Docker for Mac: Host network and port publishing

Question

I am running Docker for Mac. When I run

docker run -d --rm --name nginx -p 80:80 nginx:1.10.3

I can access Nginx on port 80 on my Mac. When I run

docker run -d --rm --name nginx --network host -p 80:80 nginx:1.10.3

I can not.

Is it possible to use both "--network host" and publish a port so that it is reachable from my Mac?

Alternatively, can I access Nginx from my Mac via the IP of the HyperKit VM?

Answer 1

Without the --network flag the container is added to the bridge network by default; which creates a network stack on the Docker bridge (usually the veth interface).

If you specify --network host the container gets added to the Docker host network stack. Note the container will share the networking namespace of the host, and thus all its security implications.

Which means you don't need to add -p 80:80, instead run...
docker run -d --rm --name nginx --network host nginx:1.10.3

and access the container on http://127.0.0.1

The following link will help answer the HyperKit question and the current limitations:
https://docs.docker.com/docker-for-mac/networking/

There is no docker0 bridge on macOS

Because of the way networking is implemented in Docker for Mac, you cannot see a docker0 interface in macOS. This interface is actually within HyperKit.