Using Docker to work with an old jdk • Java Bien!

Ever tried to work on an old project that requires that you install on old version of java. Say java 5. On a Mac… You know this nightmare that no windows user will ever face:

An easy way to do that is to boot a linux/windows vm. An easier way is to use Docker.

Here’s the Dockerfile that creates a container with java6 inside. You can then use the container to build a maven project.

FROM ubuntu:12.04
MAINTAINER David Gageot

# Install java 6
RUN apt-get update
RUN apt-get install -y openjdk-6-jdk

# Install tools
RUN apt-get install -y maven

# Define mountable directories.
VOLUME ["/dir"]

# Define working directory.
WORKDIR /dir

# Define default command.
CMD ["java"]

Build the container with docker build -t dgageot/java6 . Run the container with docker run -t dgageot/java6 java or docker run -t dgageot/java6 mvn

You can map a folder on your host to the /dir folder on docker so that the java inside the container is used to build the project outside the container.