dir2
COPY dir3 dir3
COPY --dir dir1 dir2 dir3 ./
If the directories were copied without the use of
--dir, then their contents would be merged into the destination.--<build-arg-key>=<build-arg-value>Sets a value override of
<build-arg-value> for the build arg identified by <build-arg-key>, when building the target containing the mentioned artifact. See also BUILD for more details about the build arg options.Note that build args and the artifact references they apply to need to be surrounded by parenthesis:
COPY (+target1/artifact --arg1=foo --arg2=bar) ./dest/path
--keep-tsInstructs Earthly to not overwrite the file creation timestamps with a constant.
--keep-ownInstructs Earthly to keep file ownership information. This applies only to the artifact form and has no effect otherwise.
--chmod <octal-format>Instructs Earthly to change the file permissions of the copied files. The
<chmod> needs to be in octal format, e.g. --chmod 0755 or --chmod 755.Note that you must include the flag in the corresponding
SAVE ARTIFACT --keep-own ... command, if using artifact form.--if-existsOnly copy source if it exists; if it does not exist, earthly will simply ignore the COPY command and won't treat any missing sources as failures.
--symlink-no-followAllows copying a symbolic link from another target; it has no effect when copying files from the host. The option must be used in both the
COPY and SAVE ARTIFACT commands; for example:producer:
RUN ln -s nonexistentfile symlink
SAVE ARTIFACT --symlink-no-follow symlink
consumer:
COPY --symlink-no-follow +producer/symlink
--fromAlthough this option is present in classical Dockerfile syntax, it is not supported by Earthfiles. You may instead use a combination of
SAVE ARTIFACT and COPY artifact form commands to achieve similar effects. For example, the following Dockerfile# Dockerfile
COPY --from=some-image /path/to/some-file.txt ./
... would be equivalent to
final-target in the following Earthfile# Earthfile
intermediate:
FROM some-image
SAVE ARTIFACT /path/to/some-file.txt
final-target:
COPY +intermediate/some-file.txt ./
--platform <platform>In artifact form, it specifies the platform to build the artifact on.
--allow-privileged--build-arg <key>=<value> (deprecated)The option
--build-arg is deprecated. Use --<build-arg-key>=<build-arg-value> instead.Assuming the following directory tree, of a folder named
test:test
└── file
Here is how the following copy commands will behave:
# Copies the contents of the test directory.
# To access the file, it would be found at ./file
COPY test .
# Also copies the contents of the test directory.
# To access the file, it would be found at ./file
COPY test/* .
# Copies the whole test folder.
# To access the file, it would be found at ./test/file
COPY --dir test .
One can also copy from other Earthfile targets:
FROM alpine:3.18
dummy-target:
RUN echo aGVsbG8= > encoded-data
SAVE ARTIFACT encoded-data
example:
COPY +dummy-target/encoded-data .
RUN cat encoded-data | base64 -d
Parentheses are required when passing build-args:
FROM alpine:3.18
RUN apk add coreutils # required for base32 binary
dummy-target:
ARG encoder="base64"
RUN echo hello | $encoder > encoded-data
SAVE ARTIFACT encoded-data
example:
COPY ( +dummy-target/encoded-data --encoder=base32 ) .
RUN cat encoded-data | base32 -d
ARG [--required] <name>[=<default-value>](constant form)ARG [--required] <name>=$(<default-value-expr>)(dynamic form)
The command
ARG declares a variable (or arg) with the name <name> and with an optional default value <default-value>. If no default value is provided, then empty string is used as the default value.This command works similarly to the Dockerfile
ARG command, with a few differences regarding the scope and the predefined args (called builtin args in Earthly). The variable's scope is always limited to the recipe of the current target or command and only from the point it is declared onward. For more information regarding builtin args, see the builtin args page.In its constant form, the arg takes a default value defined as a constant string. If the
<default-value> is not provided, then the default value is an empty string. In its dynamic form, the arg takes a default value defined as an expression. The expression is evaluated at run time and its result is used as the default value. The expression is interpreted via the default shell (/bin/sh -c) within the build environment.The value of an arg can be overridden either from the
earthly commandearthly <target-ref> --<name>=<override-value>
or from a command from another target, when implicitly or explicitly invoking the target containing the
ARGBUILD <target-ref> --<name>=<override-value>
COPY (<target-ref>/<artifact-path> --<name>=<override-value>) <dest-path>
FROM <target-ref> --<name>=<override-value>
for example
BUILD +binary --NAME=john
COPY (+binary/bin --NAME=john) ./
FROM +docker-image --NAME=john
For more information on how to use build args see the build arguments and secrets guide. A number of builtin args are available and are pre-filled by Earthly. For more information see builtin args.
