mirror of https://github.com/docker/cli.git
112 lines
4.3 KiB
Markdown
112 lines
4.3 KiB
Markdown
---
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description: "Writing Docker CLI Plugins"
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keywords: "docker, cli plugin"
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---
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<!-- This file is maintained within the docker/cli GitHub
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repository at https://github.com/docker/cli/. Make all
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pull requests against that repo. If you see this file in
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another repository, consider it read-only there, as it will
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periodically be overwritten by the definitive file. Pull
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requests which include edits to this file in other repositories
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will be rejected.
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-->
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# Docker CLI Plugin Spec
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The `docker` CLI supports adding additional top-level subcommands as
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additional out-of-process commands which can be installed
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independently. These plugins run on the client side and should not be
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confused with "plugins" which run on the server.
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This document contains information for authors of such plugins.
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## Requirements for CLI Plugins
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### Naming
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A valid CLI plugin name consists only of lower case letters `a-z`
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and the digits `0-9`. The leading character must be a letter. A valid
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name therefore would match the regex `^[a-z][a-z0-9]*$`.
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The binary implementing a plugin must be named `docker-$name` where
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`$name` is the name of the plugin. On Windows a `.exe` suffix is
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mandatory.
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## Required sub-commands
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A CLI plugin must support being invoked in at least these two ways:
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* `docker-$name docker-cli-plugin-metadata` -- outputs metadata about
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the plugin.
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* `docker-$name [GLOBAL OPTIONS] $name [OPTIONS AND FURTHER SUB
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COMMANDS]` -- the primary entry point to the plugin's functionality.
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A plugin may implement other subcommands but these will never be
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invoked by the current Docker CLI. However doing so is strongly
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discouraged: new subcommands may be added in the future without
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consideration for additional non-specified subcommands which may be
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used by plugins in the field.
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### The `docker-cli-plugin-metadata` subcommand
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When invoked in this manner the plugin must produce a JSON object
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(and nothing else) on its standard output and exit success (0).
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The JSON object has the following defined keys:
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* `SchemaVersion` (_string_) mandatory: must contain precisely "0.1.0".
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* `Vendor` (_string_) mandatory: contains the name of the plugin vendor/author. May be truncated to 11 characters in some display contexts.
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* `ShortDescription` (_string_) optional: a short description of the plugin, suitable for a single line help message.
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* `Version` (_string_) optional: the version of the plugin, this is considered to be an opaque string by the core and therefore has no restrictions on its syntax.
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* `URL` (_string_) optional: a pointer to the plugin's web page.
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A binary which does not correctly output the metadata
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(e.g. syntactically invalid, missing mandatory keys etc) is not
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considered a valid CLI plugin and will not be run.
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### The primary entry point subcommand
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This is the entry point for actually running the plugin. It maybe have
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options or further subcommands.
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#### Required global options
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A plugin is required to support all of the global options of the
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top-level CLI, i.e. those listed by `man docker 1` with the exception
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of `-v`.
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## Connecting to the docker engine
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For consistency plugins should prefer to dial the engine by using the
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`system dial-stdio` subcommand of the main Docker CLI binary.
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To facilitate this plugins will be executed with the
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`$DOCKER_CLI_PLUGIN_ORIGINAL_CLI_COMMAND` environment variable
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pointing back to the main Docker CLI binary.
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All global options (everything from after the binary name up to, but
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not including, the primary entry point subcommand name) should be
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passed back to the CLI.
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## Installation
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Plugins distributed in packages for system wide installation on
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Unix(-like) systems should be installed in either
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`/usr/lib/docker/cli-plugins` or `/usr/libexec/docker/cli-plugins`
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depending on which of `/usr/lib` and `/usr/libexec` is usual on that
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system. System Administrators may also choose to manually install into
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the `/usr/local/lib` or `/usr/local/libexec` equivalents but packages
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should not do so.
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Plugins distributed on Windows for system wide installation should be
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installed in `%PROGRAMDATA%\Docker\cli-plugins`.
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User's may on all systems install plugins into `~/.docker/cli-plugins`.
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## Implementing a plugin in Go
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When writing a plugin in Go the easiest way to meet the above
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requirements is to simply call the
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`github.com/docker/cli/cli-plugins/plugin.Run` method from your `main`
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function to instantiate the plugin.
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