How to run Aspose.PDF in Docker

Prerequisites

Following examples tested with:

  • Docker v.20.10.11 and Docker Desktop 4.3.2
  • Visual Studio 2022 Community Edition v.17.0.5
  • .NET 6 SDK is used in the example, provided below.
  • Aspose.PDF for .NET v.22.01

Create sample application for Docker Linux Container

  1. Launch Visual Studio 2022 and choose ASP.NET Core Web App (Model-View-Controller) template and press Next
  2. In Configure your new project window set desired project name and location and press Next
  3. In Additional information window choose .NET 6.0 (Long-term support) and enable Docker support. You can also set Docker OS to Linux if needed.
  4. Press Create
  5. Choose Tools->Nuget Package Manager->Package Manager Console and install Aspose.PDF for .NET (use command Install-Package Aspose.PDF)

Generate PDF document using ASP.NET Core Web App in Linux container

We will use code from Complex Example in this app. For more detailed explanation, please follow this link.

  1. Create images folder in wwwroot folder and put image logo.png. You can use download this image from here
  2. Replace code in HomeController.cs with following snippet (please note that you can have another namespace):
using Aspose.Pdf;
using Aspose.Pdf.Text;
using Docker.Linux.Demo01.Models;
using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc;
using System.Diagnostics;

namespace Docker.Linux.Demo01.Controllers
{
    public class HomeController : Controller
    {
        private readonly ILogger<HomeController> _logger;
        private readonly IWebHostEnvironment _appEnvironment;

        public HomeController(ILogger<HomeController> logger, IWebHostEnvironment appEnvironment)
        {
            _logger = logger;
            _appEnvironment = appEnvironment;
        }

        public IActionResult Index()
        {
            return View();
        }
        public IActionResult Generate()
        {
            const string file_type = "application/pdf";
            const string file_name = "sample.pdf";
            var memoryStream = new System.IO.MemoryStream();

            _logger.LogInformation("Start");
            // Initialize document object
            var document = new Document();
            // Add page
            var page = document.Pages.Add();

            // Add image
            var imageFileName = System.IO.Path.Combine(_appEnvironment.WebRootPath, "images", "logo.png");
            page.AddImage(imageFileName, new Rectangle(20, 730, 120, 830));

            // -------------------------------------------------------------
            // Add Header
            var header = new TextFragment("New ferry routes in Fall 2020");
            header.TextState.Font = FontRepository.FindFont("Arial");
            header.TextState.FontSize = 24;
            header.HorizontalAlignment = HorizontalAlignment.Center;
            header.Position = new Position(130, 720);
            page.Paragraphs.Add(header);

            // Add description
            var descriptionText = "Visitors must buy tickets online and tickets are limited to 5,000 per day. Ferry service is operating at half capacity and on a reduced schedule. Expect lineups.";
            var description = new TextFragment(descriptionText);
            description.TextState.Font = FontRepository.FindFont("Times New Roman");
            description.TextState.FontSize = 14;
            description.HorizontalAlignment = HorizontalAlignment.Left;
            page.Paragraphs.Add(description);


            // Add table
            var table = new Table
            {
                ColumnWidths = "200",
                Border = new BorderInfo(BorderSide.Box, 1f, Color.Black),
                DefaultCellBorder = new BorderInfo(BorderSide.Box, 0.5f, Color.Gray),
                DefaultCellPadding = new MarginInfo(4.5, 4.5, 4.5, 4.5),
                Margin =
                {
                    Top = 10,
                    Bottom = 10
                },
                DefaultCellTextState =
                {
                    Font =  FontRepository.FindFont("Helvetica")
                }
            };

            var headerRow = table.Rows.Add();
            headerRow.Cells.Add("Departs City");
            headerRow.Cells.Add("Departs Island");
            foreach (Cell headerRowCell in headerRow.Cells)
            {
                headerRowCell.BackgroundColor = Color.LightGray;
                headerRowCell.DefaultCellTextState.ForegroundColor = Color.FromRgb(0.1, 0.1, 0.1);
            }