Shadowing Variables
By default,
ARG scoping isn't intuitive. When an ARG statement is parsed, earthly will look up any previous declaration of the ARG and use the previous value, ignoring any new default. So for example:VERSION 0.7
ARG --global foo = bar
baz:
ARG foo = bacon
RUN echo $foo
would print
bar.The experimental
--arg-scope-and-set feature flag changes this behavior. With VERSION --arg-scope-and-set 0.7 local ARGs may shadow global ARGs, and redeclaring an ARG in the same scope will cause an error. This means that the above example would instead print bacon.--requiredA required
ARG must be provided at build time and can never have a default value. Required args can help eliminate cases where the user has unexpectedly set an ARG to "".target-required:
# user must supply build arg for target
ARG --required NAME
build-linux:
# or explicitly supply in build command
BUILD +target-required --NAME=john
A global
ARG is an arg that is made available to all targets in the Earthfile. This is useful for setting a default value for an arg that is used in many targets.Global args may only be declared in base targets.
SAVE ARTIFACT [--keep-ts] [--keep-own] [--if-exists] [--force] <src> [<artifact-dest-path>] [AS LOCAL <local-path>]
The command
SAVE ARTIFACT copies a file, a directory, or a series of files and directories represented by a wildcard, from the build environment into the target's artifact environment.If
AS LOCAL ... is also specified, it additionally marks the artifact to be copied to the host at the location specified by <local-path>, once the build is deemed as successful. Note that local artifacts are only produced by targets that are run directly with earthly, or when invoked using BUILD.If
<artifact-dest-path> is not specified, it is inferred as /.Files within the artifact environment are also known as "artifacts". Once a file has been copied into the artifact environment, it can be referenced in other places of the build (for example in a
COPY command), using an artifact reference.Hint
In order to inspect the contents of an artifacts environment, you can run
earthly --artifact +<target>/* ./output/
This command dumps the contents of the artifact environment of the target
+<target> into a local directory called output, which can be inspected directly.Important
Note that there is a distinction between a directory artifact and file artifact when it comes to local output. When saving an artifact locally, a directory artifact will replace the destination entirely, while a file (or set of files) artifact will be copied into the destination directory.
# This will wipe ./destination and replace it with the contents of the ./my-directory artifact.
SAVE ARTIFACT ./my-directory AS LOCAL ./destination
# This will merge the contents of ./my-directory into ./destination.
SAVE ARTIFACT ./my-directory/* AS LOCAL ./destination
Important
As of
VERSION 0.6, local artifacts are only saved if they are connected to the initial target through a chain of BUILD commands.--keep-tsInstructs Earthly to not overwrite the file creation timestamps with a constant.
--keep-ownInstructs Earthly to keep file ownership information.
--if-existsOnly save artifacts if they exists; if not, earthly will simply ignore the SAVE ARTIFACT command and won't treat any missing sources as failures.
--symlink-no-followSave the symbolic link rather than the contents of the symbolically linked file. Note that the same flag must also be used in the corresponding
COPY command. For example:producer:
RUN ln -s nonexistentfile symlink
SAVE ARTIFACT --symlink-no-follow symlink
consumer:
COPY --symlink-no-follow +producer/symlink
--forceForce save operations which may be unsafe, such as writing to (or overwriting) a file or directory on the host filesystem located outside of the context of the directory containing the Earthfile.
Assuming the following directory tree, of a folder named
test:test
└── file
Here is how the following
SAVE ARTIFACT ... AS LOCAL commands will behave:WORKDIR base
COPY test .
