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Hooks/ Plugins support to run arbitrary scripts

Freshabout 19 hours ago
Mar 14, 20260 views
Confidence Score95%
95%

Problem

It would be nice if `docker-compose up|down|..` would look for custom scripts in the current directory, like: [code block] I guess this is mostly helpful when docker-compose is used to run the development environment. These scripts should not be meant to configure containers. My current use-cases include: - set up hostnames in `/etc/hosts` after container startup - run docker-rsync after container started Eventually docker-compose should allow these scripts to run in the background and stream stdout/stderr to `docker-compose logs`. Related https://github.com/docker/compose/pull/74 https://github.com/docker/compose/issues/57

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1 Fix

Canonical Fix
Unverified Fix
New Fix – Awaiting Verification

Implement Custom Script Hooks for Docker Compose

Medium Risk

Docker Compose does not currently support executing arbitrary scripts during lifecycle events (up/down) which limits its flexibility in development environments. This lack of support prevents users from automating tasks such as modifying host configurations or syncing files post container startup.

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  1. 1

    Create Hook Script Directory

    Create a directory named '.docker-compose-hooks' in your project root. This directory will contain your custom scripts for various Docker Compose lifecycle events.

    bash
    mkdir .docker-compose-hooks
  2. 2

    Add Custom Scripts

    Add your custom scripts to the '.docker-compose-hooks' directory. For example, create a script named 'post-up.sh' to run after containers are started.

    bash
    echo '#!/bin/bash
echo "Setting up hostnames..."
sudo bash -c "echo '127.0.0.1 myapp.local' >> /etc/hosts"' > .docker-compose-hooks/post-up.sh
chmod +x .docker-compose-hooks/post-up.sh
  3. 3

    Modify Docker Compose Configuration

    Update your Docker Compose file to include a command that looks for and executes scripts from the '.docker-compose-hooks' directory. This can be done by using a wrapper script or modifying the entrypoint.

    yaml
    version: '3'
services:
  app:
    image: your-image
    entrypoint: ["/bin/bash", "-c", "if [ -d .docker-compose-hooks ]; then for script in .docker-compose-hooks/*; do $script; done; fi; exec your-original-command"]
  4. 4

    Stream Logs from Custom Scripts

    Ensure that your scripts output logs to stdout/stderr so that they can be captured by 'docker-compose logs'. Modify your scripts to include 'echo' statements or redirect output appropriately.

    bash
    echo 'Running post-up script...'
./.docker-compose-hooks/post-up.sh
  5. 5

    Test the Implementation

    Run 'docker-compose up' and verify that your custom scripts execute as expected. Check the logs to confirm that the output from your scripts is visible.

    bash
    docker-compose up

Validation

To confirm that the fix worked, run 'docker-compose up' and check the console output for messages from your custom scripts. Additionally, verify that the intended changes (like hostname updates) have been applied successfully.

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Environment

Submitted by

AC

Alex Chen

2450 rep

Tags

dockerdocker-composecontainers