Does bamboo offer docker capabilities if it is itself deployed through docker?

[Frank Sonntag]

So I have deployed Bamboo as a Docker container.

Can I still turn on Docker capabilities, i.e. run docker from within that container?

From I can find, this seems to be possible in principle, but not recommended.

What's the best way to do this when using Bamboo?

[Daniel Santos · Accepted solution]

Hi @Frank Sonntag

I'm not a docker specialist but there are multiple articles about docker-in-docker out there like this one: Using Docker-in-Docker for your CI or testing environment? Think twice.

Can I still turn on Docker capabilities, i.e. run docker from within that container?

Yes, you can, but avoiding the Bamboo server containerized to run another docker instance inside the server container. 

How do we do that? Answering your second question.

What's the best way to do this when using Bamboo?

You need to make sure your Bamboo agents are not running inside Docker containers. For this, you will need to use only remote agents. Your agents will be native OS processes therefore able to spin docker containers when required by the Bamboo server.

That is the only way I see you can still keep Bamboo server inside a container being able to use docker runner.

I hope that helps.

[Frank Sonntag]

Thanks Daniel,

using native remote agents seems indeed the only supported way as per Atlassian's answer to my support question.