Why can't Docker find my sql file to import? - sql

Question

I have a SQL file I'm trying to import into a local docker instance. I'm running the following command:
docker exec -i 868b7935cc37 ../my.file.sql -u {user} --password={password} {dbName}
I'm getting the following error back when I run it:
OCI runtime exec failed: exec failed: container_linux.go:348: starting container process caused "exec: \"../my.file.sql\": stat ../my.file.sql: no such file or directory": unknown
I'm only one directory away from the file, hence the ../ in the command. I spoke with the person who gave me the file and the username, password and name are all correct. None of the names, passwords, etc. contain any special characters.
I feel like I'm right there. I don't know why I'm getting the no such file or directory error.
Any and all help is appreciated!
docker inspect gives me
[
{
"Id": "868b7935cc371a0eef47e84a7ffbddb99b03cfc93e735af31e5b5754680c1f98",
"Created": "2018-11-15T20:11:44.9362404Z",
"Path": "docker-entrypoint.sh",
"Args": [
"mysqld"
],
"State": {
"Status": "running",
"Running": true,
"Paused": false,
"Restarting": false,
"OOMKilled": false,
"Dead": false,
"Pid": 4819,
"ExitCode": 0,
"Error": "",
"StartedAt": "2018-11-23T23:15:52.5735445Z",
"FinishedAt": "2018-11-21T01:52:31.3103165Z"
},
"Image": "sha256:583a6e3a3c98793a6c8a3b09d291b574da66f7e1fba6ebfebe3e93c88c3b443a",
"ResolvConfPath": "/var/lib/docker/containers/868b7935cc371a0eef47e84a7ffbddb99b03cfc93e735af31e5b5754680c1f98/resolv.conf",
"HostnamePath": "/var/lib/docker/containers/868b7935cc371a0eef47e84a7ffbddb99b03cfc93e735af31e5b5754680c1f98/hostname",
"HostsPath": "/var/lib/docker/containers/868b7935cc371a0eef47e84a7ffbddb99b03cfc93e735af31e5b5754680c1f98/hosts",
"LogPath": "/var/lib/docker/containers/868b7935cc371a0eef47e84a7ffbddb99b03cfc93e735af31e5b5754680c1f98/868b7935cc371a0eef47e84a7ffbddb99b03cfc93e735af31e5b5754680c1f98-json.log",
"Name": "/dmr_mysql_1",
"RestartCount": 0,
"Driver": "overlay2",
"Platform": "linux",
"MountLabel": "",
"ProcessLabel": "",
"AppArmorProfile": "",
"ExecIDs": null,
"HostConfig": {
"Binds": [
"dmr_local_mysql_data:/var/lib/mysql:rw",
"dmr_local_mysql_data_backups:/backups:rw"
],
"ContainerIDFile": "",
"LogConfig": {
"Type": "json-file",
"Config": {}
},
"NetworkMode": "dmr_default",
"PortBindings": {
"3306/tcp": [
{
"HostIp": "",
"HostPort": "3306"
}
]
},
"RestartPolicy": {
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"MaximumRetryCount": 0
},
"AutoRemove": false,
"VolumeDriver": "",
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"Dns": [],
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"ExtraHosts": null,
"GroupAdd": null,
"IpcMode": "shareable",
"Cgroup": "",
"Links": null,
"OomScoreAdj": 0,
"PidMode": "",
"Privileged": false,
"PublishAllPorts": false,
"ReadonlyRootfs": false,
"SecurityOpt": null,
"UTSMode": "",
"UsernsMode": "",
"ShmSize": 67108864,
"Runtime": "runc",
"ConsoleSize": [
0,
0
],
"Isolation": "",
"CpuShares": 0,
"Memory": 0,
"NanoCpus": 0,
"CgroupParent": "",
"BlkioWeight": 0,
"BlkioWeightDevice": null,
"BlkioDeviceReadBps": null,
"BlkioDeviceWriteBps": null,
"BlkioDeviceReadIOps": null,
"BlkioDeviceWriteIOps": null,
"CpuPeriod": 0,
"CpuQuota": 0,
"CpuRealtimePeriod": 0,
"CpuRealtimeRuntime": 0,
"CpusetCpus": "",
"CpusetMems": "",
"Devices": null,
"DeviceCgroupRules": null,
"DiskQuota": 0,
"KernelMemory": 0,
"MemoryReservation": 0,
"MemorySwap": 0,
"MemorySwappiness": null,
"OomKillDisable": false,
"PidsLimit": 0,
"Ulimits": null,
"CpuCount": 0,
"CpuPercent": 0,
"IOMaximumIOps": 0,
"IOMaximumBandwidth": 0,
"MaskedPaths": [
"/proc/acpi",
"/proc/kcore",
"/proc/keys",
"/proc/latency_stats",
"/proc/timer_list",
"/proc/timer_stats",
"/proc/sched_debug",
"/proc/scsi",
"/sys/firmware"
],
"ReadonlyPaths": [
"/proc/asound",
"/proc/bus",
"/proc/fs",
"/proc/irq",
"/proc/sys",
"/proc/sysrq-trigger"
]
},
"GraphDriver": {
"Data": {
