We’re pleased to announce Docker Desktop 4.27, packed with exciting new features and updates. The new release includes key advancements such as synchronized file shares, collaboration enhancements in Docker Build Cloud, the introduction of the private marketplace for extensions (available for Docker Business customers), and the much-anticipated release of Moby 25. 

Additionally, we explore the support for Testcontainers with Enhanced Container Isolation, the general availability of docker init with expanded language support, and the beta release of Docker Debug. These updates represent significant strides in improving development workflows, enhancing security, and offering advanced customization for Docker users.

Docker Desktop synchronized file shares GA

We’re diving into some fantastic updates for Docker Desktop, and we’re especially thrilled to introduce our latest feature, synchronized file shares, which is available now in version 4.27 (Figure 1). Following our acquisition announcement in June 2023, we have integrated the technology behind Mutagen into the core of Docker Desktop.

You can now say goodbye to the challenges of using large codebases in containers with virtual filesystems. Synchronized file shares unlock native filesystem performance for bind mounts and provides a remarkable 2-10x boost in file operation speeds. For developers managing extensive codebases, this is a game-changer.

To get started, log in to Docker Desktop with your subscription account (Pro, Teams, or Business) to harness the power of Docker Desktop synchronized file shares. You can read more about this feature in the Docker documentation.

Collaborate on shared Docker Build Cloud builds in Docker Desktop

With the recent GA of Docker Build Cloud, your team can now leverage Docker Desktop to use powerful cloud-based build machines and shared caching to reduce unnecessary rebuilds and get your build done in a fraction of the time, regardless of your local physical hardware.

New builds can make instant use of the shared cache. Even if this is your first time building the project, you can immediately speed up build times with shared caches.

We know that team members have varying levels of Docker expertise. When a new developer has issues with their build failing, the Builds view makes it effortless for anyone on the team to locate the troublesome build using search and filtering. They can then collaborate on a fix and get unblocked in no time.

When all your team is building on the same cloud builder, it can get noisy, so we added filtering by specific build types, helping you focus on the builds that are important to you.

Link to builder settings for a build

Previously, to access builder settings, you had to jump back to the build list or the settings page, but now you can access them directly from a build (Figure 2).

Delete build history for a builder

And, until now you could only delete build in batches, which meant if you wanted to clear the build history it required a lot of clicks. This update enables you to clear all builds easily (Figure 3).

Refresh storage data for your builder at any point in time

Refreshing the storage data is an intensive operation, so it only happens periodically. Previously, when you were clearing data, you would have to wait a while to see the update. Now it’s just a one-click process (Figure 4).

New feature: Private marketplace for extensions available for Docker Business subscribers

Docker Business customers now have exclusive access to a new feature: the private marketplace for extensions. This enhancement focuses on security, compliance, and customization, and empowering developers, providing:

• Controlled access: Manage which extensions developers can use through allow-listing.
• Private distribution: Easily distribute company-specific extensions from a private registry.
• Customized development: Deploy customized team processes and tools as unpublished/private Docker extensions tailored to a specific organization.

The private marketplace for extensions enables a secure, efficient, and tailored development environment, aligning with your enterprise’s specific needs. Get started today by learning how to configure a private marketplace for extensions.

Moby 25 release — containerd image store 

We are happy to announce the release of Moby 25.0 with Docker Desktop 4.27. In case you’re unfamiliar, Moby is the open source project for Docker Engine, which ships in Docker Desktop. We have dedicated significant effort to this release, which marks a major release milestone for the open source Moby project. You can read a comprehensive list of enhancements in the v25.0.0 release notes.

With the release of Docker Desktop 4.27,  support for the containerd image store has graduated from beta to general availability. This work began in September 2022 when we started extending the Docker Engine integration with containerd, so we are excited to have this functionality reach general availability.

This support provides a more robust user experience by natively storing and building multi-platform images and using snapshotters for lazy pulling images (e.g., stargz) and peer-to-peer image distribution (e.g., dragonfly, nydus). It also provides a foundation for you to run Wasm containers (currently in beta). 

Using the containerd image store is not currently enabled by default for all users but can be enabled in the general settings in Docker Desktop under Use containers for pulling and storing images (Figure 5).

