ENV DEBIAN_FRONTEND noninteractive #4032

SvenDowideit · 2014-02-10T02:42:16Z

should we really expect users of our deb base images to add

ENV DEBIAN_FRONTEND noninteractive to the start of all their Dockerfiles, or is this actually a reasonable default that we could set for them?

The text was updated successfully, but these errors were encountered:

tianon · 2014-02-10T02:48:12Z

This is definitely not a reasonable default, and setting it via ENV should be actively discouraged.

APT is smart enough to detect that it's not being run interactively, but it throws out some pretty ugly looking warnings (that thanks to our new build stuff are red now), and setting this hides them.

The reason it's not a good default is that if I docker run -i -t ... bash, I'm now interactive, and this variable being set is very, very wrong. This is exactly why it's set in-line in our root Dockerfile, and not via ENV (ie, RUN apt-get update && DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive apt-get install -yq ...).

SvenDowideit · 2014-02-10T03:04:59Z

/me ponders where to document that...

Does this mean Dockerfile authors should avoid using RUN DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive apt-get install ... until there's a problem and then only add it to those that fail, or that every apt-get line needs to be littered with something most of them won't even know exists?

(and awful lot of the postgreSQL example complains without)

alternativly, could I ENV set it at the top, and then ENV unset it after?

SvenDowideit · 2014-02-14T04:18:39Z

closed by #4035

pmorch · 2014-06-15T21:38:34Z

I saw the note in the docs that

Note: One example where this can cause unexpected consequenses, is setting ENV DEBIAN_FRONTEND noninteractive. Which will persist when the container is run interactively; for example: docker run -t -i image bash

and am now thinking "Ok, so what should I do instead?" The subsquent google search landed me here. Neither this issue nor the docs give a clear recommendation...

So what is the canonical way to run apt-get install?

RUN DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive apt-get install -y -q package

Seems to be the way to do it. @SvenDowideit hints at:

alternativly, could I ENV set it at the top, and then ENV unset it after?

But is it possible to "then ENV unset it after"? A single-arg:

ENV DEBIAN_FRONTEND

Doesn't work, and I can't find a undef/NULL/nil value for ENV in the docs.

I'd love to hear/read the canonical way to do it somewhere...

czerasz · 2014-07-28T23:31:08Z

@pmorch You could just set it to it's default value

DEBIAN_FRONTEND=newt

Resource link

shaunc · 2015-03-29T23:07:21Z

Maybe there should be a BUILDENV command that just sets environment during build :)

duglin · 2015-03-29T23:47:02Z

hmmm #9176 :-)

`DEBIAN_FRONTEND` environment variable remains all time. We need it to be `noninteractive` only when we do `apt-get install`. See moby/moby#4032.

moby/moby#4032

drastik · 2015-12-10T16:35:05Z

What is the consensus on the best practice here?

thaJeztah · 2015-12-10T17:09:42Z

@drastik best practice is to not use ENV, because that will make the env-var persist in the final image.

In most cases, omitting "DEBIAN_FRONTEND" is harmless and only produces some warnings during build (which can be ignored). If really needed, RUN DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive apt-get install -y -q package should work

Do not set it in the resulting image, which is discouraged because the container may be run interactively at some point. With this particular container, an interactive run is quite likely. See moby/moby#4032 (comment)

markriggins · 2016-03-04T15:43:08Z

The new ARG directive in the Dockerfile can set this only during the build

ARG DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive

More info can be found in [docker issue #4032](moby/moby#4032 (comment)) Remove errors such as: > debconf: unable to initialize frontend: Dialog > debconf: (TERM is not set, so the dialog frontend is not usable.) > debconf: falling back to frontend: Readline > debconf: unable to initialize frontend: Readline > debconf: (This frontend requires a controlling tty.) > debconf: falling back to frontend: Teletype

…ng it via ENV should be actively discouraged, because if I docker run -i -t ... bash, I'm now interactive, and this variable being set is very, very wrong, according to this issue: moby/moby#4032.