# This will copy the base folder into the output directory.
# You would find file at out-dot/base/file.
SAVE ARTIFACT . AS LOCAL out-dot/
# This will copy the contents of the base folder into the output directory.
# You would find sub-file at out-glob/file. Note the base directory is not in the output.
SAVE ARTIFACT ./* AS LOCAL out-glob/
SAVE IMAGE [--cache-from=<cache-image>] [--push] <image-name>...(output form)SAVE IMAGE --cache-hint(cache hint form)
In the output form, the command
SAVE IMAGE marks the current build environment as the image of the target and assigns one or more output image names.In the cache hint form, it instructs Earthly that the current target should be included as part of the explicit cache. For more information see the remote caching guide.
Assigning multiple image names
The
SAVE IMAGE command allows you to assign more than one image name:SAVE IMAGE my-image:latest my-image:1.0.0 my-example-registry.com/another-image:latest
Or
SAVE IMAGE my-image:latest
SAVE IMAGE my-image:1.0.0
SAVE IMAGE my-example-registry.com/another-image:latest
Important
As of
VERSION 0.6, the --referenced-save-only feature flag is enabled by default. Images are only saved if they are connected to the initial target through a chain of BUILD commands.--pushThe
--push options marks the image to be pushed to an external registry after it has been loaded within the docker daemon available on the host.If inline caching is enabled, the
--push option also instructs Earthly to use the specified image names as cache sources.The actual push is not executed by default. Add the
--push flag to the earthly invocation to enable pushing. For exampleearthly --push +docker-image
--cache-from=<cache-image>Adds additional cache sources to be used when
--use-inline-cache is enabled. For more information see the remote caching guide.--cache-hintInstructs Earthly that the current target should be included as part of the explicit cache. For more information see the remote caching guide.
--no-manifest-listInstructs Earthly to not create a manifest list for the image. This may be useful on platforms that do not support multi-platform images (for example, AWS Lambda), and the image produced needs to be of a different platform than the default one.
BUILD [--platform <platform>] [--allow-privileged] <target-ref> [--<build-arg-name>=<build-arg-value>...]
The command
BUILD instructs Earthly to additionally invoke the build of the target referenced by <target-ref>, where <target-ref> follows the rules defined by target referencing. The invocation will mark any images, or artifacts saved by the referenced target for local output (assuming local output is enabled), and any push commands issued by the referenced target for pushing (assuming pushing is enabled).What is being output and pushed
In Earthly v0.6+, what is being output and pushed is determined either by the main target being invoked on the command-line directly, or by targets directly connected to it via a chain of
BUILD calls. Other ways to reference a target, such as FROM, COPY, WITH DOCKER --load etc, do not contribute to the final set of outputs or pushes.If you are referencing a target via some other command, such as
COPY and you would like for the outputs or pushes to be included, you can issue an equivalent BUILD command in addition to the COPY. For examplemy-target:
COPY --platform=linux/amd64 (+some-target/some-file.txt --FOO=bar) ./
Should be amended with the following additional
BUILD call:my-target:
BUILD --platform=linux/amd64 +some-target --FOO=bar
COPY --platform=linux/amd64 (+some-target/some-file.txt --FOO=bar) ./
This, however, assumes that the target
+my-target is itself connected via a BUILD chain to the main target being built. If that is not the case, additional BUILD commands should be issued higher up the hierarchy.--<build-arg-key>=<build-arg-value>Sets a value override of
<build-arg-value> for the build arg identified by <build-arg-key>.The override value of a build arg may be a constant string
--SOME_ARG="a constant value"
or an expression involving other build args
--SOME_ARG="a value based on other args, like $ANOTHER_ARG and $YET_ANOTHER_ARG"
or a dynamic expression, based on the output of a command executed in the context of the build environment.
--SOME_ARG=$(find /app -type f -name '*.php')
Dynamic expressions are delimited by
$(...).--platform <platform>Specifies the platform to build on.
This flag may be repeated in order to instruct the system to perform the build for multiple platforms. For example
build-all-platforms:
BUILD --platform=linux/amd64 --platform=linux/arm/v7 +build
--allow-privileged--build-arg <build-arg-key>=<build-arg-value> (deprecated)This option is deprecated. Please use
--<build-arg-key>=<build-arg-value> instead.VERSION [options...] <version-number>
The command
VERSION identifies which set of features to enable in Earthly while handling the corresponding Earthfile. The VERSION command is mandatory starting with Earthly 0.7. The VERSION command must be the first command in the Earthfile.Individual features may be enabled by setting the corresponding feature flag. New features start off as experimental, which is why they are disabled by default. Once a feature reaches maturity, it will be enabled by default under a new version number.