"LowerDir": "/var/lib/docker/overlay2/830398a5558d1451a520a7219971cfb6f869cfc7aa149373eab77287c2924ee4-init/diff:/var/lib/docker/overlay2/d6fbcced29e35b61a9bb5a8db9cec8c561fdcba5b52a61c62af886de180aa93a/diff:/var/lib/docker/overlay2/289d826020070599fe59d4171f40bfcfc41de1bbefa29bcc4cfd0bc0ab5ebb3c/diff:/var/lib/docker/overlay2/05572289cc7498d3d29d09d0b9745c0387c56ef06919ef27517c9131a585a895/diff:/var/lib/docker/overlay2/eed1357572b7a67729f776846e8109fa9493e0083d88bb3edeb2c95410bfa2b4/diff:/var/lib/docker/overlay2/8163d89b53f562d5476ffc8ccabdcb6a935ee932b2544f0d42ada9650b67eb46/diff:/var/lib/docker/overlay2/8ea425a1f09814f6e6f3f9d8f887c0829b2151e359425ea985792a75e65acd90/diff:/var/lib/docker/overlay2/ae06aa0cbb069d340970beb76ad8b278ac4b4f97eaceb1f3b36cb4ba15a2128c/diff:/var/lib/docker/overlay2/16350f1b36b1eb496286e5ad4cdea02f9931d33a6869a6105da766e40793d81a/diff:/var/lib/docker/overlay2/305da8336df57edf64806244981141bd6a05b168653a48f97223e7da0a3ac477/diff:/var/lib/docker/overlay2/2265f0da439e923b98007d292dda922f3a90298bb879c07f2f41afa66c971c7b/diff:/var/lib/docker/overlay2/b5e59e46468f95a1d243b6c99b7421b41715f7ad11bda4095901244a6552bbb9/diff:/var/lib/docker/overlay2/76fdb756320d579aed7713e27b4760a5266fcfde5358903d9e4351d9c77a4b9d/diff:/var/lib/docker/overlay2/58952f226dee428fecc6cf23f45e39b4084f10c6214f3ded03ebd87a250318bd/diff:/var/lib/docker/overlay2/7f03ca1e222e9ee48d8332e6ec830cb0a2a7a27167d2698847d41d3f18c47bd3/diff",
"MergedDir": "/var/lib/docker/overlay2/830398a5558d1451a520a7219971cfb6f869cfc7aa149373eab77287c2924ee4/merged",
"UpperDir": "/var/lib/docker/overlay2/830398a5558d1451a520a7219971cfb6f869cfc7aa149373eab77287c2924ee4/diff",
"WorkDir": "/var/lib/docker/overlay2/830398a5558d1451a520a7219971cfb6f869cfc7aa149373eab77287c2924ee4/work"
},
"Name": "overlay2"
},
"Mounts": [
{
"Type": "volume",
"Name": "dmr_local_mysql_data_backups",
"Source": "/var/lib/docker/volumes/dmr_local_mysql_data_backups/_data",
"Destination": "/backups",
"Driver": "local",
"Mode": "rw",
"RW": true,
"Propagation": ""
},
{
"Type": "volume",
"Name": "dmr_local_mysql_data",
"Source": "/var/lib/docker/volumes/dmr_local_mysql_data/_data",
"Destination": "/var/lib/mysql",
"Driver": "local",
"Mode": "rw",
"RW": true,
"Propagation": ""
}
],
"Config": {
"Hostname": "868b7935cc37",
"Domainname": "",
"User": "",
"AttachStdin": false,
"AttachStdout": false,
"AttachStderr": false,
"ExposedPorts": {
"3306/tcp": {},
"33060/tcp": {}
},
"Tty": false,
"OpenStdin": false,
"StdinOnce": false,
"Env": [
"MYSQL_DATABASE=dmr",
"MYSQL_USER=dmr",
"MYSQL_PASSWORD=dmr",
"MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD=dmr",
"PATH=/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin",
"GOSU_VERSION=1.7",
"MYSQL_MAJOR=5.7",
"MYSQL_VERSION=5.7.24-1debian9"
],
"Cmd": [
"mysqld"
],
"ArgsEscaped": true,
"Image": "dmr_mysql",
"Volumes": {
"/backups": {},
"/var/lib/mysql": {}
},
"WorkingDir": "",
"Entrypoint": [
"docker-entrypoint.sh"
],
"OnBuild": null,
"Labels": {
"com.docker.compose.config-hash": "ffc27388c47a8468694fe5412bb06e3dda7a7b083d378fba1ab57eace2b3628e",
"com.docker.compose.container-number": "1",
"com.docker.compose.oneoff": "False",
"com.docker.compose.project": "dmr",
"com.docker.compose.service": "mysql",
"com.docker.compose.version": "1.22.0"
}
},
"NetworkSettings": {
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"SandboxID": "cbccae535b05d954c1592710bb808814a87bcfbee6617fd1fb0a8f44561faec7",
"HairpinMode": false,
"LinkLocalIPv6Address": "",
"LinkLocalIPv6PrefixLen": 0,
"Ports": {
"3306/tcp": [
{
"HostIp": "0.0.0.0",
"HostPort": "3306"
}
],
"33060/tcp": null
},
"SandboxKey": "/var/run/docker/netns/cbccae535b05",
"SecondaryIPAddresses": null,
"SecondaryIPv6Addresses": null,
"EndpointID": "",
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"GlobalIPv6Address": "",
"GlobalIPv6PrefixLen": 0,
"IPAddress": "",
"IPPrefixLen": 0,
"IPv6Gateway": "",
"MacAddress": "",
"Networks": {
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"Links": null,
"Aliases": [
"868b7935cc37",
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],
"NetworkID": "eaf16cd4854d6bcb607ca7598c5337d42b917164404de82f873b9567ab480df7",
"EndpointID": "c98e525c7c4f22e5bfb7b6041a2f94fbf81561f518d2a6b550768ef6c32e57d5",
"Gateway": "172.18.0.1",
"IPAddress": "172.18.0.2",
"IPPrefixLen": 16,
"IPv6Gateway": "",
"GlobalIPv6Address": "",
"GlobalIPv6PrefixLen": 0,
"MacAddress": "02:42:ac:12:00:02",
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}
}
}
}
]