Going forward, we will continue improving the user experience of pushing, pulling, and storing images with the containerd image store, help migrate user images to use containerd, and work toward enabling it by default for all users. 

As always, you can try any of the features landing in Moby 25 in Docker Desktop.

Support for Testcontainers with Enhanced Container Isolation

Docker Desktop 4.27 introduces the ability to use the popular Testcontainers framework with Enhanced Container Isolation (ECI). 

ECI, which is available to Docker Business customers, provides an additional layer of security to prevent malicious workloads running in containers from compromising the Docker Desktop or the host by running containers without root access to the Docker Desktop VM, by vetting sensitive system calls inside containers and other advanced techniques. It’s meant to better secure local development environments. 

Before Docker Desktop 4.27, ECI blocked mounting the Docker Engine socket into containers to increase security and prevent malicious containers from gaining access to Docker Engine. However, this also prevented legitimate scenarios (such as Testcontainers) from working with ECI.   

Starting with Docker Desktop 4.27, admins can now configure ECI to allow Docker socket mounts, but in a controlled way (e.g., on trusted images of their choice) and even restrict the commands that may be sent on that socket. This functionality, in turn, enables users to enjoy the combined benefits of frameworks such as Testcontainers (or any others that require containers to access the Docker engine socket) with the extra security and peace of mind provided by ECI.

Docker init GA with Java support 

Initially released in its beta form in Docker 4.18, docker init has undergone several enhancements. The docker init command-line utility aids in the initialization of Docker resources within a project. It automatically generates Dockerfiles, Compose files, and .dockerignore files based on the nature of the project, significantly reducing the setup time and complexity associated with Docker configurations. 

The initial beta release of docker init only supported Go and generic projects. The latest version, available in Docker 4.27, supports Go, Python, Node.js, Rust, ASP.NET, PHP, and Java (Figure 6).

The general availability of docker init offers an efficient and user-friendly way to integrate Docker into your projects. Whether you’re a seasoned Docker user or new to containerization, docker init is ready to enhance your development workflow. 

Beta release of Docker Debug 

As previously announced at DockerCon 2023, Docker Debug is now available as a beta offering in Docker Desktop 4.27.

Developers can spend as much as 60% of their time debugging their applications, with much of that time taken up by sorting and configuring tools and setup instead of debugging. Docker Debug (available in Pro, Teams, or Business subscriptions) provides a language-independent, integrated toolbox for debugging local and remote containerized apps — even when the container fails to launch — enabling developers to find and solve problems faster.

To get started, run docker debug <Container or Image name> in the Docker Desktop CLI while logged in with your subscription account.

Conclusion

Docker Desktop’s latest updates and features, from synchronized file shares to the first beta release of Docker Debug, reflect our ongoing commitment to enhancing developer productivity and operational efficiency. Integrating these capabilities into Docker Desktop streamlines development processes and empowers teams to collaborate more effectively and securely. As Docker continues to evolve, we remain dedicated to providing our community and customers with innovative solutions that address the dynamic needs of modern software development.

Stay tuned for further updates and enhancements, and as always, we encourage you to explore these new features to see how they can benefit your development workflow.

Upgrade to Docker Desktop 4.27 to explore these updates and experiment with Docker’s latest features.

Learn more

• Read the Docker Desktop Release Notes.
• Install and authenticate against the latest release of Docker Desktop.
• Learn more about synchronized file shares.
• Check out Docker Build Cloud.
• Read Streamline Dockerization with Docker Init GA
• Read Docker Init: Initialize Dockerfiles and Compose files with a single CLI command.
• Have questions? The Docker community is here to help.
• New to Docker? Get started.

In May 2023, Docker announced the beta release of docker init, a new command-line interface (CLI) tool in Docker Desktop designed to streamline the Docker setup process for various types of applications and help users containerize their existing projects. We’re now excited to announce the general availability of docker init, with support for multiple languages and stacks, making it simpler than ever to containerize your applications.

What is docker init?