Please note that using individual feature flags directly does not guarantee the forwards-backwards compatibility of Earthfiles across versions. Using individual feature flags is experimental and is not recommended for production use.
PROJECT <org-name>/<project-name>
The command
PROJECT marks the current Earthfile as being part of the project belonging to the Earthly organization <org-name> and the project <project-name>. The project is used by Earthly to retrieve cloud-based secrets belonging to the project, as well as to associate any Earthly CI pipelines, and any build logs to the project when logged in.The
PROJECT command can only be used in the base recipe and it applies to the entire Earthfile. The PROJECT command can never contain any ARGs that need expanding.GIT CLONE [--branch <git-ref>] [--keep-ts] <git-url> <dest-path>
The command
GIT CLONE clones a git repository from <git-url>, optionally referenced by <git-ref>, into the build environment, within the <dest-path>.In contrast to an operation like
RUN git clone <git-url> <dest-path>, the command GIT CLONE is cache-aware and correctly distinguishes between different git commit IDs when deciding to reuse a previous cache or not. In addition, GIT CLONE can also use Git authentication configuration passed on to earthly, whereas RUN git clone would require additional secrets passing, if the repository is not publicly accessible.Note that the repository is cloned via a shallow-clone opperation (i.e. a single-depth clone).
If you need to perform a full-depth clone of a repository, you can use the following pattern:
GIT CLONE <git-url> <dest-path>
WORKDIR <dest-path>
ARG git_hash=$(git rev-parse HEAD)
RUN git fetch --unshallow
--branch <git-ref>Points the
HEAD to the git reference specified by <git-ref>. If this option is not specified, then the remote HEAD is used instead.--keep-tsInstructs Earthly to not overwrite the file creation timestamps with a constant.
FROM DOCKERFILE [options...] <context-path>
The
FROM DOCKERFILE command initializes a new build environment, inheriting from an existing Dockerfile. This allows the use of Dockerfiles in Earthly builds.The
<context-path> is the path where the Dockerfile build context exists. By default, it is assumed that a file named Dockerfile exists in that directory. The context path can be either a path on the host system, or an artifact reference, pointing to a directory containing a Dockerfile. Additionally, when using a <context-path> from the host system, a .dockerignore in the directory root will be used to exclude files (unless .earthlyignore or .earthignore are present). Use VERSION --use-docker-ignore 0.7 to enable.-f <dockerfile-path>Specify an alternative Dockerfile to use. The
<dockerfile-path> can be either a path on the host system, relative to the current Earthfile, or an artifact reference pointing to a Dockerfile.It is possible to split the
Dockerfile and the build context across two separate artifact references:FROM alpine
mybuildcontext:
WORKDIR /mydata
RUN echo mydata > myfile
SAVE ARTIFACT /mydata
mydockerfile:
RUN echo "
FROM busybox
COPY myfile .
RUN cat myfile" > Dockerfile
SAVE ARTIFACT Dockerfile
docker:
FROM DOCKERFILE -f +mydockerfile/Dockerfile +mybuildcontext/mydata/*
SAVE IMAGE testimg:latest
Note that
+mybuildcontext/mydata on its own would copy the directory and its contents; where as +mybuildcontext/mydata/* is required to copy all of the contents from within the mydata directory ( without copying the wrapping mydata directory).If both the
Dockerfile and build context are inside the same target, one must reference the same target twice, e.g. FROM DOCKERFILE -f +target/dir/Dockerfile +target/dir.--build-arg <key>=<value>Sets a value override of
<value> for the Dockerfile build arg identified by <key>. This option is similar to the docker build --build-arg <key>=<value> option.--target <target-name>In a multi-stage Dockerfile, sets the target to be used for the build. This option is similar to the
docker build --target <target-name> option.--platform <platform>Specifies the platform to build on.
WITH DOCKER [--pull <image-name>] [--load <image-name>=<target-ref>] [--compose <compose-file>]
[--service <compose-service>] [--allow-privileged]
<commands>
...