…ng it via ENV should be actively discouraged, because if I docker run -i -t ... bash, I'm now interactive, and this variable being set is very, very wrong, according to this issue: moby/moby#4032. (#64)

Get rid of warnings during package configuration by specifying non- interactive as DEBIAN_FRONTEND environment variable. Use ARG to make sure that this environment variable is only set during build time. Use ONBUILD ARG to make sure that non-interactive frontend is also used in downstream builds. Docker builds are non-interactive by nature so this should be a sensible default for downstream builds. See also: moby/moby#4032 (comment) Signed-off-by: Stefan Agner <stefan.agner@toradex.com>

Ref: moby/moby#4032 Ref: https://sweetcode.io/using-docker-reproducible-build-environments/ Ref: https://github.com/hashbang/aosp-build/blob/master/config/container/Dockerfile

https://askubuntu.com/questions/909277/avoiding-user-interaction-with-tzdata-when-installing-certbot-in-a-docker-contai moby/moby#4032 (comment)

- Move DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive to inline (Ref: moby/moby#4032) - Add fallback URL from GitHub for Libreswan source

ENV variables remain after the build. moby/moby#4032 (comment) Signed-off-by: Daniel Sangorrin <daniel.sangorrin@toshiba.co.jp>

See moby/moby#4032 (comment)

Ref: moby/moby#4032 Ref: https://sweetcode.io/using-docker-reproducible-build-environments/ Ref: https://github.com/hashbang/aosp-build/blob/master/config/container/Dockerfile

Using ENV is discouraged as the environment variable persists after the build, confusing apt. See: moby/moby#4032 (comment)

when required instead of ENV Setting `ENV DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive` is highly discouraged as per https://docs.docker.com/engine/faq/#why-is-debian_frontendnoninteractive-discouraged-in-dockerfiles and moby/moby#4032 (comment) Signed-off-by: nanake <nanake@users.noreply.github.com>

Using DEBIAN_FRONTEND as Docker ENV variable is discouraged: moby/moby#4032 (comment)

SvenDowideit added the /project/doc label Feb 10, 2014

SvenDowideit mentioned this issue Feb 10, 2014

point out that ENV DEBIAN_FRONTEND will persist, so its not recommended #4035

Merged

SvenDowideit closed this as completed Feb 14, 2014

jgmize mentioned this issue Feb 3, 2015

Set DEBIAN_FRONTEND. mozilla/masterfirefoxos#93

Closed

scraperdragon mentioned this issue Apr 30, 2015

dockerfile specification for unsetting environment variables. #9298

Closed

yous added a commit to yous/pinpoint-docker that referenced this issue May 6, 2015

Set environment variables inline

9f3b3f6

`DEBIAN_FRONTEND` environment variable remains all time. We need it to be `noninteractive` only when we do `apt-get install`. See moby/moby#4032.

karlkfi mentioned this issue May 19, 2015

Add docker & docker-compose scripts mesosphere/kubernetes-mesos#282

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This was referenced Jul 13, 2015

Clean dockerfile shoov/php-ci#8

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Clean Dockerfile shoov/php-ci#9

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thomaszbz mentioned this issue Aug 20, 2015

Use alternative for ENV DEBIAN_FRONTEND thomaszbz/native-dockerfiles-typo3#4

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bhalothia added a commit to bhalothia/docker-rundeck that referenced this issue Oct 6, 2015

ENV DEBIAN_FRONTEND will persist and is not recommended, as per

6114244

moby/moby#4032

bryanlatten mentioned this issue Oct 29, 2015

Update to handle no CFG_ variables behance/docker-php#72

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cnelsonsic mentioned this issue Dec 7, 2015

Set DEBIAN_FRONTEND environment variable phusion/baseimage-docker#252

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christianbundy mentioned this issue Dec 7, 2015

Getting tons of debconf messages unless TERM is set to linux phusion/baseimage-docker#58

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thoughtless mentioned this issue Dec 20, 2015

Only set DEBIAN_FRONTEND during build double16/ripit#1

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johscheuer mentioned this issue Jan 27, 2016

Use ENV instead of export in dockerfile arnisoph/rex-docker#2

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DonkeyOatie mentioned this issue Mar 16, 2016

Fix local setup + deploy eHealthAfrica/ureport#8

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adamradocz mentioned this issue Jun 3, 2019

Remove the DEBIAN_FRONTEND noninteractive environment variable. Setti… BOINC/boinc-client-docker#64

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Fixed Web-Server Build Error "libcurl3 has no installation candidate" sprintcube/docker-compose-lamp#39

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Add CentOS client Dockerfile triton-inference-server/server#849

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Improve formatting, improve debian image hedgedoc/container#78

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rusty-snake mentioned this issue May 10, 2020

gitlab CI broken netblue30/firejail#3403

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usmcfiredog added a commit to usmcfiredog/docker-ipsec-vpn-server that referenced this issue Sep 20, 2020

