Vagrant ssh to Docker container

Question

I run Drupal as a Docker container in the Vagrant box boot2docker (on Windows 8.1):

Vagrantfile (my Docker container)

# -*- mode: ruby -*-
# vi: set ft=ruby :

Vagrant.configure(2) do |config|
  config.vm.provider "docker" do |docker|
    docker.vagrant_vagrantfile = "host/Vagrantfile"
    docker.image = "drupal"
    docker.ports = ['80:80']
    docker.name = 'drupal-container'
  end
  config.vm.synced_folder ".", "/vagrant", type: "smb", disabled: true
end

host/Vagrantfile (host)

# -*- mode: ruby -*-
# vi: set ft=ruby :

Vagrant.configure(2) do |config|
  config.vm.hostname = "docker-host"
  config.vm.box = "hashicorp/boot2docker"
  config.vm.network "forwarded_port", guest: 80, host: 8080
end

I simply call vagrant up in the directory of my Docker container to run it (and the host):

$ vagrant up
Bringing machine 'default' up with 'docker' provider...
==> default: Docker host is required. One will be created if necessary...
    default: Vagrant will now create or start a local VM to act as the Docker
    default: host. You'll see the output of the `vagrant up` for this VM below.
    default:
    default: Importing base box 'hashicorp/boot2docker'...
    default: Matching MAC address for NAT networking...
    default: Checking if box 'hashicorp/boot2docker' is up to date...
    default: Setting the name of the VM: boot2docker_default_1463064065066_29287
    default: Clearing any previously set network interfaces...
    default: Preparing network interfaces based on configuration...
    default: Adapter 1: nat
    default: Forwarding ports...
    default: 2375 (guest) => 2375 (host) (adapter 1)
    default: 80 (guest) => 8080 (host) (adapter 1)
    default: 22 (guest) => 2222 (host) (adapter 1)
    default: Running 'pre-boot' VM customizations...
    default: Booting VM...
    default: Waiting for machine to boot. This may take a few minutes...
    default: SSH address: 127.0.0.1:2222
    default: SSH username: docker
    default: SSH auth method: password
    default: Warning: Remote connection disconnect. Retrying...
    default: Warning: Remote connection disconnect. Retrying...
    default: Machine booted and ready!
GuestAdditions versions on your host (5.0.20) and guest (4.3.28 r100309) do not match.
The guest's platform ("tinycore") is currently not supported, will try generic Linux method...
Copy iso file C:\Program Files/Oracle/VirtualBox/VBoxGuestAdditions.iso into the box /tmp/VBoxGuestAdditions.iso
Installing Virtualbox Guest Additions 5.0.20 - guest version is 4.3.28 r100309
mkdir: can't create directory '/tmp/selfgz98932600': No such file or directory
Cannot create target directory /tmp/selfgz98932600
You should try option --target OtherDirectory
An error occurred during installation of VirtualBox Guest Additions 5.0.20. Some functionality may not work as intended.
In most cases it is OK that the "Window System drivers" installation failed.
    default: Setting hostname...
==> default: Warning: When using a remote Docker host, forwarded ports will NOT be
==> default: immediately available on your machine. They will still be forwarded on
==> default: the remote machine, however, so if you have a way to access the remote
==> default: machine, then you should be able to access those ports there. This is
==> default: not an error, it is only an informational message.
==> default: Creating the container...
    default:   Name: drupal-container
    default:  Image: drupal
    default:   Port: 80:80
    default:
    default: Container created: d12499a52f3d3f27
==> default: Starting container...
==> default: Provisioners will not be run since container doesn't support SSH.

Now I like to connect to the container from the same directory:

$ vagrant ssh
==> default: SSH will be proxied through the Docker virtual machine since we're
==> default: not running Docker natively. This is just a notice, and not an error.
==> default: The machine you're attempting to SSH into is configured to use
==> default: password-based authentication. Vagrant can't script entering the
==> default: password for you. If you're prompted for a password, please enter
==> default: the same password you have configured in the Vagrantfile.
[email protected]'s password: tcuser
ssh: connect to host 172.17.0.1 port 22: Connection refused
Connection to 127.0.0.1 closed.

Why is the connection refused? Wrong password?

