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Can we override our project and network name inside docker-compose.yml, i.e. without using flag or environment variable?

ntviet18
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  • What is your understanding of "project name"? The name of the image? – Franz Wimmer Nov 18 '17 at 21:25
  • No, currently it is the directory name and can be override by COMPOSE_PROJECT_NAME, the first option is too rigid as directory name might change, the other affects all projects – ntviet18 Nov 19 '17 at 12:47

2 Answers2

14

you can create an .env file with key=value options such as

COMPOSE_PROJECT_NAME={project name}

you should note that this will only work when the .env file is in the current path

sinaiy
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  • I have multiple compose overrides for prod/staging/dev - is there a way to define a .env for each? – rnoodle Jul 09 '20 at 22:39
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    it might makes sense to use a separate folder for each environment – sinaiy Jul 12 '20 at 11:00
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    It can get clunky with folders. For example if you use different versions of your app. You use same repo, so it has same name, but container name should be different. – Andrius Feb 06 '22 at 13:00
13

This can be done in with a parameter of the docker-compose call:

$> docker-compose -p THISISMYPROJECT_AND_NWK_NAME up -d

Unfortunately there is no way to persist it at the moment. (see: https://github.com/docker/compose/issues/745)

That's why I personally prefer adding a bash alias for my projects in ~/.bash_aliases (Debian based Linux) for example:

# project PROJECT shortcuts
alias dc_PROJECT_up='docker-compose -p PROJECT up -d'
alias dc_PROJECT_down='docker-compose -p PROJECT down'

# general docker compose shortcuts
alias dc='docker-compose '
alias dc_up='docker-compose up -d'
alias dc_down='docker-compose down'

So I can call dc_PROJECT_up to start my project with a project name PROJECT. The network name is PROJECT_default then.

Additionally you can setup additional networks with custom names in the docker-composer.yml like this (v. 2.1):

version: '2.1'

...

networks:
  mynwk:
    driver: bridge
    name: mynwk

 ...

You can check this with the following command:

 $> docker network ls

You should get a list of networks including yours and the default one.

Marcel Lange
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