Distroless - Minimal Base, Java and Node Images

A small set of Dockerfiles and a build script to produce minimal BusyBox-based base and Java images. The goal is a tiny runtime image that includes only what's necessary to run typical Linux binaries or a JRE.

Quick summary

• Dockerfile.base — builds a compact base image (BusyBox + glibc, CA certs, selected tzdata, minimal /etc files).
• Dockerfile.java — extends the base image with OpenJDK to produce a minimal Java runtime image.
• Dockerfile.node — produces a minimal Node.js runtime image.
• build.sh — convenience script to build images and run quick smoke tests.

Prerequisites

• Docker (engine) installed and running.
• A POSIX-compatible shell for build.sh

Quickstart

From the repository root run the provided script which builds images and performs small verification steps:

./build.sh

What the Dockerfiles include

• Dockerfile.base

  • BusyBox userland and a glibc runtime (to allow running typical Linux binaries built against glibc).
  • CA certificates so HTTPS works from the image.
  • A small set of /etc files (passwd, group) and selected time zones (e.g. Paris, UTC, New_York) to reduce image size.

• Dockerfile.java

  • Adds a minimal OpenJDK distribution (JRE) on top of the base image.
  • Sets PATH and JAVA_HOME as needed for the runtime.
  • JAVA_VERSION can be set as a build argument.

• Dockerfile.node

  • Adds a minimal Node.js on top of the base image.
  • NODE_VERSION can be set as a build argument.