minit

A minimal Procfile-based process supervisor for Docker containers.

Features

• Zero dependencies: Works in scratch containers without shells or external tools
• Procfile support: Run multiple processes from a single configuration file
• Signal forwarding: Graceful shutdown with SIGTERM propagation
• Process groups: Uses setpgid for proper signal handling
• Clean logs: Direct stdout/stderr streaming without buffering

Usage

# Run (reads Procfile from current directory)
./minit

Procfile Format

web: ./server -port 8080
worker: ./worker -queue tasks
redis: redis-server --port 6379
scheduler: ./scheduler -interval 60s

Environment variables are expanded using $VAR and ${VAR} syntax:

web: ./server -port $PORT -host $HOST
worker: /usr/bin/env -i - APP_ENV="$APP_ENV" ./worker

Installation

FROM golang:alpine AS minit-builder
RUN go install github.com/xlgmokha/minit@latest

Docker Example

Combine minit with dumb-init for proper PID 1 signal handling:

# syntax=docker/dockerfile:1

# Build stage for minit
FROM golang:alpine AS minit-builder
RUN go install github.com/xlgmokha/minit@latest

# Build stage for dumb-init
FROM debian:bookworm-slim AS dumb-init-builder
RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y wget && \
    wget -O /usr/bin/dumb-init https://github.com/Yelp/dumb-init/releases/download/v1.2.5/dumb-init_1.2.5_x86_64 && \
    chmod +x /usr/bin/dumb-init

# Final stage
FROM gcr.io/distroless/base-debian12:nonroot
COPY --from=minit-builder /go/bin/minit /bin/minit
COPY --from=dumb-init-builder /usr/bin/dumb-init /usr/bin/dumb-init
COPY Procfile /Procfile
COPY your-app /your-app

ENTRYPOINT ["/usr/bin/dumb-init", "--"]
CMD ["/bin/minit"]

Why use dumb-init?

• PID 1 responsibilities: Zombie reaping, proper signal handling
• Graceful shutdown: Ensures all processes terminate cleanly
• Container compatibility: Works with all container runtimes
• Security: Runs as non-root user with distroless base

License

MIT