Automatically enter only running docker container

Question

In the cloud, I have multiple instances, each running a container with a different random name, e.g.:

CONTAINER ID        IMAGE                              COMMAND                CREATED             STATUS              PORTS                        NAMES
5dc97950d924        aws_beanstalk/my-app:latest   "/bin/sh -c 'python    3 hours ago         Up 3 hours          80/tcp, 5000/tcp, 8080/tcp   jolly_galileo

To enter them, I type:

sudo docker exec -it jolly_galileo /bin/bash

Is there a command or can you write a bash script to automatically execute the exec to enter the correct container?

You want to enter the correct container based on what (image name, ...) ? — Radhwane Chebaane
– Radhwane Chebaane, Commented Oct 8, 2015 at 9:05

VonC · Accepted Answer · 2015-10-08 04:50:10Z

3

"the correct container"?

To determine what is the "correct" container, your bash script would still need either the id or the name of that container.

For example, I have a function in my .bashrc:

deb() { docker exec -u git -it $1 bash; }

That way, I would type:

deb jolly_galileo

(it uses the account git, but you don't have to)

answered Oct 8, 2015 at 4:50

VonC

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2 Comments

user2915097 Over a year ago

you will enter the last container started with docker exec -it $(docker ps -lq) bash but there is no magic, as VonC said.

Peter Ehrlich Over a year ago

This worked for me! sudo docker exec -it $(sudo docker ps -lq) bash

Peter Ehrlich · Accepted Answer · 2015-10-08 20:54:34Z

1

Here's my final solution. It edits the instance's .bashrc if it hasn't been edited yet, prints out docker ps, defines the dock function, and enters the container. A user can then type "exit" if they want to access the raw instances, and "exit" again to quit ssh.

commands:
  bashrc:
    command:  if ! grep -Fxq "sudo docker ps" /home/ec2-user/.bashrc; then echo -e "dock() { sudo docker exec -it $(sudo docker ps -lq) bash; } \nsudo docker ps\ndock" >> /home/ec2-user/.bashrc; fi

answered Oct 8, 2015 at 20:54

Peter Ehrlich

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1 Comment

VonC Over a year ago

Nice feedback in addition of my answer, thank you. +1

Pithikos · Accepted Answer · 2017-03-06 15:06:56Z

As VonC indicated, usually you have to make some shell scripting of your own if you find yourself doing something repetitive. I made a tool myself here which works if you have Bash 4+.

Install

wget -qO- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Pithikos/dockerint/master/docker_autoenter >> ~/.bashrc

Then you can enter a container by simply typing the first letters of the container.

$> docker ps
CONTAINER ID        IMAGE               ..
807b1e7eab7e        ubuntu              ..
18e953015fa9        ubuntu              ..
19bd96389d54        ubuntu              ..

$> 18
root@18e953015fa9:/#

This works by taking advantage of the function command_not_found_handle introduced in Bash 4. If a command is not found, the script will try and see if what you typed is a container and if it is, it will run docker exec <container> bash.

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