:title: Create a Base Image :description: How to create base images :keywords: Examples, Usage, base image, docker, documentation, examples .. _base_image_creation: Create a Base Image =================== So you want to create your own :ref:`base_image_def`? Great! The specific process will depend heavily on the Linux distribution you want to package. We have some examples below, and you are encouraged to submit pull requests to contribute new ones. Create a full image using tar ............................. In general, you'll want to start with a working machine that is running the distribution you'd like to package as a base image, though that is not required for some tools like Debian's `Debootstrap `_, which you can also use to build Ubuntu images. It can be as simple as this to create an Ubuntu base image:: $ sudo debootstrap raring raring > /dev/null $ sudo tar -C raring -c . | sudo docker import - raring a29c15f1bf7a $ sudo docker run raring cat /etc/lsb-release DISTRIB_ID=Ubuntu DISTRIB_RELEASE=13.04 DISTRIB_CODENAME=raring DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION="Ubuntu 13.04" There are more example scripts for creating base images in the Docker GitHub Repo: * `BusyBox `_ * CentOS / Scientific Linux CERN (SLC) `on Debian/Ubuntu `_ or `on CentOS/RHEL/SLC/etc. `_ * `Debian / Ubuntu `_ Creating a simple base image using ``scratch`` .............................................. There is a special repository in the Docker registry called ``scratch``, which was created using an empty tar file:: $ tar cv --files-from /dev/null | docker import - scratch which you can ``docker pull``. You can then use that image to base your new minimal containers ``FROM``:: FROM scratch ADD true-asm /true CMD ["/true"] The Dockerfile above is from extremely minimal image - `tianon/true `_.