Does Ruby on Rails Work With Docker?
Ruby on Rails and Docker work excellently together, with Rails being one of the most Docker-friendly frameworks available.
Quick Facts
How Ruby on Rails Works With Docker
Rails and Docker are a natural fit because Rails applications are self-contained, have minimal external dependencies beyond a database, and follow a clear dependency model via Bundler. Docker handles the Ruby runtime, gem compilation, and consistent environment isolation perfectly. The typical pattern involves a multi-stage Dockerfile that installs gems, compiles assets, and creates a lean production image. Rails' convention-over-configuration philosophy means most Rails apps follow similar structures, making Dockerfiles highly reusable across projects.
Developer experience is smooth: you define your database, Redis, and other services in docker-compose.yml, then everything runs identically across development, CI/CD, and production. Hot reloading works via volume mounts in development. The main architectural consideration is keeping your image lean by using multi-stage builds and excluding development dependencies from production. Many Rails shops use Docker for both local development and production deployment, with orchestration via Kubernetes or simpler tools like Docker Swarm.
Best Use Cases
Rails Dockerfile with Multi-Stage Build
docker build -t myapp . && docker-compose up# Dockerfile
FROM ruby:3.2-slim as builder
WORKDIR /app
RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y build-essential
COPY Gemfile Gemfile.lock ./
RUN bundle install --deployment --without development test
FROM ruby:3.2-slim
WORKDIR /app
RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y postgresql-client
COPY --from=builder /usr/local/bundle /usr/local/bundle
COPY . .
RUN bundle exec rails assets:precompile
EXPOSE 3000
CMD ["bundle", "exec", "rails", "server", "-b", "0.0.0.0"]Known Issues & Gotchas
Bundle install layer caching breaks when Gemfile changes, causing slow rebuilds
Fix: Copy Gemfile and Gemfile.lock into Docker image before copying application code, so dependency layer caches separately
Asset compilation happens at build time, requiring Node.js in the Docker image even though it's not needed at runtime
Fix: Use multi-stage builds: compile assets in one stage, copy only precompiled assets to final slim image
Database migrations fail at startup if database isn't ready yet in docker-compose
Fix: Use wait-for-it scripts or implement retry logic in entrypoint before running rails db:migrate
Development mode requires careful volume mounting to avoid permission issues between host and container
Fix: Use named volumes or adjust docker-compose volumes configuration; consider running container as non-root user matching host UID
Alternatives
- •Podman + Buildah (drop-in Docker replacement with better rootless support)
- •Heroku with buildpacks (simpler but less flexible than Docker, no local container matching)
- •systemd services with nix-shell (lightweight local development, poor production parity)
Resources
Related Compatibility Guides
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