VSCode Remote - Add to Existing - Breaks Container

Question

I have a LAMP app that is running with a docker-compose deployment.

docker-compose.yml:

app_web:
    depends_on:
      - app_db
    build: ./web
    ports: 
      - '3000:80'
    volumes:
      - ./web/www:/var/www/html
    environment:
      - MYSQL_DATABASE=appdb
      - MYSQL_USER=appuser
      - MYSQL_PASSWORD=password

Dockerfile:

  FROM php:7.4-apache

  WORKDIR /var/www

  RUN apt-get update \
    && apt-get install -y wget \
    && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*

  RUN apt-get update \
      && apt-get install -y git
  RUN docker-php-ext-install pdo pdo_mysql mysqli

  RUN a2enmod rewrite

  COPY ./www /var/www/html

This works perfectly, with localhost:3000 providing me with a working web app.

I wanted to use VSCode Remote Containers to improve my debugging. Step 1 is getting it added to my docker instance.

I've hit Remote Containers: Add Development Container Configuration and selected "From docker-compose.yaml" then selected app_web . I can then re-open in the container.

This spins up something that in Docker Desktop looks like it did before, however, Apache is not running, and when I start it with service apache2 start it doesn't have access to the ENV variables I've set from PHP, which it did just fine when I originally started it.

.devcontainer\devcontainer.json:

// For format details, see https://aka.ms/vscode-remote/devcontainer.json or this file's README at:
// https://github.com/microsoft/vscode-dev-containers/tree/v0.122.1/containers/docker-existing-docker-compose
// If you want to run as a non-root user in the container, see .devcontainer/docker-compose.yml.
{
    "name": "Existing Docker Compose (Extend)",

    // Update the 'dockerComposeFile' list if you have more compose files or use different names.
    // The .devcontainer/docker-compose.yml file contains any overrides you need/want to make.
    "dockerComposeFile": [
        "..\\docker-compose.yaml",
        "docker-compose.yml"
    ],

    // The 'service' property is the name of the service for the container that VS Code should
    // use. Update this value and .devcontainer/docker-compose.yml to the real service name.
    "service": "app_web",

    // The optional 'workspaceFolder' property is the path VS Code should open by default when
    // connected. This is typically a file mount in .devcontainer/docker-compose.yml
    "workspaceFolder": "/workspace",

    // Set *default* container specific settings.json values on container create.
    "settings": {
        "terminal.integrated.shell.linux": null
    },

    // Add the IDs of extensions you want installed when the container is created.
    "extensions": []

    // Use 'forwardPorts' to make a list of ports inside the container available locally.
    // "forwardPorts": [],

    // Uncomment the next line if you want start specific services in your Docker Compose config.
    // "runServices": [],

    // Uncomment the next line if you want to keep your containers running after VS Code shuts down.
    // "shutdownAction": "none",

    // Uncomment the next line to run commands after the container is created - for example installing curl.
    // "postCreateCommand": "apt-get update && apt-get install -y curl",

    // Uncomment to connect as a non-root user. See https://aka.ms/vscode-remote/containers/non-root.
    // "remoteUser": "vscode"
}

and the docker-compose.yml that has been generated in.devcontainer:

.devcontainer\docker-compose.yml

#-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
# Licensed under the MIT License. See https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=2090316 for license information.
#-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

version: '3'
services:
  # Update this to the name of the service you want to work with in your docker-compose.yml file
  app_web:
    # If you want add a non-root user to your Dockerfile, you can use the "remoteUser"
    # property in devcontainer.json to cause VS Code its sub-processes (terminals, tasks, 
    # debugging) to execute as the user. Uncomment the next line if you want the entire 
    # container to run as this user instead. Note that, on Linux, you may need to 
    # ensure the UID and GID of the container user you create matches your local user. 
    # See https://aka.ms/vscode-remote/containers/non-root for details.
    #
    # user: vscode

    # Uncomment if you want to override the service's Dockerfile to one in the .devcontainer 
    # folder. Note that the path of the Dockerfile and context is relative to the *primary* 
    # docker-compose.yml file (the first in the devcontainer.json "dockerComposeFile"
    # array). The sample below assumes your primary file is in the root of your project.
    #
    # build:
    #   context: .
    #   dockerfile: .devcontainer/Dockerfile

    volumes:
      # Update this to wherever you want VS Code to mount the folder of your project
      - .:/workspace:cached

      # Uncomment the next line to use Docker from inside the container. See https://aka.ms/vscode-remote/samples/docker-from-docker-compose for details.
      # - /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock 

    # Uncomment the next four lines if you will use a ptrace-based debugger like C++, Go, and Rust.
    # cap_add:
    #   - SYS_PTRACE
    # security_opt:
    #   - seccomp:unconfined

    # Overrides default command so things don't shut down after the process ends.
    command: /bin/sh -c "while sleep 1000; do :; done"

Why does this auto-generate of the remoting config in visual studio break the core VM? What have I misunderstood and got wrong here?

Cheers,

Answer 1

Ah, so, a bit of a think later, the.devcontainer\docker-compose.yml ends with:

 # Overrides default command so things don't shut down after the process ends.
    command: /bin/sh -c "while sleep 1000; do :; done"

The default command should have been apache2-foreground which starts Apache2 in the php images. So removing that, and relying on the command at the end of the main dockerfile for the php image solved the problem.

.devcontainer\docker-compose.yml

#-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
# Licensed under the MIT License. See https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=2090316 for license information.
#-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

version: '3'
services:
  # Update this to the name of the service you want to work with in your docker-compose.yml file
  app_web:
    # If you want add a non-root user to your Dockerfile, you can use the "remoteUser"
    # property in devcontainer.json to cause VS Code its sub-processes (terminals, tasks, 
    # debugging) to execute as the user. Uncomment the next line if you want the entire 
    # container to run as this user instead. Note that, on Linux, you may need to 
    # ensure the UID and GID of the container user you create matches your local user. 
    # See https://aka.ms/vscode-remote/containers/non-root for details.
    #
    # user: vscode

    # Uncomment if you want to override the service's Dockerfile to one in the .devcontainer 
    # folder. Note that the path of the Dockerfile and context is relative to the *primary* 
    # docker-compose.yml file (the first in the devcontainer.json "dockerComposeFile"
    # array). The sample below assumes your primary file is in the root of your project.
    #
    # build:
    #   context: .
    #   dockerfile: .devcontainer/Dockerfile

    volumes:
      # Update this to wherever you want VS Code to mount the folder of your project
      - .:/workspace:cached

      # Uncomment the next line to use Docker from inside the container. See https://aka.ms/vscode-remote/samples/docker-from-docker-compose for details.
      # - /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock 

    # Uncomment the next four lines if you will use a ptrace-based debugger like C++, Go, and Rust.
    # cap_add:
    #   - SYS_PTRACE
    # security_opt:
    #   - seccomp:unconfined

    # LEAVE THE DEFAULT COMMAND ALONE!