Setting up IronWord in Docker Containers

Why Use Docker?

Docker lets you package and run IronWord as a lightweight, self-contained container. This ensures consistent behavior across development, testing, and production—especially valuable when generating or manipulating Word documents programmatically.

IronWord supports .NET Framework 4.6.2+, .NET Standard 2.0+, and .NET 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, all of which work seamlessly in Docker on Linux and Windows.

Recommended Linux Docker Distributions

We recommend the following 64‑bit Linux distros for smooth IronWord operation, matching the distros Microsoft currently ships official .NET 8 container images for:

• Ubuntu 24.04+ (Noble)
• Ubuntu 22.04 (Jammy)
• Debian 12+ (Bookworm)
• RHEL / UBI 8 or 9 (for RHEL-family deployments — see below; Microsoft doesn't publish official CentOS runtime images post .NET Core 3.1)

Use Microsoft’s official Docker images with the .NET runtime and SDK to simplify setup and dependency management.

IronWord NuGet Package

IronWord is easily added to any .NET project through its NuGet package. Simply run the following command in the NuGet Package Manager Console, and it will add the library automatically:

Install-Package IronWord

Ubuntu Dockerfile Examples

FROM mcr.microsoft.com/dotnet/runtime:8.0-jammy AS base
WORKDIR /app

FROM mcr.microsoft.com/dotnet/sdk:8.0-jammy AS build
WORKDIR /src
COPY ["Example/Example.csproj", "Example/"]
RUN dotnet restore "Example/Example.csproj"

COPY . .
WORKDIR "/src/Example"
RUN dotnet build "Example.csproj" -c Release -o /app/build

FROM build AS publish
RUN dotnet publish "Example.csproj" -c Release -o /app/publish

FROM base AS final
WORKDIR /app
COPY --from=publish /app/publish .
ENTRYPOINT ["dotnet", "Example.dll"]

FROM mcr.microsoft.com/dotnet/runtime:8.0-noble AS base
WORKDIR /app

FROM mcr.microsoft.com/dotnet/sdk:8.0-noble AS build
WORKDIR /src
COPY ["Example/Example.csproj", "Example/"]
RUN dotnet restore "Example/Example.csproj"

COPY . .
WORKDIR "/src/Example"
RUN dotnet build "Example.csproj" -c Release -o /app/build

FROM build AS publish
RUN dotnet publish "Example.csproj" -c Release -o /app/publish

FROM base AS final
WORKDIR /app
COPY --from=publish /app/publish .
ENTRYPOINT ["dotnet", "Example.dll"]

Debian Dockerfile Example

FROM mcr.microsoft.com/dotnet/runtime:8.0-bookworm-slim AS base
WORKDIR /app

FROM mcr.microsoft.com/dotnet/sdk:8.0-bookworm-slim AS build
WORKDIR /src
COPY ["Example/Example.csproj", "Example/"]
RUN dotnet restore "Example/Example.csproj"

COPY . .
WORKDIR "/src/Example"
RUN dotnet build "Example.csproj" -c Release -o /app/build

FROM build AS publish
RUN dotnet publish "Example.csproj" -c Release -o /app/publish

FROM base AS final
WORKDIR /app
COPY --from=publish /app/publish .
ENTRYPOINT ["dotnet", "Example.dll"]

RHEL / UBI Dockerfile Example

Microsoft doesn't publish official CentOS runtime images beyond .NET Core 3.1. For RHEL-family deployments, use Red Hat's own Universal Base Image (UBI) .NET containers instead — freely usable without a Red Hat subscription and kept current with supported .NET releases.

FROM registry.access.redhat.com/ubi8/dotnet-80-runtime:8.0 AS base
WORKDIR /app

FROM registry.access.redhat.com/ubi8/dotnet-80:8.0 AS build
WORKDIR /src
COPY ["Example/Example.csproj", "Example/"]
RUN dotnet restore "Example/Example.csproj"

COPY . .
WORKDIR "/src/Example"
RUN dotnet build "Example.csproj" -c Release -o /app/build

FROM build AS publish
RUN dotnet publish "Example.csproj" -c Release -o /app/publish

FROM base AS final
WORKDIR /app
COPY --from=publish /app/publish .
ENTRYPOINT ["dotnet", "Example.dll"]

Notes & Troubleshooting

• IronWord fully supports .NET Framework 4.6.2+, .NET Standard 2.0+, and .NET 6, 7, 8, 9, 10.
• Install fonts if needed (e.g., fonts-liberation, ttf-mscorefonts-installer) on Linux containers for proper rendering.