Kaniko Has a Free API: Build Container Images in Kubernetes Without Docker Daemon

Why Kaniko Exists

Building Docker images inside Kubernetes is a pain — you need Docker-in-Docker or privileged containers. Kaniko builds images in unprivileged containers, no daemon required. Perfect for CI/CD in Kubernetes.

Build in a Kubernetes Job

apiVersion: batch/v1
kind: Job
metadata:
  name: kaniko-build
spec:
  template:
    spec:
      containers:
        - name: kaniko
          image: gcr.io/kaniko-project/executor:latest
          args:
            - "--dockerfile=Dockerfile"
            - "--context=git://github.com/myorg/myapp.git"
            - "--destination=ghcr.io/myorg/myapp:latest"
          volumeMounts:
            - name: docker-config
              mountPath: /kaniko/.docker
      restartPolicy: Never
      volumes:
        - name: docker-config
          secret:
            secretName: regcred
            items:
              - key: .dockerconfigjson
                path: config.json

Build Locally with Docker

docker run \
  -v $(pwd):/workspace \
  -v ~/.docker/config.json:/kaniko/.docker/config.json \
  gcr.io/kaniko-project/executor:latest \
  --dockerfile /workspace/Dockerfile \
  --context /workspace \
  --destination ghcr.io/myorg/myapp:v1.0.0

GitHub Actions Integration

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - name: Build with Kaniko
        uses: aevea/action-kaniko@master
        with:
          image: ghcr.io/myorg/myapp
          tag: ${{ github.sha }}
          username: ${{ github.actor }}
          password: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
          registry: ghcr.io

Key Features

• No Docker daemon — builds in userspace, no privileged containers
• Layer caching — cache to registry, S3, or GCS for fast rebuilds
• Multi-stage builds — full Dockerfile support
• Multiple registries — push to GCR, ECR, Docker Hub, GHCR
• Git context — build directly from git repos

Cache for Faster Builds

# Cache layers to registry
--cache=true \
--cache-repo=ghcr.io/myorg/cache

Kaniko vs Alternatives

Feature	Kaniko	Docker-in-Docker	Buildah	ko
Privileged	No	Yes	No	No
Daemon	No	Yes	No	No
Dockerfile	Full	Full	Full	No
Language	Any	Any	Any	Go only
K8s native	Yes	Requires DinD	Yes	Yes

Resources

• GitHub
• GCP Docs

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