Answer 1

I believe the problem is a misunderstanding of how docker exec works. If you think of your container as a remote machine, and docker exec as a command you run on your local machine that will cause the remote machine to execute some command installed on the remote machine, it may become more clear
Right now it looks like you have a file on your local machine (outside the container) and you're passing it as the command you wish the remote machine(inside the container) to run, but the file is on your local machine, not the remote so even if it could be processed (docker help page says it must be an executable file- is an sql file executable in this context?) the file isn't on the machine that is going to process it.
Calling docker exec and passing a file reference of a file outside the container, doesn't cause the local file to be sent into the container and executed inside
As such, I think you'll have to do something more like
docker cp ../myfile.sql DOCKERCONTAINERNAME:/root/myfile.sql
To copy the file into the container and then something like:
docker exec DOCKERCONTAINERNAME mysqlimporttool -u mysqluser -p pass /root/myfile.sql
To have docker launch the in-container import tool for you and pass the arguments you specified. That tool will start up inside the container, and process the file you copied into the container in the first step

Answer 2

You don't need docker exec to interact with servers running in containers. Just use the ordinary client programs you'd normally use to talk to them.
For instance, if you launched the database container, publishing the normal MySQL port, as as
docker run -p3306:3306 ... mysql
then you could run your script by installing the mysql command-line client, and then running
mysql -h 127.0.0.1 ../my.file.sql -u {user} --password={password} {dbName}
If you've configured your Docker to require root permission to access it (a very reasonable setup) then this has the additional advantage of not requiring sudo just to run it.