Why can't you start postgres in docker using "service postgres start"?

Question

All the tutorials point out to running postgres in the format of

docker run -d -p 5432 \
  -t <your username>/postgresql \
  /bin/su postgres -c '/usr/lib/postgresql/9.2/bin/postgres \
    -D /var/lib/postgresql/9.2/main \
    -c config_file=/etc/postgresql/9.2/main/postgresql.conf'

Why can't we in our Docker file have:

ENTRYPOINT ["/etc/init.d/postgresql-9.2", "start"]

And simply start the container by

docker run -d psql

Is that not the purpose of Entrypoint or am I missing something?

SingleNegationElimination · Accepted Answer · 2014-02-20 05:16:44Z

2

the difference is that the init script provided in /etc/init.d is not an entry point. Its purpose is quite different; to get the entry point started, in the background, and then report on the success or failure to the caller. that script causes a postgres process, usually indirectly via pg_ctl, to be started, detached from the controlling terminal.

for docker to work best, it needs to run the application directly, attached to the docker process. that way it can usefully and generically terminate it when the user asks for it, or quickly discover and respond to the process crashing.

answered Feb 20, 2014 at 5:16

SingleNegationElimination

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Fernando Ike · Accepted Answer · 2014-09-08 17:18:41Z

1

Exemplify that IfLoop said.

Using CMD into Dockerfiles:

USE postgres 
CMD ["/usr/lib/postgresql/9.2/bin/postgres", "-D", "/var/lib/postgresql/9.2/main", "-c", "config_file=/etc/postgresql/9.2/main/postgresql.conf"]

To run:

$docker run -d -p 5432:5432 psql

Watching PostgeSQL logs:

$docker logs -f POSTGRES_CONTAINER_ID

answered Sep 8, 2014 at 17:18

Fernando Ike

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