Skip to main content

Building a Docker Image with OpenTofu

Building your own image​

If you need OpenTofu in a Docker container, you will need to build your own image. You can do this in two ways:

  1. Use a multi-stage build to copy the tofu binary from the minimal OpenTofu image to your image.
  2. Use the standalone installation script to install tofu into your container image.

Method 1: Using a multi-stage build​

The minimal OpenTofu images contain only the tofu binary at /usr/local/bin/tofu. You can use these images in a multi-stage build to copy the binary into your own image.

Available minimal image tags:

  • ghcr.io/opentofu/opentofu:minimal - Latest version
  • ghcr.io/opentofu/opentofu:1-minimal - Latest 1.x version
  • ghcr.io/opentofu/opentofu:1.9-minimal - Latest 1.9.x version
  • ghcr.io/opentofu/opentofu:1.9.1-minimal - Specific version

Example Dockerfile using Alpine Linux:

Code Block
FROM ghcr.io/opentofu/opentofu:minimal AS tofu

FROM alpine:3.20

# Copy the tofu binary from the minimal image
COPY --from=tofu /usr/local/bin/tofu /usr/local/bin/tofu

# Add any other tools or dependencies you need
RUN apk add --no-cache git curl

# Your application setup
WORKDIR /workspace

Example using Ubuntu:

Code Block
FROM ghcr.io/opentofu/opentofu:minimal AS tofu

FROM ubuntu:24.04

# Copy the tofu binary
COPY --from=tofu /usr/local/bin/tofu /usr/local/bin/tofu

# Install dependencies
RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y \
    git \
    curl \
    && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*

WORKDIR /workspace

Method 2: Using the installation script​

You can also use the OpenTofu installation script to install the binary directly in your container image.

Step 1: Download the installation script​

First, download the installation script following the standalone installation instructions and place it next to your Dockerfile.

Step 2: Install OpenTofu in your image​

Example Dockerfile using the installation script:

Code Block
FROM alpine:3.20

# Copy the installation script
COPY install-opentofu.sh /tmp/install-opentofu.sh

# Install dependencies needed for the script
RUN apk add --no-cache bash curl gpg gpg-agent

# Run the installation script
RUN chmod +x /tmp/install-opentofu.sh && \
    /tmp/install-opentofu.sh --install-method standalone --install-path /usr/local/bin && \
    rm /tmp/install-opentofu.sh

# Add your other dependencies
RUN apk add --no-cache git

WORKDIR /workspace

For Ubuntu-based images:

Code Block
FROM ubuntu:24.04

# Copy the installation script
COPY install-opentofu.sh /tmp/install-opentofu.sh

# Install dependencies
RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y \
    curl \
    gpg \
    && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*

# Run the installation script
RUN chmod +x /tmp/install-opentofu.sh && \
    /tmp/install-opentofu.sh --install-method standalone --install-path /usr/local/bin && \
    rm /tmp/install-opentofu.sh

# Add your other dependencies
RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y \
    git \
    && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*

WORKDIR /workspace

Verifying your image​

After building your image, verify that OpenTofu is correctly installed:

Code Block
docker build -t my-opentofu-image .
docker run --rm my-opentofu-image tofu --version