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 5-9, .NET Standard (2.x, 3.x), and .NET Framework 4.6.2+, 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:

• Ubuntu 22.04+ (Jammy)
• Ubuntu 20.04 (Focal)
• Debian 11+ (Bullseye)
• CentOS7+

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:6.0-focal AS base
WORKDIR /app

FROM mcr.microsoft.com/dotnet/sdk:6.0-focal 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/aspnet:7.0-bullseye-slim AS base
WORKDIR /app

FROM mcr.microsoft.com/dotnet/sdk:7.0-bullseye-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"]

CentOS 7

Use CentOS-based .NET runtimes like mcr.microsoft.com/dotnet/runtime:6.0-centos7 for IronWord compatibility.

# Build stage
FROM mcr.microsoft.com/dotnet/sdk:6.0 AS build
WORKDIR /app

COPY ./Example/Example.csproj ./Example/
RUN dotnet restore "./Example/Example.csproj"

COPY ./Example ./Example/
WORKDIR /app/Example
RUN dotnet publish -c Release -o /out

# Runtime stage - CentOS 7
FROM mcr.microsoft.com/dotnet/runtime:6.0-centos7 AS runtime
WORKDIR /app

RUN yum install -y liberation-fonts && yum clean all

COPY --from=build /out ./

ENTRYPOINT ["dotnet", "Example.dll"]

Notes & Troubleshooting

• IronWord fully supports .NET5–9, .NET Standard (2.x, 3.x), and .NET Framework 4.6.2+.
• Install fonts if needed (e.g., fonts-liberation, ttf-mscorefonts-installer) on Linux containers for proper rendering.