END
The clause
WITH DOCKER initializes a Docker daemon to be used in the context of a RUN command. The Docker daemon can be pre-loaded with a set of images using options such as -pull and --load. Once the execution of the RUN command has completed, the Docker daemon is stopped and all of its data is deleted, including any volumes and network configuration. Any other files that may have been created are kept, however.The clause
WITH DOCKER automatically implies the RUN --privileged flag.The
WITH DOCKER clause only supports the command RUN. Other commands (such as COPY) need to be run either before or after WITH DOCKER ... END. In addition, only one RUN command is permitted within WITH DOCKER. However, multiple shell commands may be stringed together using ; or &&.A typical example of a
WITH DOCKER clause might be:FROM earthly/dind:alpine
WORKDIR /test
COPY docker-compose.yml ./
WITH DOCKER \
--compose docker-compose.yml \
--load image-name:latest=(+some-target --SOME_BUILD_ARG=value) \
--load another-image-name:latest=+another-target \
--pull some-image:latest
RUN docker run ... && \
docker run ... && \
...
END
Note
For performance reasons, it is recommended to use a Docker image that already contains
dockerd. If dockerd is not found, Earthly will attempt to install it.Earthly provides officially supported images such as
earthly/dind:alpine and earthly/dind:ubuntu to be used together with WITH DOCKER.--pull <image-name>Pulls the Docker image
<image-name> from a remote registry and then loads it into the temporary Docker daemon created by WITH DOCKER.This option may be repeated in order to provide multiple images to be pulled.
Note
It is recommended that you avoid issuing
RUN docker pull ... and use WITH DOCKER --pull ... instead. The classical docker pull command does not take into account Earthly caching and so it would redownload the image much more frequently than necessary.--load <image-name>=<target-ref>Builds the image referenced by
<target-ref> and then loads it into the temporary Docker daemon created by WITH DOCKER. The image can be referenced as <image-name> within WITH DOCKER.<target-ref> may be a simple target reference (+some-target), or a target reference with a build arg (+some-target --SOME_BUILD_ARG=value).This option may be repeated in order to provide multiple images to be loaded.
The
WITH DOCKER --load option does not mark any saved images or artifacts of the referenced target for local output, nor does it mark any push commands of the referenced target for pushing. For that, please use BUILD.--compose <compose-file>Loads the compose definition defined in
<compose-file>, adds all applicable images to the pull list and starts up all applicable compose services within.This option may be repeated, thus having the same effect as repeating the
-f flag in the docker-compose command.--service <compose-service>Specifies which compose service to pull and start up. If no services are specified and
--compose is used, then all services are pulled and started up.This option can only be used if
--compose has been specified.This option may be repeated in order to specify multiple services.
--platform <platform>Specifies the platform for any referenced
--load and --pull images.--allow-privileged--build-arg <key>=<value> (deprecated)This option is deprecated. Please use
--load <image-name>=(<target-ref> --<build-arg-key>=<build-arg-value>) instead.- IF [<condition-options>...] <condition><if-block>END
- IF [<condition-options>...] <condition><if-block>ELSE<else-block>END
- IF [<condition-options>...] <condition><if-block>ELSE IF [<condition-options>...] <condition><else-if-block>...ELSE<else-block>END
The
IF clause can perform varying commands depending on the outcome of one or more conditions. The expression passed as part of <condition> is evaluated by running it in the build environment. If the exit code of the expression is zero, then the block of that condition is executed. Otherwise, the control continues to the next ELSE IF condition (if any), or if no condition returns a non-zero exit code, the control continues to executing the <else-block>, if one is provided.A very common pattern is to use the POSIX shell
[ ... ] conditions. For example the following marks port 8080 as exposed if the file ./foo exists.IF [ -f ./foo ]
EXPOSE 8080
END
Note
Performing a condition requires that a
FROM (or a from-like command, such as LOCALLY) has been issued before the condition itself.For example, the following is NOT a valid Earthfile.
# NOT A VALID EARTHFILE.
ARG base=alpine
IF [ "$base" = "alpine" ]
FROM alpine:3.18
ELSE
FROM ubuntu:20.04
END
The reason this is invalid is because the
IF condition is actually running the /usr/bin/[ executable to test if the condition is true or false, and therefore requires that a valid build environment has been initialized.Here is how this might be fixed.
ARG base=alpine
FROM busybox
IF [ "$base" = "alpine" ]
FROM alpine:3.18
ELSE
FROM ubuntu:20.04
END
By initializing the build environment with
FROM busybox, the IF condition can execute on top of the busybox image.