Initially released in its beta form in Docker 4.18, docker init has undergone several enhancements. docker init is a command-line utility that aids in the initialization of Docker resources within a project. It automatically generates Dockerfiles, Compose files, and .dockerignore files based on the nature of the project, significantly reducing the setup time and complexity associated with Docker configurations. 

The initial beta release of init came with support only for Go and generic projects. The latest version, available in Docker Desktop 4.27, supports Go, Python, Node.js, Rust, ASP.NET, PHP, and Java.

How to use docker init

Using docker init is straightforward and involves a few simple steps. Start by navigating to your project directory where you want the Docker assets to be initialized. In the terminal, execute the docker init command. This command initiates the tool and prepares it to analyze your project (Figure 1).

docker init will scan your project and ask you to confirm and choose the template that best suits your application. Once you select the template, docker init asks you for some project-specific information, automatically generating the necessary Docker resources for your project (Figure 2).

This step includes creating a Dockerfile and a Compose file tailored to the language and framework of your choice, as well as other relevant files. The last step is to run docker compose up to start your newly containerized project.

Why use docker init?

The docker init tool simplifies the process of dockerization, making it accessible even to those new to Docker. It eliminates the need to manually write Dockerfiles and other configuration files from scratch, saving time and reducing the potential for errors. With its template-based approach, docker init ensures that the Docker setup is optimized for the specific type of application you are working on and that your project will follow the industry’s best practices.

Conclusion

The general availability of docker init offers an efficient and user-friendly way to integrate Docker into your projects. Whether you’re a seasoned Docker user or new to containerization, docker init is set to enhance your development workflow. 

Learn more 

New to Docker? Start by downloading Docker Desktop.

Watch the following video tutorials for further insight on leveraging docker init: 

• Docker init — Docker short tutorial
• Docker init with Python
• Docker init with Rust
• Build an AI App with FastAPI and Docker — Coding Tutorial with Tips
• Let’s Discover: Docker init command
• Docker init support for .NET applications

Learn how to use Docker init using your favorite language:

• .NET
• Node.js
• PHP
• Python

Docker Desktop 4.23 is now available and includes numerous enhancements, including ASP.NET Core support in Docker Init, Configuration Integrity Check to alert on any configuration changes that require attention, and cross-domain identity management. This release also improves Quick Search, allowing for searching across containers, apps, Docker Hub, Docs, and any volume, and performing quick actions (start/stop/delete). VirtioFS is now set to default to provide performance gains for Mac users. With the Docker Desktop 4.23 release, Mac users will also see increased network performance using traditional network connections. 

In this post, we dive into what’s new and updated in the latest release of Docker Desktop.

ASP.NET Core with Docker Init

We are excited to announce added support for ASP.NET Core. Whether you’re new to Docker or a seasoned pro, Docker Init now streamlines Dockerization for your ASP.NET Core projects. With a simple docker init command in your project folder and the latest Docker Desktop version, watch as Docker Init generates tailored Dockerfiles, Compose files, and .dockerignore files.

Specific to ASP.NET Core, we also improved support and comments in the DockerFile for multi-arch builds. This advancement will help users manage sharing their images across different CPU architectures and streamline deployments on cloud providers such as Azure, AWS, and GCP. Create images that fit various architectures, boosting flexibility and efficiency in cloud deployments.

Get started by ensuring you have the latest Docker Desktop version. Then, execute docker init in your project directory through the command line. Let Docker Init handle the heavy lifting, allowing you to concentrate on your core task — crafting outstanding applications!

Configuration Integrity Check

Ensure Docker Desktop runs smoothly with our new Configuration Integrity Check. This allows you to keep using multiple local applications and tools, sometimes making configuration changes hassle-free. This update automatically detects and alerts to any configuration changes, prompting a simple click and re-establishing Docker Desktop configurations to track and ensure uninterrupted development.

Alerts to any configuration issues will be displayed in the whale menu.

Cross-domain identity management 

User access management for Docker just got more powerful. SCIM helps auto-provision or de-provision users, and group role mapping is now supported so you can organize your teams and their access accordingly: 

• You can assign roles to members in your organization in the IdP. To set up a role, you can use optional user-level attributes for the person you want to assign a role. 
• You can also set an organization and team to override the default provisioning values set by the SSO connection.
• The following table lists the supported optional user-level attributes.

