Redirecting command output in docker - linux

Question

I want to do some simple logging for my server which is a small Flask app running in a Docker container.
Here is the Dockerfile
# Dockerfile
FROM dreen/flask
MAINTAINER dreen
WORKDIR /srv
# Get source
RUN mkdir -p /srv
COPY perfektimprezy.tar.gz /srv/perfektimprezy.tar.gz
RUN tar x -f perfektimprezy.tar.gz
RUN rm perfektimprezy.tar.gz
# Run server
EXPOSE 80
CMD ["python", "index.py", "1>server.log", "2>server.log"]
As you can see on the last line I redirect stderr and stdout to a file. Now I run this container and shell into it
docker run -d -p 80:80 perfektimprezy
docker exec -it "... id of container ..." bash
And observe the following things:
The server is running and the website working
There is no /srv/server.log
ps aux | grep python yields:
root 1 1.6 3.2 54172 16240 ? Ss 13:43 0:00 python index.py 1>server.log 2>server.log
root 12 1.9 3.3 130388 16740 ? Sl 13:43 0:00 /usr/bin/python index.py 1>server.log 2>server.log
root 32 0.0 0.0 8860 388 ? R+ 13:43 0:00 grep --color=auto python
But there are no logs... HOWEVER, if I docker attach to the container I can see the app generating output in the console.
How do I properly redirect stdout/err to a file when using Docker?

Answer 1

When you specify a JSON list as CMD in a Dockerfile, it will not be executed in a shell, so the usual shell functions, like stdout and stderr redirection, won't work.
From the documentation:
The exec form is parsed as a JSON array, which means that you must use double-quotes (") around words not single-quotes (').
Unlike the shell form, the exec form does not invoke a command shell. This means that normal shell processing does not happen. For example, CMD [ "echo", "$HOME" ] will not do variable substitution on $HOME. If you want shell processing then either use the shell form or execute a shell directly, for example: CMD [ "sh", "-c", "echo", "$HOME" ].
What your command actually does is executing your index.py script and passing the strings "1>server.log" and "2>server.log" as command-line arguments into that python script.
Use one of the following instead (both should work):
CMD "python index.py > server.log 2>&1"
CMD ["/bin/sh", "-c", "python index.py > server.log 2>&1"]

Answer 2

To use docker run in a shell pipeline or under shell redirection, making run accept stdin and output to stdout and stderr appropriately, use this incantation:
docker run -i --log-driver=none -a stdin -a stdout -a stderr ...
e.g. to run the alpine image and execute the UNIX command cat in the contained environment:
echo "This was piped into docker" |
docker run -i --log-driver=none -a stdin -a stdout -a stderr \
alpine cat - |
xargs echo This is coming out of docker:
emits:
This is coming out of docker: This was piped into docker

Answer 3

Just a complement, when using docker-compose, you could also try:
command: bash -c "script_or_command > /path/to/log/command.log 2>&1"

Answer 4

I personally use :
ENTRYPOINT ["python3"]
CMD ["-u", "-m", "swagger_server"]
The "-u" is the key :)