I also tried it using the hash of the environment. I determined the hash by

$ vagrant global-status
id       name    provider   state   directory
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
e4da5ae  default virtualbox running c:/my-project-path/host/boot2docker
98ef037  default docker     running c:/my-project-path

The above shows information about all known Vagrant environments
on this machine. This data is cached and may not be completely
up-to-date. To interact with any of the machines, you can go to
that directory and run Vagrant, or you can use the ID directly
with Vagrant commands from any directory. For example:
"vagrant destroy 1a2b3c4d"

and tried to connect (same error):

$ vagrant ssh 98ef037
==> default: SSH will be proxied through the Docker virtual machine since we're
==> default: not running Docker natively. This is just a notice, and not an error.
==> default: The machine you're attempting to SSH into is configured to use
==> default: password-based authentication. Vagrant can't script entering the
==> default: password for you. If you're prompted for a password, please enter
==> default: the same password you have configured in the Vagrantfile.
[email protected]'s password: tcuser
ssh: connect to host 172.17.0.3 port 22: Connection refused
Connection to 127.0.0.1 closed.

If I add docker.has_ssh = true to Vagrantfile (I'm confused whether I need it, since I can call vagrant ssh without it):

# -*- mode: ruby -*-
# vi: set ft=ruby :

Vagrant.configure(2) do |config|
  config.vm.provider "docker" do |docker|
    docker.vagrant_vagrantfile = "host/Vagrantfile"
    docker.image = "drupal"
    docker.ports = ['80:80']
    docker.name = 'drupal-container'
    docker.has_ssh = true
  end
  config.vm.synced_folder ".", "/vagrant", type: "smb", disabled: true
end

then I cann't run/reload my container, because it waits indefinitely for the machine to boot:

$ vagrant reload
==> default: Stopping container...
==> default: Starting container...
==> default: Waiting for machine to boot. This may take a few minutes...
Timed out while waiting for the machine to boot. This means that
Vagrant was unable to communicate with the guest machine within
the configured ("config.vm.boot_timeout" value) time period.

If you look above, you should be able to see the error(s) that
Vagrant had when attempting to connect to the machine. These errors
are usually good hints as to what may be wrong.

If you're using a custom box, make sure that networking is properly
working and you're able to connect to the machine. It is a common
problem that networking isn't setup properly in these boxes.
Verify that authentication configurations are also setup properly,
as well.

If the box appears to be booting properly, you may want to increase
the timeout ("config.vm.boot_timeout") value.

So how can I connect to my Docker container using vagrant ssh?

Note: I can connect to the host first and then call docker on it

$ cd host
$ vagrant ssh
==> default: The machine you're attempting to SSH into is configured to use
==> default: password-based authentication. Vagrant can't script entering the
==> default: password for you. If you're prompted for a password, please enter
==> default: the same password you have configured in the Vagrantfile.
[email protected]'s password: tcuser
                        ##         .
                  ## ## ##        ==
               ## ## ## ## ##    ===
           /"""""""""""""""""\___/ ===
      ~~~ {~~ ~~~~ ~~~ ~~~~ ~~~ ~ /  ===- ~~~
           \______ o           __/
             \    \         __/
              \____\_______/
 _                 _   ____     _            _
| |__   ___   ___ | |_|___ \ __| | ___   ___| | _____ _ __
| '_ \ / _ \ / _ \| __| __) / _` |/ _ \ / __| |/ / _ \ '__|
| |_) | (_) | (_) | |_ / __/ (_| | (_) | (__|   <  __/ |
|_.__/ \___/ \___/ \__|_____\__,_|\___/ \___|_|\_\___|_|
Boot2Docker version 1.7.0, build master : 7960f90 - Thu Jun 18 18:31:45 UTC 2015
Docker version 1.7.0, build 0baf609
docker@docker-host:~$ sudo docker exec -t -i drupal-container /bin/bash
root@d12499a52f3d:/var/www/html#

but this is an unpractical workaround. I simply like to call vagrant ssh in the directory of the container to connect to the container (common Vagrant workflow).

Answer 1

You run a docker container not a VM as your provider, so the vagrant workflow is broken as you cannot ssh into docker container.

When you're using the docker provider you can run your command using vagrant docker-run; see the doc

If you were running docker directly, you will not be able to ssh directly, there's some hacks to workaround this but vagrant as an abstraction of the provider cannot make it as a simple ssh command and its not official support.