Prerequisites

All examples in this guide use the public image. If you’ve mirrored the repository for your own use (for example, to your Docker Hub namespace), update your commands to reference the mirrored image instead of the public one.

For example:

• Public image: dhi.io/<repository>:<tag>
• Mirrored image: <your-namespace>/dhi-<repository>:<tag>

For the examples, you must first use docker login dhi.io to authenticate to the registry to pull the images.

What's included in this Jenkins image

This Docker Hardened Jenkins image includes:

• Jenkins automation server with plugin support for CI/CD workflows
• Eclipse Temurin JRE for running Jenkins
• tini as the init process for proper signal handling
• Pre-configured agent communication on port 50000
• Common utilities (bash, git, openssh-client) for Jenkins operations

Start a Jenkins image

Basic usage

To start a Jenkins container, run the following command:

$ docker run -d --name jenkins-server -p 8080:8080 -p 50000:50000 \
  -v jenkins-data:/var/jenkins_home \
  dhi.io/jenkins:<tag>

This command:

• Runs Jenkins in detached mode (-d)
• Exposes the web UI on port 8080
• Exposes the agent communication port on 50000
• Mounts a named volume jenkins-data to persist Jenkins configuration and build data

With Docker Compose (recommended for complex setups)

Create a compose.yml file with the following content:

services:
  jenkins:
    image: dhi.io/jenkins:<tag>
    container_name: jenkins-server
    ports:
      - "8080:8080"
      - "50000:50000"
    environment:
      - JENKINS_OPTS=-Djenkins.install.runSetupWizard=false
      - JENKINS_ADMIN_ID=admin
      - JENKINS_ADMIN_PASSWORD=changeme
    volumes:
      - jenkins-data:/var/jenkins_home
      - /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock
    restart: on-failure

volumes:
  jenkins-data:
    driver: local

Then start the services:

$ docker compose up -d

Environment variables

Jenkins supports configuration through environment variables and system properties:

Example with custom environment variables:

$ docker run -d --name jenkins-custom -p 8080:8080 \
  -e JAVA_OPTS="-Xmx512m -Xms512m" \
  -v jenkins-data:/var/jenkins_home \
  dhi.io/jenkins:<tag>

Common Jenkins use cases

Basic Jenkins setup with local builds

This is the simplest Jenkins setup for small projects or testing:

$ docker run -d --name jenkins-basic -p 8080:8080 -p 50000:50000 \
  -v jenkins-data:/var/jenkins_home \
  dhi.io/jenkins:<tag>

Access Jenkins at http://localhost:8080. On first run, retrieve the initial admin password:

$ docker exec jenkins-basic cat /var/jenkins_home/secrets/initialAdminPassword

Jenkins with persistent storage and data backup

Store Jenkins data on the host filesystem for easier backups and recovery:

services:
  jenkins:
    image: dhi.io/jenkins:<tag>
    container_name: jenkins-persistent
    ports:
      - "8080:8080"
      - "50000:50000"
    volumes:
      - ./jenkins-home:/var/jenkins_home
      - ./backups:/var/backups
    environment:
      - JAVA_OPTS=-Xmx1024m
    restart: on-failure

Backup Jenkins data:

$ docker compose exec jenkins tar -czf /var/backups/jenkins-backup-$(date +%Y%m%d).tar.gz -C /var/jenkins_home .

Jenkins with Docker-in-Docker for containerized builds

This setup allows Jenkins agents to build Docker images:

services:
  jenkins:
    image: dhi.io/jenkins:<tag>
    container_name: jenkins-dind
    ports:
      - "8080:8080"
      - "50000:50000"
    volumes:
      - jenkins-data:/var/jenkins_home
      - /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock
    environment:
      - JAVA_OPTS=-Xmx2048m
    restart: on-failure
    networks:
      - jenkins-net

  docker-dind:
    image: docker:dind
    container_name: jenkins-docker
    privileged: true
    environment:
      - DOCKER_TLS_CERTDIR=/certs
    volumes:
      - jenkins-docker-certs:/certs/client
      - jenkins-data:/var/jenkins_home
    networks:
      - jenkins-net

volumes:
  jenkins-data:
  jenkins-docker-certs:

networks:
  jenkins-net:

Jenkins with custom configuration

Copy custom Jenkins configuration into the image without the setup wizard. The DHI Jenkins image does not include jenkins-plugin-cli, so plugin installation should use your standard Jenkins plugin management workflow.

