Table of Contents

Containerize a Raven application

Raven projects can use the .NET SDK's built-in container publishing support to create an OCI container image without a Dockerfile. Raven compiles the application, and the .NET SDK selects a base image, stages the published files, and creates the image.

Use this deployment model for a project-based application that will run as a service, scheduled job, command-line process, or other container workload. A single file run with rvn run is intended for development and scripting; move the application into a .rvnproj before publishing it.

Prerequisites

You need:

  • an executable Raven project that targets modern .NET;
  • .NET SDK 8.0.200 or newer for built-in console application container support; and
  • network access to the selected base-image registry.

Docker is not required to build the image. Docker, Podman, or another OCI-compatible runtime is needed only when publishing to a local daemon or running the resulting image locally. Publishing an image archive or pushing directly to a registry does not require a local container daemon.

The examples below use MyApp.rvnproj. Run them from the project directory, or replace that name with the path to your project.

Publish to a local container runtime

The most direct development workflow publishes the application and loads the image into the available local container runtime:

dotnet publish MyApp.rvnproj \
  -c Release \
  --os linux \
  --arch x64 \
  /t:PublishContainer

The default repository name comes from the project's AssemblyName, and the default tag is latest. For example, if the assembly is named MyApp, run it with:

docker run --rm myapp:latest

Repository names are normalized according to the container tooling's naming rules. Set ContainerRepository explicitly when the image must have a stable, known name.

Publish an image archive

An archive is convenient for CI artifacts, security scanning, transfer to another machine, or any environment without a local container daemon:

dotnet publish MyApp.rvnproj \
  -c Release \
  --os linux \
  --arch x64 \
  /t:PublishContainer \
  -p:ContainerArchiveOutputPath=./artifacts/myapp.tar.gz

Load the archive later with Docker or Podman:

docker load -i ./artifacts/myapp.tar.gz

Publish directly to a registry

Set ContainerRegistry to push the generated image directly to a registry:

dotnet publish MyApp.rvnproj \
  -c Release \
  --os linux \
  --arch x64 \
  /t:PublishContainer \
  -p:ContainerRegistry=ghcr.io \
  -p:ContainerRepository=example/myapp \
  -p:ContainerImageTag=1.0.0

Authenticate with the registry before publishing. The .NET container tooling uses the credentials available through the normal local container/registry configuration.

Configure the image in the project

Standard .NET SDK container properties and items work in a .rvnproj. Keeping stable image metadata in the project makes local and CI publishing consistent:

<Project Sdk="Raven.Sdk">
  <PropertyGroup>
    <TargetFramework>net10.0</TargetFramework>
    <OutputType>Exe</OutputType>

    <ContainerRepository>example/myapp</ContainerRepository>
    <ContainerImageTag>1.0.0</ContainerImageTag>
  </PropertyGroup>

  <ItemGroup>
    <ContainerPort Include="8080" />
    <ContainerEnvironmentVariable Include="DOTNET_ENVIRONMENT" Value="Production" />
  </ItemGroup>
</Project>

Command-line -p: values can override project properties for a particular publish. Common settings include:

  • ContainerBaseImage to choose a specific base image;
  • ContainerRepository and ContainerImageTag to name and version the image;
  • ContainerRegistry to select a remote registry;
  • ContainerArchiveOutputPath to write an archive instead of pushing; and
  • ContainerRuntimeIdentifier or --os and --arch to select the target platform.

Use ContainerPort and ContainerEnvironmentVariable for image metadata and defaults. They do not publish secrets. Supply secrets through the deployment platform at runtime rather than embedding them in the project or image.

How Raven fits into the publish pipeline

A .rvnproj uses Raven.Sdk, which composes Microsoft.NET.Sdk. Raven replaces the language compilation step while leaving the standard SDK publish and container targets in place. Consequently, container settings are standard MSBuild properties rather than Raven-specific command-line switches.

There is currently no rvn publish convenience command. Use dotnet publish for folder, Native AOT, and container publishing. The resulting image contains the same application and runtime dependencies produced by an ordinary Raven project publish.

For Raven's build and publish output model, see the project-system documentation. For the complete container property reference, base-image selection rules, registry authentication, and multi-platform publishing, see Microsoft's .NET SDK container documentation.

Edit this page