Improve Dockerfile

5a82892

- Move DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive to inline (Ref: moby/moby#4032) - Add fallback URL from GitHub for Libreswan source

zuka0828 pushed a commit to zuka0828/docker-aptly that referenced this issue Oct 13, 2020

Dockerfile: use ARG not ENV for DEBIAN_FRONTEND

31afdc4

ENV variables remain after the build. moby/moby#4032 (comment) Signed-off-by: Daniel Sangorrin <daniel.sangorrin@toshiba.co.jp>

zuka0828 pushed a commit to zuka0828/docker-aptly that referenced this issue Oct 27, 2020

Dockerfile: use ARG not ENV for DEBIAN_FRONTEND

7668e1a

ENV variables remain after the build. moby/moby#4032 (comment) Signed-off-by: Daniel Sangorrin <daniel.sangorrin@toshiba.co.jp>

urpylka pushed a commit to urpylka/docker-aptly that referenced this issue Nov 20, 2020

Dockerfile: use ARG not ENV for DEBIAN_FRONTEND

8df9d4a

ENV variables remain after the build. moby/moby#4032 (comment) Signed-off-by: Daniel Sangorrin <daniel.sangorrin@toshiba.co.jp>

dinogun mentioned this issue Nov 25, 2020

Added DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive to fix the timezone issue AdoptOpenJDK/openjdk-docker#476

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SimonPhumin pushed a commit to SimonPhumin/container that referenced this issue Nov 29, 2020

Change debian_frontend to arg to only have it at build time

f240387

See moby/moby#4032 (comment)

OnlineCop mentioned this issue Dec 11, 2020

Replace ENV with ARG in documentation microsoft/vscode-remote-release#4178

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NolanC33 mentioned this issue Apr 23, 2021

change ENV DEBIAN_FRONTEND noninteractive to ARG zouzias/docker-boost#4

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Crow-EH mentioned this issue Aug 17, 2021

Clean java images ekino/docker-buildbox#501

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diadatp added a commit to diadatp/gow that referenced this issue Sep 20, 2021

Setting DEBIAN_FRONTEND to noninteractive via ARG instead of ENV.

b68db09

Using ENV is discouraged as the environment variable persists after the build, confusing apt. See: moby/moby#4032 (comment)

davetapley mentioned this issue Nov 29, 2021

apt-get install -y keyboard-configuration hangs on prompt docker/build-push-action#504

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smokenik mentioned this issue Jan 4, 2023

IMAP INBOUND EMAIL error - ver 8.2.2 salesagility/SuiteCRM-Core#186

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sbellem mentioned this issue May 8, 2023

Small improvements to builder.Dockerfile initc3/Sting-Flashbots#15

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jfavellar90 added a commit to overhangio/tutor-xqueue that referenced this issue May 30, 2023

fix: setting DEBIAN_FRONTEND as a Docker ARG

aa6bf9d

Using DEBIAN_FRONTEND as Docker ENV variable is discouraged: moby/moby#4032 (comment)

This was referenced May 30, 2023

feat(rollups-events): connect to Redis via TLS cartesi/rollups#62

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Investigate use of DEBIAN_FRONTEND in Docker files cartesi/rollups-node#15

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bebehei mentioned this issue Nov 10, 2023

initial meson move dunst-project/dunst#1226

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ENV DEBIAN_FRONTEND noninteractive #4032

ENV DEBIAN_FRONTEND noninteractive #4032

SvenDowideit commented Feb 10, 2014

tianon commented Feb 10, 2014

SvenDowideit commented Feb 10, 2014

SvenDowideit commented Feb 14, 2014

pmorch commented Jun 15, 2014

czerasz commented Jul 28, 2014

shaunc commented Mar 29, 2015

duglin commented Mar 29, 2015

drastik commented Dec 10, 2015

thaJeztah commented Dec 10, 2015

markriggins commented Mar 4, 2016

ENV DEBIAN_FRONTEND noninteractive #4032

ENV DEBIAN_FRONTEND noninteractive #4032

Comments

SvenDowideit commented Feb 10, 2014

tianon commented Feb 10, 2014

SvenDowideit commented Feb 10, 2014

SvenDowideit commented Feb 14, 2014

pmorch commented Jun 15, 2014

czerasz commented Jul 28, 2014

shaunc commented Mar 29, 2015

duglin commented Mar 29, 2015

drastik commented Dec 10, 2015

thaJeztah commented Dec 10, 2015

markriggins commented Mar 4, 2016