! developers.redhat.

com redhat-developer
github @rhdevelopers
twitter

Cheat sheet

Buildah
Buildah is a tool for creating OCI-compliant container images. Also, Buildah provides the capability to create a
container based on a particular container image, update the contents of that container, and then create a brand new
container image based on the altered container.

Although you can use Buildah to run a container on a local machine in a limited manner, the tool’s fundamental
intention is to provide versatility for creating container images and pushing them to a container registry.

The sections that follow show you how to use Buildah to work with existing container images and build new ones.
There is also a section that goes over the basics of pushing a container to a container registry.

The $$ symbol in the examples in the sections below represents the console prompt for a terminal window.

Installing buildah

yum -y install buildah

Or

dnf -y install buildah

Working with container images

The following sections describe how to:

- List container images.

- Pull a container image.
- Create a container image.
- Delete a container image.

There is also a section that demonstrates how to create a new container image based on an existing container image.

List all local container images

buildah images
 ! developers.redhat.com redhat-developer
github @rhdevelopers
twitter

Example:

The following example demonstrates how to list container images stored on the local machine:

$ buildah images

REPOSITORY TAG IMAGE ID CREATED

SIZE
docker.io/library/busybox latest 1a80408de790 5 weeks ago
1.46 MB
quay.io/app-sre/ubi8-nodejs-14 latest 528baa338298 8 months ago
659 MB
docker.io/library/node 12.18-alpine e13d60032d4d 19 months
ago 93.8 MB
docker.io/reselbob/pinger latest c5fa4df9cfe4 3 years ago
74.8 MB

Pulling a container image

buildah from <repo>/<container_image_name>:<tag>

Example:

The following example pulls the container image busybox:latest

busybox:latest from the remote registry docker.io:
docker.io

$ buildah from docker.io/busybox:latest

Trying to pull docker.io/library/busybox:latest...

Getting image source signatures
Copying blob 50e8d59317eb done
Copying config 1a80408de7 done
Writing manifest to image destination
Storing signatures
1a80408de790c0b1075d0a7e23ff7da78b311f85f36ea10098e4a6184c200964

Deleting a container image from a local machine

buildah rmi <repo>/<container_image_name>:<tag>

or

buildah rmi <container_image_id>

Example:

The following example demonstrates how delete a container image with the name
buildah rmirmidocker.io/library/busybox:
buildah docker.io/library/busybox

$ buildah rmi docker.io/library/busybox

untagged: docker.io/library/busybox:latest
1a80408de790c0b1075d0a7e23ff7da78b311f85f36ea10098e4a6184c200964
 ! developers.redhat.com redhat-developer
github @rhdevelopers
twitter

Deleting all container images from local machine

buildah rmi --all

Example:

The following example demonstrates how to remove all container images stored on the local machine:

$ buildah rmi --all̀

untagged: docker.io/library/node:12.18-alpine
untagged: quay.io/app-sre/ubi8-nodejs-14:latest
untagged: docker.io/reselbob/pinger:latest
untagged: docker.io/library/busybox:latest
untagged: docker.io/library/httpd:latest
untagged: registry.access.redhat.com/ubi8/ubi:latest
e13d60032d4d14e88485db13b65a7e38b2588bc3101456278b5e2daddec7e862
528baa33829859e2b854b1f7c2356a8223e449aff78d18ee4cc2fad298199611
c5fa4df9cfe436469dab3d89be4dafcbfb61bc9e594778e12de02ee89ca7fa9a
1a80408de790c0b1075d0a7e23ff7da78b311f85f36ea10098e4a6184c200964
c58ef9bfbb5789a9882cee610ba778b1368d21b513d6caf32e3075542e13fe81
1264065f6ae851d6a33d7be03ffde100356592e385b9b72f65f91b5d9b944b92

Building a container image

buildah bud -t <image_name> <container_file_path>

Example:

The following example creates a container file and then builds a container image using that file.

Create the container file:

$ echo "echo This container works!" > myecho

$ chmod 755 myecho

$ cat << 'EOF' > Containerfile

FROM registry.access.redhat.com/ubi8/ubi
ADD myecho /tmp
ENTRYPOINT "/tmp/myecho"
EOF

$ buildah bud -t myecho-image Containerfile

Build the container image:

STEP 1/3: FROM registry.access.redhat.com/ubi8/ubi

STEP 2/3: ADD myecho /tmp
STEP 3/3: ENTRYPOINT "/tmp/myecho"
COMMIT myecho_image
Getting image source signatures
Copying blob 5bf135c4a0de skipped: already exists
Copying blob 773711fd02f0 skipped: already exists
Copying blob 12113fa850f7 done
Copying config b479141386 done
Writing manifest to image destination
Storing signatures
--> b4791413861
 STEP 1/3: FROM registry.access.redhat.com/ubi8/ubi
STEP 2/3: ADD myecho /tmp ! developers.redhat.com redhat-developer
github @rhdevelopers
twitter
STEP 3/3: ENTRYPOINT "/tmp/myecho"
COMMIT myecho_image
Getting image source signatures
Copying blob 5bf135c4a0de skipped: already exists
Copying blob 773711fd02f0 skipped: already exists
Copying blob 12113fa850f7 done
Copying config b479141386 done
Writing manifest to image destination
Storing signatures
--> b4791413861
Successfully tagged localhost/myecho_image:latest
b4791413861b0245023d9781857000709f5c4ea22d464d16fcc6ce1b5daee2d5

