Docker Build Backend

The Docker backend builds container images from a Dockerfile using docker build, docker buildx, or buildctl.

See Building Images for the backend comparison and general options (build args, platform, cache).

Basic Usage

rise build myapp:latest --backend docker
rise deploy --backend docker:buildx

If no --backend is specified and a Dockerfile or Containerfile is present, Rise uses docker:buildx automatically (or docker:build if buildx is unavailable).

Backend Variants

• docker / docker:build — runs docker build. Simple and compatible, but no BuildKit features (no SSL cert injection, no secrets).
• docker:buildx — runs docker buildx build via a BuildKit daemon. Supports SSL certificate injection, build secrets, and multi-platform builds. Recommended over docker:build.
• docker:buildctl / buildctl — runs buildctl build directly. Useful when Docker is not available but a BuildKit daemon is.

How It Works

• docker:build: Runs docker build with --build-arg for environment variables and --platform for the target architecture. Does not support SSL certificate injection.
• docker:buildx: Runs docker buildx build via a managed BuildKit daemon. SSL certificates are injected by preprocessing the Dockerfile to add BuildKit bind mounts to each RUN step.
• buildctl: Builds via buildctl. Images are output as a tar archive piped through docker load for local use, or pushed directly to the registry when deploying.

Custom Dockerfile Path

rise build myapp:latest --dockerfile Dockerfile.prod

Or in rise.toml:

[build]
backend = "docker"
dockerfile = "Dockerfile.prod"

Build Contexts (Multi-Stage Builds)

Use additional directories as named build contexts:

rise build myapp:latest \
  --build-context mylib=../my-library \
  --build-context tools=../build-tools

Or in rise.toml:

[build]
backend = "docker"
build_context = "./app"

[build.build_contexts]
mylib = "../my-library"
tools = "../build-tools"

Reference named contexts in your Dockerfile:

COPY --from=mylib /src /app/lib

Paths are relative to the rise.toml location. Build contexts work with all Docker-based backends.

SSL and Proxy

For corporate proxy or custom CA certificate setups, see SSL & Proxy Configuration. The docker:buildx and buildctl backends support full SSL certificate injection via the managed BuildKit daemon; docker:build does not.