What copy means in Dockerfile?

 

In a Dockerfile, the COPY instruction is used to copy files or directories from the host machine (where the Dockerfile is located) into the filesystem of the container.

Here is an example of how the COPY instruction can be used in a Dockerfile:

COPY . /app

This example will copy the current directory (indicated by the .) into the /app directory inside the container.

The COPY instruction is often used to include static files, such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript files, in a container for a web application. It can also be used to copy configuration files, scripts, or other resources that the container needs to run.

The COPY instruction can accept multiple source files or directories, separated by spaces. It can also accept wildcards, such as *.txt, to copy multiple files that match a pattern.

COPY src/ /app/src/

COPY static/css/ /app/static/css/

COPY static/js/ /app/static/js/

COPY static/images/ /app/static/images/

COPY *.txt /app/

In this example, the COPY instruction is used to copy multiple files and directories into the container.