FROM dhi.io/jenkins:<tag>

USER jenkins

# Copy custom configuration files
COPY --chown=jenkins:jenkins config/jenkins.yaml /usr/share/jenkins/ref/jenkins.yaml
COPY --chown=jenkins:jenkins config/scriptApproval.xml /usr/share/jenkins/ref/scriptApproval.xml

Build and run:

$ docker build -t my-jenkins:custom .
$ docker run -d --name jenkins-custom -p 8080:8080 \
  -v jenkins-data:/var/jenkins_home \
  my-jenkins:custom

Official Docker image (DOI) vs Docker Hardened Image (DHI)

Image variants

Docker Hardened Images come in different variants depending on their intended use. Image variants are identified by their tag.

• Runtime variants are designed to run your application in production. These images are intended to be used either directly or as the FROM image in the final stage of a multi-stage build. These images typically:

  • Run as a nonroot user
  • Do not include a shell or a package manager
  • Contain only the minimal set of libraries needed to run the app

• Build-time variants typically include dev in the tag name and are intended for use in the first stage of a multi-stage Dockerfile. These images typically:

  • Run as the root user
  • Include a shell and package manager
  • Are used to build or compile applications

• FIPS variants include fips in the variant name and tag. They come in both runtime and build-time variants. These variants use cryptographic modules that have been validated under FIPS 140, a U.S. government standard for secure cryptographic operations. For example, usage of MD5 fails in FIPS variants.

The Jenkins Docker Hardened Image is available in all variant types: runtime, dev, FIPS, and FIPS-dev. To view the image variants and get more information about them, select the Tags tab for this repository, and then select a tag.

Migrate to a Docker Hardened Image

To migrate your application to a Docker Hardened Image, you must update your Dockerfile. At minimum, you must update the base image in your existing Dockerfile to a Docker Hardened Image. This and a few other common changes are listed in the following table of migration notes.

The following steps outline the general migration process.

1. Find hardened images for your app.

   A hardened image may have several variants. Inspect the image tags and find the image variant that meets your needs.

2. Update the base image in your Dockerfile.

   Update the base image in your application's Dockerfile to the hardened image you found in the previous step. For framework images, this is typically going to be an image tagged as dev because it has the tools needed to install packages and dependencies.

3. For multi-stage Dockerfiles, update the runtime image in your Dockerfile.

   To ensure that your final image is as minimal as possible, you should use a multi-stage build. All stages in your Dockerfile should use a hardened image. While intermediary stages will typically use images tagged as dev, your final runtime stage should use a non-dev image variant.

4. Install additional packages

   Docker Hardened Images contain minimal packages in order to reduce the potential attack surface. You may need to install additional packages in your Dockerfile. Inspect the image variants to identify which packages are already installed.

   Only images tagged as dev typically have package managers. You should use a multi-stage Dockerfile to install the packages. Install the packages in the build stage that uses a dev image. Then, if needed, copy any necessary artifacts to the runtime stage that uses a non-dev image.

   For Alpine-based images, you can use apk to install packages. For Debian-based images, you can use apt-get to install packages.

Troubleshooting migration

The following are common issues that you may encounter during migration.

General debugging

The hardened images intended for runtime don't contain a shell nor any tools for debugging. The recommended method for debugging applications built with Docker Hardened Images is to use Docker Debug⁠ to attach to these containers. Docker Debug provides a shell, common debugging tools, and lets you install other tools in an ephemeral, writable layer that only exists during the debugging session.

Permissions

By default image variants intended for runtime, run as the nonroot user. Ensure that necessary files and directories are accessible to the nonroot user. You may need to copy files to different directories or change permissions so your application running as the nonroot user can access them.

Privileged ports

Non-dev hardened images run as a nonroot user by default. As a result, applications in these images can't bind to privileged ports (below 1024) when running in Kubernetes or in Docker Engine versions older than 20.10. To avoid issues, configure your application to listen on port 1025 or higher inside the container, even if you map it to a lower port on the host. For example, docker run -p 80:8080 my-image will work because the port inside the container is 8080, and docker run -p 80:81 my-image won't work because the port inside the container is 81.

No shell

By default, image variants intended for runtime don't contain a shell. Use dev images in build stages to run shell commands and then copy any necessary artifacts into the runtime stage. In addition, use Docker Debug to debug containers with no shell.

Entry point

Docker Hardened Images may have different entry points than images such as Docker Official Images. Use docker inspect to inspect entry points for Docker Hardened Images and update your Dockerfile if necessary.