Docker commands in short

This project is a CLI to shorten the docker commands. You can define the abbreviations in the docker-extension.json file.

Getting Started

npm install -g docker-extension

Now you can use the default abbreviations. To edit the abbreviations, open the config file docker-extension.json which is located next to the docker-extension.js in the npm-global directory.

/path/to/the/npm-global/directory/.config/docker-extension.json (You can also use the extension specific commands for that)

How does it work?

The cli tool uses a config file to manage the abbreviations. All commands are separated into a command and action. For example, docker image ls has the command image and action ls. When resolving the abbreviations, first the commands are checked and then the associated actions for the command.

Usage

The shortest command is:

dc

This will execute the default command mapping and its default action mapping. If you did not change the config, this results in docker container ps.

If you provide a flag, it will not change the command and action.

dc -a

Results in docker container ps -a.

You do not need to use the abbreviations. If the given command matches a docker command, then no logic will be executed.

dc images

Results in docker images.

Config

The config is in the file .config/docker-extension.json, which is next to the installed docker-extension.js. If no config exists, the config is created by the default settings. If there is any issue while loading the file, the default is used.

Config structure

The following structure can also be found at src/@types/config.d.ts.

export interface Config {
    // show the resulting command before executing it
	showCommand?: boolean;
	// which command mapping is used if no command is provided (has to be the abbreviation)
	default: string;
	// the abbreviation is the property name
	commandMappings: {
		[commandMappings: string]: {
			// the full command name
			command: string;
			// which action is executed by default (has to be any full action)
			default: string;
			// the fist value is the abbreviation and the second the full action
			actionMappings: [string, string][];
		};
	};
	// custom defined commands
	customCommandMappings?: {
		// The property name is the command name
		// The value is a docker command with placeholders
		[commandMapping: string]: string;
	};
}

Default config

When you install the extension for the first time, this config will be created. If there are any issues while reading or processing the config, this config is also used.

{
	showCommand: true,
	default: 'c',
	commandMappings: {
		c: {
			command: 'container',
			default: 'ps',
            actionMappings: [['p', 'prune'], 
                            ['e', 'exec'], 
                            ['i', 'inspect']]
		},
		i: {
			command: 'image',
			default: 'ls',
			actionMappings: [
				['h', 'history'],
				['i', 'inspect'],
				['p', 'prune'],
				['b', 'build']
			]
		},
		n: {
			command: 'network',
			default: 'ls',
            actionMappings: [['p', 'prune'], 
                            ['i', 'inspect']]
		},
		v: {
			command: 'volume',
			default: 'ls',
            actionMappings: [['p', 'prune'], 
                            ['i', 'inspect']]
		}
	},
	customCommandMappings: {
		bash: 'docker exec -it $0 /bin/bash',
		rmdang: "docker rmi $(docker images -f 'dangling=true' -q)",
		rmall: 'docker rm -v $(docker ps -aq)'
	}
}

Hierarchy of execution

There are several command types which could overlap. To resolve collisions the following hierarchy is used.

1. Default docker commands
2. The keyword for the extension specific commands (extension)
3. The custom commands
4. The abbreviations

The default docker commands are: builder, config, container, context, image, images, network, node, plugin, secret, service, stack, swarm, system, trust, volume, rmi, pull, build

So if you define an abbreviation which has the same keyword as a custom command, then it will never be executed.

Extension specific commands

The extension supports two extension specific functions.

• dc extension help print help text
• dc extension get-config prints the config location.
• dc extension save-config <file-path> override the config with the given file.
• dc extension edit open config in system's default editor
• dc extension version print version number

Custom Commands

You can define custom commands which contain placeholders. These placeholders use the prefix $ and start with number 0. Internally it uses string.replace(), so its rather simple.

The default config contains some handy examples. One example is bash which executes docker exec -it $0 /bin/bash. So if you use the command dc bash bc45, this will be translated to docker exec -it bc45 /bin/bash.

Hint

If you disable showCommand, you can stack commands within each other.

Example:

dc rm -vf $(dc -aq)

Removes all containers

Future plans

Custom build command

Sometimes you need to build an image more than once by hand, because it would cost too much time to automate it or you just play around. Possible features for the custom build command are:

• remember a build command
• add a rebuild command which uses the last build command

Known issus

If you are not a root user, then the creation of the config is prohibited. You will get an error like:

Problem while managing the config file! Unable to write default config to location /usr/bin/.config/docker-extension.json. Error message: EACCES: permission denied, mkdir '/usr/bin/.config'
```

use the following command to fix this.

```bash
sudo mkdir /usr/bin/.config && sudo chmod 777 /usr/bin/.config
```