            var time = new TimeSpan(6, 0, 0);
            var incTime = new TimeSpan(0, 30, 0);
            for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++)
            {
                var dataRow = table.Rows.Add();
                dataRow.Cells.Add(time.ToString(@"hh\:mm"));
                time = time.Add(incTime);
                dataRow.Cells.Add(time.ToString(@"hh\:mm"));
            }

            page.Paragraphs.Add(table);

            document.Save(memoryStream);
            _logger.LogInformation("Finish");
            return File(memoryStream, file_type, file_name);
        }

        public IActionResult Privacy()
        {
            return View();
        }

        [ResponseCache(Duration = 0, Location = ResponseCacheLocation.None, NoStore = true)]
        public IActionResult Error()
        {
            return View(new ErrorViewModel { RequestId = Activity.Current?.Id ?? HttpContext.TraceIdentifier });
        }
    }
}
  1. Replace content in Dockerfile with following content:
FROM mcr.microsoft.com/dotnet/aspnet:6.0 AS base
RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y libgdiplus
RUN sed -i'.bak' 's/$/ contrib/' /etc/apt/sources.list
RUN apt-get update; apt-get install -y ttf-mscorefonts-installer fontconfig

WORKDIR /app
EXPOSE 80
EXPOSE 443

FROM mcr.microsoft.com/dotnet/sdk:6.0 AS build
WORKDIR /src
COPY ["Docker.Linux.Demo01/Docker.Linux.Demo01.csproj", "Docker.Linux.Demo01/"]
RUN dotnet restore "Docker.Linux.Demo01/Docker.Linux.Demo01.csproj"
COPY . .
WORKDIR "/src/Docker.Linux.Demo01"
RUN dotnet build "Docker.Linux.Demo01.csproj" -c Release -o /app/build

FROM build AS publish
RUN dotnet publish "Docker.Linux.Demo01.csproj" -c Release -o /app/publish

FROM base AS final
WORKDIR /app
COPY --from=publish /app/publish .
ENTRYPOINT ["dotnet", "Docker.Linux.Demo01.dll"]

Create sample application for Docker Windows Container

  1. Launch Visual Studio 2022 and choose ASP.NET Core Web App (Model-View-Controller) template and press Next
  2. In Configure your new project window set desired project name and location and press Next
  3. In Additional information window choose .NET 6.0 (Long-term support) and enable Docker support. You can also set Docker OS to Windows if needed.
  4. Press Create
  5. Choose Tools->Nuget Package Manager->Package Manager Console and install Aspose.PDF for .NET (use command Install-Package Aspose.PDF)

Generate PDF document using ASP.NET Core Web App in Windows container

In this example, we will the same code as in the previous example.

  1. Create images folder in wwwroot folder and put image logo.png. You can use download this image from here
  2. Replace code in HomeController.cs with snippet above.
FROM mcr.microsoft.com/dotnet/aspnet:6.0 AS base
WORKDIR /app
EXPOSE 80
EXPOSE 443

FROM mcr.microsoft.com/dotnet/sdk:6.0.101-nanoserver-ltsc2022 AS build
WORKDIR /src
COPY ["Docker.Windows.Demo01/Docker.Windows.Demo01.csproj", "Docker.Windows.Demo01/"]
RUN dotnet restore "Docker.Windows.Demo01/Docker.Windows.Demo01.csproj"
COPY . .
WORKDIR "/src/Docker.Windows.Demo01"
RUN dotnet build "Docker.Windows.Demo01.csproj" -c Release -o /app/build -r win-x64 --self-contained true

FROM build AS publish
RUN dotnet publish "Docker.Windows.Demo01.csproj" -c Release -o /app/publish -r win-x64 --self-contained true

FROM base AS final
WORKDIR /app
COPY --from=publish /app/publish .
ENTRYPOINT ["dotnet", "Docker.Windows.Demo01.dll"]