3 ways to reduce the size of your Docker Images

If you’re reading this, chances are you’re running very large Docker containers in production.
A Container that’s several gigabytes in size slows deployments, increases bandwidth & storage costs and consumes valuable time of developers.
So here’s how you make Docker Images slimmer:

Leverage Multi-stage builds

Multi-stage builds separate the build environment from the final runtime environment. They allow you to compile & package your application in one stage and then copy only the necessary artifacts to the final image, reducing its size significantly.
🔗 doc - https://lnkd.in/eNR28x6h

Build Images from Scratch

If you only need to run a statically-compiled, standalone executable (like a C++ or Go application), pack it inside an empty Image by using “scratch” as the base image.
🔗 I made a small video on how to do this - youtu.be/XSqteQFaHBA

Use fewer Layers

Each instruction like RUN or COPY adds another layer to your image, thus increasing its size. Each layer comes with its own metadata & file system structures. The fewer layers you use, the lesser data overhead your image has.
🔗 https://lnkd.in/eNkvGHAa

Have you found any other size reduction strategies that work for you?