How to run Aspose.PDF in Docker

Prerequisites

The following examples tested with:

  • Docker v.25.0.2 and Docker Desktop 4.27.1
  • Visual Studio 2022 Community Edition v.17.0.5
  • .NET 8 SDK is used in the example provided below.
  • Aspose.PDF.Drawing v.24.01

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. Please follow this link for a more detailed explanation.

  1. Create images folder in wwwroot folder and put image logo.png. You can use download this image from here
  2. Create fonts folder in wwwroot folder and put Roboto fonts there.
  3. Create samples folder in wwwroot folder and put sample data there.
  4. Replace code in HomeController.cs with the following snippet (please note that you can have another namespace):
using Aspose.Pdf;
using Aspose.Pdf.Devices;
using Aspose.Pdf.Text;
using Docker.LinuxDemo.Models;
using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc;
using System.Diagnostics;

namespace Docker.LinuxDemo.Controllers
{
    // <summary>
    // Represents a controller for the home page and PDF generation in a Linux demo application.
    // </summary>
    public class HomeController(ILogger<HomeController> logger, IWebHostEnvironment appEnvironment) : Controller
    {
        private readonly ILogger<HomeController> _logger = logger;
        private readonly IWebHostEnvironment _appEnvironment = appEnvironment;

        // <summary>
        // Displays the index view.
        // </summary>
        public IActionResult Index()
        {
            return View();
        }

        // <summary>
        // Generates a PDF document and returns it as a file.
        // </summary>
        public IActionResult Generate()
        {
            const string fileType = "application/pdf";
            const string fileName = "sample.pdf";
            FontRepository.Sources.Add(new FolderFontSource(Path.Combine(_appEnvironment.WebRootPath, "fonts")));
            var memoryStream = new MemoryStream();

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

            // Add image
            var imageFileName = 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("Roboto");
            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("Helvetica");
            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("PDF Generation: Finish");
            return File(memoryStream, fileType, fileName);
        }

        // <summary>
        // Converts a file to a different format based on the provided id.
        // </summary>
        public FileStreamResult Convert(string id)
        {
            return id switch
            {
                "xps-to-pdf" => ConvertXpsToPdf(),
                "pdf-to-jpeg" => ConvertPdfToJpeg(),
                _ => throw new NotImplementedException(),
            };
        }

        // <summary>
        // Converts a PDF file to JPEG format and returns it as a file.
        // </summary>
        private FileStreamResult ConvertPdfToJpeg()
        {
            const string fileType = "image/jpeg";
            const string fileName = "sample.jpeg";

            var memoryStream = new MemoryStream();
            var pdfFileName = Path.Combine(_appEnvironment.WebRootPath, "samples", "samples-new.pdf");

            var document = new Document(pdfFileName);
            var resolution = new Resolution(300);
            var renderer = new JpegDevice(resolution, 90);
            renderer.Process(document.Pages[1], memoryStream);
            memoryStream.Seek(0, SeekOrigin.Begin);
            return File(memoryStream, fileType, fileName);
        }

        // <summary>
        // Converts an XPS file to PDF format and returns it as a file.
        // </summary>
        private FileStreamResult ConvertXpsToPdf()
        {
            const string fileType = "application/pdf";
            const string fileName = "sample.pdf";

            var memoryStream = new MemoryStream();
            var xpsFileName = Path.Combine(_appEnvironment.WebRootPath, "samples", "samples-new.oxps");

            var document = new Document(xpsFileName, new XpsLoadOptions());
            document.Save(memoryStream);

            return File(memoryStream, fileType, fileName);
        }

        // <summary>
        // Displays the privacy view.
        // </summary>
        public IActionResult Privacy()
        {
            return View();
        }

        // <summary>
        // Displays the error view.
        // </summary>
        [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 the following content:
FROM mcr.microsoft.com/dotnet/aspnet:8.0 AS base

RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y libgdiplus
RUN apt install software-properties-common -y
RUN echo "deb http://deb.debian.org/debian bookworm contrib non-free" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/contrib.list
RUN apt update && apt upgrade
RUN apt install ttf-mscorefonts-installer -y


USER app
WORKDIR /app
EXPOSE 8080
EXPOSE 8081

FROM mcr.microsoft.com/dotnet/sdk:8.0 AS build
ARG BUILD_CONFIGURATION=Release
WORKDIR /src
COPY ["Docker.Demo/Docker.LinuxDemo.csproj", "Docker.Demo/"]
RUN dotnet restore "./Docker.Demo/./Docker.LinuxDemo.csproj"
COPY . .
WORKDIR "/src/Docker.Demo"
RUN dotnet build "./Docker.LinuxDemo.csproj" -c $BUILD_CONFIGURATION -o /app/build

FROM build AS publish
ARG BUILD_CONFIGURATION=Release
RUN dotnet publish "./Docker.LinuxDemo.csproj" -c $BUILD_CONFIGURATION -o /app/publish /p:UseAppHost=false

FROM base AS final
WORKDIR /app
COPY --from=publish /app/publish .
ENTRYPOINT ["dotnet", "Docker.LinuxDemo.dll"]
How to run Aspose.PDF for .NET 6 in Docker