Docker & Containers

Fontist works well in containerized environments for reproducible font management.

Basic Docker Setup

Simple Dockerfile

FROM ruby:3.2-slim

# Install dependencies
RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends \
    fontconfig \
    && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*

# Install Fontist
RUN gem install fontist

# Install fonts
RUN fontist install "open_sans" "roboto"

# Your application
COPY . /app
WORKDIR /app
CMD ["ruby", "app.rb"]

With Fontfile

Create a Fontfile:

"open_sans"
"roboto"
"source_sans_pro"

Dockerfile:

FROM ruby:3.2-slim

RUN gem install fontist
COPY Fontfile .
RUN xargs -a Fontfile fontist install

COPY . /app
WORKDIR /app
CMD ["ruby", "app.rb"]

Multi-stage Builds

For smaller images:

# Build stage - install fonts
FROM ruby:3.2-slim AS builder

RUN gem install fontist
COPY Fontfile .
RUN fontist install "open_sans"

# Runtime stage - minimal image
FROM debian:bookworm-slim

# Copy only fonts, not Fontist
COPY --from=builder /root/.fontist/fonts /usr/share/fonts/fontist

# Refresh font cache
RUN fc-cache -f -v

CMD ["your-app"]

Alpine Linux

FROM ruby:3.2-alpine

# Install dependencies
RUN apk add --no-cache fontconfig freetype

# Install Fontist
RUN gem install fontist

# Install fonts
RUN fontist install "open_sans"

CMD ["ruby", "app.rb"]

Kubernetes

ConfigMap for Fonts

apiVersion: v1
kind: ConfigMap
metadata:
  name: font-config
data:
  Fontfile: |
    "open_sans"
    "roboto"

Init Container

apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
spec:
  template:
    spec:
      initContainers:
      - name: install-fonts
        image: ruby:3.2-slim
        command: ["/bin/sh", "-c"]
        args:
          - |
            gem install fontist
            fontist install "open_sans"
        volumeMounts:
        - name: fonts
          mountPath: /root/.fontist
      containers:
      - name: app
        image: myapp:latest
        volumeMounts:
        - name: fonts
          mountPath: /root/.fontist
      volumes:
      - name: fonts
        emptyDir: {}

Docker Compose

version: '3.8'
services:
  app:
    build: .
    volumes:
      - fonts:/root/.fontist

volumes:
  fonts:

Best Practices

1. Use Specific Font Versions

fontist install "open_sans" --version "1.0"

2. Minimize Image Size

• Use multi-stage builds
• Only install needed fonts
• Use --no-install-recommends

3. Cache Fonts

Mount ~/.fontist as a volume to avoid reinstalling.

See Also

• CI/CD & Servers
• PDF Generation