Dockert 🐳🍵

Dockert 🐳🍵 makes utilizing Docker containers from .NET simpler.

Need a database? Dockert will help you easily test that database, across all platforms.

Have an unwieldy third party dependency? Containerize it!

Doing micro services in the cloud? Dockert feels you. Dockert hears you.

Dockert is here to make it simpler. Because more whales means more tea. Or something.

What is Dockert?

Dockert is a simple wrapper around the Docker APIs and is very useful for creating (more) declarative tests that utilize Docker containers. Dockert utilizes Docker.Dotnet and provides simplifying wrappers as well as a handy, asynchronously disposable container wrapper class which makes writing tests that spin up containers a breeze.

Getting started

Here's how you start a container in a test:

// We use an instance of DockerClient from Docker.DotNet to pull an image, create and start a container
var containerId = await dockerClient.CreateContainer(imageName, environmentVariables, portBindings);
await dockerClient.StartContainer(containerId);

Now you write your arrange/act/asserts as usual, and then when you're done, just:

await dockerClient.StopAndRemoveContainer(containerId);

Since tests may fail and there's boilerplate involved with handling cleanup easily, we also include the AsyncDisposableContainer for you to simplify even further:

await using var container = await AsyncDisposableContainer.FromImage(imageName);

You now have a running container and can arrange/act/assert as normal. The container will be stopped and removed when the test is done, or fails, or something unexpected happens.

You can also subclass AsyncDisposableContainer and create a custom container with a simple API for your particular use case. We recommend using a factory method to instantiate your container, utilizing the Create factory method provided:

public class MysqlContainer : AsyncDisposableContainer
{
    private MysqlContainer(IDockerClient dockerClient, string containerId)
      : base(dockerClient, containerId)
    {   
    }

    public static async Task<MySqlContainer> WithDatabase(string name)
    {
        var container = Create<MySqlContainer>("mysql:latest", 
            new [] 
            { 
                "MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD=MyV3ryS3cretP4ssword!", 
                $"MYSQL_DATABASE={name}"
            },
            (dockerClient, containerId) => new MysqlContainer(dockerClient, containerId));
    }
}

Handling lingering containers

Even if we try our best, unexpected errors may occur. Sometimes containers can't be started, or will start, but then exit, or similar, leaving us with containers Dockert can't clean up properly. To remove these (as best we can), just go to your command line and remove them one by one, or simply:

    await dockerClient.PruneContainers(includeRunning: true);

You can also find all containers created by Dockert yourself by listing containers labeled "dockert=container".