Console Application Sample

This sample demonstrates containerizing a .NET console application for batch processing and CLI tools.

Overview

Project Type: .NET Console Application
Location: samples/ConsoleApp/
Image Name: console-app-sample
Default Port: None

Quick Start

cd samples/ConsoleApp
dotnet publish --configuration Release
docker run console-app-sample:latest

What This Demonstrates

Console app containerization
Command-line argument handling
One-time execution pattern
Exit code handling
Standard input/output in containers

Project Structure

ConsoleApp/
├── Program.cs              # Console application logic
├── ConsoleApp.csproj       # Project with Docker config
└── Dockerfile              # Auto-generated

Application Code

// Program.cs
Console.WriteLine("Hello from containerized console app!");
Console.WriteLine($"Arguments: {string.Join(", ", args)}");

// Simulate some work
await Task.Delay(2000);

Console.WriteLine("Processing complete.");
return 0; // Exit code

Docker Configuration

<PropertyGroup>
  <DockerEnabled>true</DockerEnabled>
  <DockerImageName>console-app-sample</DockerImageName>
  <DockerImageTag>latest</DockerImageTag>
</PropertyGroup>

Running the Sample

Basic Execution

dotnet publish --configuration Release
docker run console-app-sample:latest

With Arguments

docker run console-app-sample:latest arg1 arg2 arg3

With Input Redirection

echo "input data" | docker run -i console-app-sample:latest

Capturing Exit Code

docker run console-app-sample:latest
echo "Exit code: $?"

Use Cases

Console app containers are useful for:

Batch Jobs: Process files, generate reports
CI/CD Tools: Custom build steps, deployment scripts
Database Migrations: One-time schema updates
Data Processing: ETL pipelines
Administrative Tasks: Cleanup, maintenance

Kubernetes Job Example

apiVersion: batch/v1
kind: Job
metadata:
  name: console-job
spec:
  template:
    spec:
      containers:
      - name: console
        image: console-app-sample:latest
        args: ["--process-all", "--verbose"]
      restartPolicy: Never
  backoffLimit: 4

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