List the container image:

$ buildah images
REPOSITORY TAG IMAGE ID CREATED SIZE
localhost/myecho-image latest 636de016ba7a 9 seconds ago 225
MB

Inspect a container image

buildah inspect --type image image-id

or

buildah inspect --type image image-name

The buildah inspect command returns a very large JSON object that describes the many details of a container image.
buildah inspect

Example:

The following example demonstrates executing the build

buildahinspect
inspect command against the image id a134be2e5346.
a134be2e5346 The
command produces a good deal of screen output. Thus the example shows a snippet of output:

buildah inspect --type image a134be2e5346

{
"Type": "buildah 0.0.1",
"FromImage": "localhost/instrumentreseller:latest",
"FromImageID":
"a134be2e5346307e5999d059bbfabafa43763318b90be569454474e9d2289cf9",
"FromImageDigest":
"sha256:ab86f8d2e3907728f9dcdeb62271e9f165b9dff6aa4507e352df97fc2e81e367",
"Config": "{\"created\":\"2022-06-14T18:16:42.578103429Z\",
\"architecture\":\"amd64\",\"os\":\"............\"}

Inspect a container image

Example:

The following example creates a working container based on the container image myecho-image.
myecho-image Then, a new file is
created that echoes a message. There is an older version of the new file already in the container. The older file has an
older message.
 ! developers.redhat.com redhat-developer
github @rhdevelopers
twitter

The command buildah copy is used to replace the older file with the contents of the new file. Finally the command
buildah copy
buildah commit is used to create a new container image named new-myecho-image.
buildah commit new-myecho-image The container image
new-myecho-image
new-myecho-image has the content of the new file under the same file name as the legacy container image.

Create the working container:

$ buildah from myecho-image

myecho-image-working-container

Create the new file with new content:

$ echo "echo This is another container that works!"" > myecho

Copy the new file contents into the running working container:

buildah copy myecho-image-working-container myecho /tmp/myecho

5f270702af64a52e355b3bcff955bdde2648418bea6e9e4d5d68cbba91450598

Exercise the running working container to verify that the contents of the new file will be displayed:

$ buildah run myecho-image-working-container sh /tmp/myecho

This is another container that works!

Create a new container image based on the file system of the legacy container image that also has replacement
content in the script file /tmp/myecho:
/tmp/myecho

$ buildah commit myecho-image-working-container new-myecho-image

Getting image source signatures
Copying blob 5bf135c4a0de skipped: already exists
Copying blob 773711fd02f0 skipped: already exists
Copying blob 80062d3ed257 skipped: already exists
Copying blob c823fae997d4 done
Copying config f6dc970a52 done
Writing manifest to image destination
Storing signatures
f6dc970a528ce2c94eba3d957170ac612537e1bd9a9f6def15e246d5b965f4e5

List the local container images on the machine to verify that the new container image has been created:

$ buildah images
REPOSITORY TAG IMAGE ID CREATED
SIZE
localhost/new-myecho-image latest f6dc970a528c 10
seconds ago 225 MB
localhost/myecho-image latest 636de016ba7a 3 hours
ago 225 MB

Working with a container image registry

 ! developers.redhat.com redhat-developer
github @rhdevelopers
twitter

The following sections show you how to:

- Log into a container image registry.

- Push a container image to a registry.
- Add an additional tag to a container image.

Logging into a remote container image registry

buildah login <registry_domain_name>

Example:

The following example executes buildah login. The command prompts for a username and password:
buildah login

buildah login quay.io

Username:
Password:
Login Succeeded!

