Create Docker Network in docker-compose.yml or dockerfile

Question

My docker services require a network to work properly. I intend to share my compose file, but I don't want to manually create the network with the right parameters each time.

I would like the network to be created during the build process, in the Dockerfile or in the docker-compose file.

Answer 1

I don't think you can create a network in your Dockerfile, but you can do so in your docker-compose.yml file.

Have you looked at networking in Docker Compose?

You can specify your own networks with the networks key in your docker-compose.yml file. This lets you create custom networks and specify custom network drivers and options.

Each service in your docker-compose.yml file can specify what networks to connect to, with the service level networks key.

Here is an example from the Compose docs

version: "3"
services:
  proxy:
    build: ./proxy
    networks:
      - frontend
  app:
    build: ./app
    networks:
      - frontend
      - backend
  db:
    image: postgres
    networks:
      - backend

networks:
  frontend:
    # Use a custom driver
    driver: custom-driver-1
  backend:
    # Use a custom driver which takes special options
    driver: custom-driver-2
    driver_opts:
      foo: "1"
      bar: "2"