Improvements to Quick Search 

Empowering developers with seamless access to essential resources whenever they’re needed, our revamped Quick Search feature has received significant upgrades. Now, users can effortlessly locate:

• Containers and Compose apps: Easily pinpoint any container or Compose app residing on your local system. Additionally, gain quick access to environment variables and perform essential actions such as starting, stopping, or deleting them.
• Docker Hub images: Whether it’s public Docker Hub images, local ones, or those from remote repositories, Quick Search will provide fast and relevant results.
• Extensions: Discover more about specific extensions and streamline installation with a single click.
• Volumes: Effortlessly navigate through your volumes and gain insights into the associated containers.
• Documentation: Instantly access invaluable assistance from Docker’s official documentation, all directly from within Docker Desktop.

Enhanced Quick Search is your ultimate tool for resource discovery and management, offering unmatched convenience for developers.

Standardizing higher performance file sharing with VirtioFS for Mac users

Docker Desktop 4.23 now defaults to utilizing VirtioFS on macOS 12.5+ as the standard to deliver substantial performance gains when sharing files with containers through docker run -v or bind mounts in Compose YAML. VirtioFS minimizes file transfer overhead by allowing containers to access files without volume mounts or network shares.

Skipping network file transfer protocols also leads to faster file transfers. We measured performance improvements, decreasing file transfer time from 7:13.21s to 1:4.4s — an 85.15% increase in speed. We do want to note that the measured improvement depends on the size of the file, what other apps are running, and the hardware of the computer.

Docker Desktop network speed improvements for Mac users

Docker Desktop 4.23 comes with improved networking performance for Mac users. Now, when a container requires a traditional network connection, users will experience increased network performance in these ways:

1. Accessing exposed ports ~10x faster
2. Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)  ~1.5x – 2x faster

No user action is required to experience these benefits — all Mac users updated to 4.23 will now network faster!

Conclusion

Upgrade now to explore what’s new in the 4.23 release of Docker Desktop. Do you have feedback? Leave feedback on our public GitHub roadmap, and let us know what else you’d like to see in upcoming releases.

Learn more

• Read the Docker Desktop Release Notes.
• Get the latest release of Docker Desktop.
• Have questions? The Docker community is here to help.
• New to Docker? Get started.

Docker Desktop 4.21 is now available and includes Docker Init support for Rust, new Wasm runtimes support, enhancements to Docker Scout dashboards, Builds view (Beta), performance and filesystem enhancements to Docker Desktop on macOS, and more. Docker Desktop in 4.21 also uses substantially less memory, allowing developers to run more applications simultaneously on their machines without relying on swap. 

Added support for new Wasm runtimes

Docker Desktop 4.21 now has added support for the following Wasm runtimes: Slight, Spin, and Wasmtime. These runtimes can be downloaded on demand when the containerd image store is enabled. The following steps outline the process:

1. In Docker Desktop, navigate to the settings by clicking the gear icon.
2. Select the Features in development tab.
3. Check the boxes for Use containerd for pulling and storing images and Enable Wasm.
4. Select Apply & restart.
5. When prompted for Wasm Runtimes Installation, select Install.
6. After installation, these runtimes can be used to run Wasm workloads locally with the corresponding flags, for example:
   --runtime=io.containerd.spin.v1 --platform=wasi/wasm32

Docker Init (Beta) added support for Rust 

In the 4.21 release, we’ve added Rust server support to Docker Init. Docker Init is a CLI command in beta that simplifies the process of adding Docker to a project. (Learn more about Docker Init in our blog post: Docker Init: Initialize Dockerfiles and Compose files with a single CLI command.)

You can try Docker Init with Rust by updating to the latest version of Docker Desktop and typing docker init in the command line while inside a target project folder. 

The Docker team is working on adding more languages and frameworks for this command, including Java and .Net. Let us know if you want us to support a specific language or framework. We welcome feedback as we continue to develop and improve Docker Init (Beta).