Pushing a container image to a container image registry

buildah push <local_image_name>:<optional_tag> <registry_domain_name>/

<repo_username>/<image_name>:<optional_tag>

Example:

The following command pushes the local container image to the repository of a user named cooluser
cooluser on to the
remote registry
quay.io quay.io:

buildah push localhost/myecho-image quay.io/cooluser/myecho-image:v1.0

Create an additional image tag on an existing image

buildah tag <image_name>:<existing-image-tag> <image_name>:<new-image-tag>

Example:

The following example creates a new tag, verylatest

verylatest and applies it to the existing container image
docker.io/library/nginx
docker.io/library/nginx that has the tag latest.
latest Notice that the values of the IMAGE ID are identical:
IMAGE ID

$ buildah images
REPOSITORY TAG IMAGE ID CREATED SIZE
docker.io/library/nginx latest de2543b9436b 2 days ago 146 MB

$ buildah tag docker.io/library/nginx:latest docker.io/library/

nginx:verylatest

$ buildah images
REPOSITORY TAG IMAGE ID CREATED SIZE
docker.io/library/nginx latest de2543b9436b 2 days ago 146 MB
 ! developers.redhat.com redhat-developer
github @rhdevelopers
twitter

$ buildah images
REPOSITORY TAG IMAGE ID CREATED SIZE
docker.io/library/nginx latest de2543b9436b 2 days ago 146 MB

$ buildah tag docker.io/library/nginx:latest docker.io/library/

nginx:verylatest

$ buildah images
REPOSITORY TAG IMAGE ID CREATED SIZE
docker.io/library/nginx latest de2543b9436b 2 days ago 146 MB
docker.io/library/nginx verylatest de2543b9436b 2 days ago 146 MB

Working with containers

The following sections show you how to:

- List all working containers.

- Run a working container.
- Display details about a working container.
- Delete a working container.

List all working containers

buildah containers

The command buildah

buildah containers
containers lists all working containers. A working container is a container that has been created
using the buildah from
buildah from<container_image>
<container_image> command.

Example:

The following example creates three working containers using the buildah from command. Then, the working
buildah from
directories are listed using the buildah
buildah containers
containers command

Create the containers

$ buildah from httpd

httpd-working-container
$ buildah from busybox
busybox-working-container
$ buildah from nginx
nginx-working-container

List the containers

$ buildah containers

$ buildah containers
CONTAINER ID BUILDER IMAGE ID IMAGE NAME
CONTAINER NAME
7071c5bab4ff * c58ef9bfbb57 docker.io/library/httpd:latest httpd-
working-container
da51dced0afe * 1a80408de790 docker.io/library/busybox:latest
busybox-working-container
bc1473702c2d * de2543b9436b docker.io/library/nginx:latest nginx-
working-container
 ! developers.redhat.com redhat-developer
github @rhdevelopers
twitter

Running a container with buildah

buildah run [options] <working_container> <command>

Example:

The following example builds a working container from the image httpd. httpd Since the image might exist in a number of
remote registries, buildah
buildah displays a interactive list of registries to choose from:

$ buildah from httpd

Please select an image:

quay.io/httpd:latest
registry.fedoraproject.org/httpd:latest
registry.access.redhat.com/httpd:latest
registry.centos.org/httpd:latest
▸ docker.io/library/httpd:latest

httpd-working-container

The buildah run command is then executed against the working container created by buildah
buildah run from. The example
buildah from
executes the lsls /var
/var command, listing the contents of the /var
/var directory located within the working container:

$ buildah run httpd-working-container ls /var

backups cache lib local lock log mail opt run spool tmp

Display details about a container

buildah inspect [options] <container_id>

or

buildah inspect [options] <container_name>

Example:

The following example inspects the working container image named registry.access.redhat.com/ubi8/ubi.
registry.access.redhat.com/ubi8/ubi The option
--format '{{.IDMappingOptions}}'
--format '{{.IDMappingOptions}}' is used to display only the information associated with the IDMappingOptions
IDMappingOptions
property of the JSON object:

$ buildah inspect --format '{{.IDMappingOptions}}' --type image

registry.access.redhat.com/ubi8/ubi
{true true [] []}

Delete a container

buildah delete <container_id>

 ! developers.redhat.com redhat-developer
github @rhdevelopers
twitter

or

buildah delete <container_name>

Example:

The following examples demonstrate deleting containers created by buildah:

$ buildah delete 35b88d7ef180

35b88d7ef1807a4d5e085472a23cea6425920ac94845fdcb33c036d89a804f3e

or

$ buildah delete httpd-working-container

f892d7f36f5f1d0b70fd40ebb00c0861cab44260f6b44add9574381673307ef5

Delete all containers on a machine, technique 1

buildah rm --all̀

Example:

The following example deletes all containers on the local machine:

$ buildah rm --all

4666ea9b554494c204dcc5c30ae0fcad8f8195a3d896845d100899b4e956313f
9b181a3172cefa5c92e33bd7ff2619bd6ac2bab9d87ab2a2bd9a226f70016282

Delete all containers on a machine, technique 2

buildah delete $(buildah list -a -q)

Example:

The following example deletes all containers created under buildah run. If no containers are running, the command will
buildah run
throw an error:

$ buildah delete $(buildah list -a -q)

7071c5bab4ff60de473b37c5a152b2c566e0f6a8d401ba916ba761d77ad88d7a
da51dced0afec9db1178eb48631433462d26853baa2f472d67b587b2f04c7866
bc1473702c2d82f0a14741a49747a8077149bf2945177e107ad4057d7c9b67dc