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Yes. PivoCloud packages your repository for the build the same way docker build does on your own computer. If a project builds on your laptop, the links in it build here too. The rest of this page says exactly what happens to links, to special files, to your .dockerignore, to the .git folder and to file owners. If a build fails for another reason, read Why did my deploy fail?. A link to a file and a link to a folder are both kept as links. They arrive in the image with the same target you committed. PivoCloud does not open a link and does not copy what it points to into the build. Your Dockerfile can then use them like any other path, for example with COPY . /app. A link can point outside your repository. It can use an absolute path, or a path that climbs above the repository (or above your app’s Root directory). It is still kept as a link, exactly as you committed it. Inside the image it points at whatever exists at that path inside the image, which is usually nothing. It never points at anything on PivoCloud’s side, and nothing outside your repository is ever sent to the build. If your app needs the file, put the file in the repository.

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Files that are not regular files

Named pipes, sockets and device files are skipped. They are never opened and never sent to the build. A normal Git checkout does not contain them, so you will rarely see this. When it does happen, the build log tells you how many files were left out.

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.dockerignore is applied

PivoCloud reads your .dockerignore and applies it the way docker build does. That includes ! lines that bring a path back, such as keeping one folder inside an ignored folder.
A file that your .dockerignore excludes is not in the build. Two details to know:
  • If a file named after your Dockerfile exists beside it, with .dockerignore at the end (for example Dockerfile.dockerignore), that file is used instead of the one at the root.
  • The .dockerignore file and your Dockerfile are never excluded, because the build needs both. This is the same as docker build.
The .dockerignore file must be a regular file. If it is a link, a folder or anything else, PivoCloud does not read it, and your build log says so with one line. Everything the file lists is then sent to the build, so replace the link with a regular file.

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The .git folder

The .git folder is sent to the build unless your .dockerignore excludes it. Some builds read it, for example to stamp a version number, so PivoCloud does not remove it for you. If your build does not need it, add .git to your .dockerignore. The upload gets smaller and faster. On the repositories we measured, .git was about a quarter to a third of the upload. Do the same for large folders such as node_modules.

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Who owns the files in your image

Files copied into the image belong to root, unless your Dockerfile says otherwise. This is the same as docker build on your computer. If your app runs as a user other than root and writes into a folder you copied, that user needs to own it. Use COPY --chown:
Builds that ran before this change could show the files owned by a different numeric user. If your app only reads its files, you do not need to change anything.