Docker Scout dashboard enhancements 

The Docker Scout Dashboard helps you share the analysis of images in an organization with your team. Developers can now see an overview of their security status across all their images from both Docker Hub and Artifactory (more registry integrations coming soon) and get remediation advice at their fingertips. Docker Scout analysis helps team members in roles such as security, compliance, and operations to know what vulnerabilities and issues they need to focus on.

Visit the Docker Scout vulnerability dashboard to get end-to-end observability into your supply chain. 

Docker Buildx v0.11

Docker Buildx component has been updated to a new version, enabling many new features. For example, you can now load multi-platform images into the Docker image store when containerd image store is enabled.

The buildx bake command now supports matrix builds, allowing defining multiple configurations of the same build target that can all be built together.

There are also multiple new experimental commands for better debugging support for your builds. Read more from the release changelog. 

Builds (Beta)

Docker Desktop 4.21 includes our Builds view beta release. Builds view gives you visibility into the active builds currently running on your system and enables analysis and debugging of your completed builds.

All builds started with docker build or docker buildx build commands will automatically appear in the Builds view. From there, you can inspect all the properties of a build invocation, including timing information, build cache usage, Dockerfile source, etc. Builds view also provides you full access to all of the logs and properties of individual build steps.

If you are working with multiple Buildx builder instances (for example, running builds inside a Docker container or Kubernetes cluster), Builds view include a new Builders settings view to make it even easier to manage additional builders or set default builder instances.

Builds view is currently in beta as we are continuing to improve them. To enable them, go to Settings > Features in development > Turn on Builds view.

Faster startup and file sharing for macOS 

Launching Docker Desktop on Apple Silicon Macs is at least 25% quicker in 4.21 compared to previous Docker Desktop versions. Previously the start time would scale linearly with the amount of memory allocated to Docker, which meant that users with higher-spec Macs would experience slower startup. This bug has been fixed and now Docker starts in four seconds on Apple Silicon. 

Docker Desktop 4.21 uses VirtioFS by default on macOS 12.5+, which provides substantial performance gains when sharing host files with containers (for example, via docker run -v). The time taken to build the Redis engine drops from seven minutes on Docker Desktop 4.20 to only two minutes on Docker Desktop 4.21, for example.

Conclusion

Upgrade now to explore what’s new in the 4.21 release of Docker Desktop. Do you have feedback? Leave feedback on our public GitHub roadmap and let us know what else you’d like to see.

Learn more

• Get the latest release of Docker Desktop.
• Have questions? The Docker community is here to help.
• New to Docker? Get started.

Docker has revolutionized the way developers build, package, and deploy their applications. Docker containers provide a lightweight, portable, and consistent runtime environment that can run on any infrastructure. And now, the Docker team has developed docker init, a new command-line interface (CLI) command introduced as a beta feature that simplifies the process of adding Docker to a project (Figure 1).

Note: Docker Init should not be confused with the internally -used docker-init executable, which is invoked by Docker when utilizing the –init flag with the docker run command.

Create assets automatically

The new  docker init command automates the creation of necessary Docker assets, such as Dockerfiles, Compose files, and .dockerignore files, based on the characteristics of the project. By executing the docker init command, developers can quickly containerize their projects. Docker init is a valuable tool for developers who want to experiment with Docker, learn about containerization, or integrate Docker into their existing projects.

To use docker init, developers need to upgrade to the version 4.19.0 or later of Docker Desktop and execute the command in the target project folder. Docker init will detect the project definitions, and it will automatically generate the necessary files to run the project in Docker. 

The current Beta release of docker init supports Go, Node, and Python, and our development team is actively working to extend support for additional languages and frameworks, including Java, Rust, and .NET. If there is a language or stack that you would like to see added or if you have other feedback about docker init, let us know through our Google form.

In conclusion, docker init is a valuable tool for developers who want to simplify the process of adding Docker support to their projects. It automates the creation of necessary Docker assets  and can help standardize the creation of Docker assets across different projects. By enabling developers to focus on developing their applications and reducing the risk of errors and inconsistencies, Docker init can help accelerate the adoption of Docker and containerization.

See Docker Init in action

To see docker init in action, check out the following overview video by Francesco Ciulla, which demonstrates building the required Docker assets to your project.

Check out the documentation to learn more.

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