# Devcontainer Management

> Guide for identifying, managing, and running commands within the NetAlertX development container. Use this when asked to run commands, testing, setup scripts, or troubleshoot container issues.

- Skill: `netalertx/devcontainer-management` (Agent Skill)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add netalertx/devcontainer-management`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/netalertx/devcontainer-management/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Coding & Dev Tools
- Author: netalertx (https://skillmd.com/u/netalertx)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/netalertx/devcontainer-management

---


# Devcontainer Management

When starting a session or performing tasks requiring the runtime environment, you must identify and use the active development container.

## Finding the Container

Run `docker ps` to list running containers. Look for an image name containing `vsc-netalertx` or similar.

```bash
docker ps --format "table {{.ID}}\t{{.Image}}\t{{.Status}}\t{{.Names}}" | grep netalertx
```

- **If no container is found:** Inform the user. You cannot run integration tests or backend logic without it.
- **If multiple containers are found:** Ask the user to clarify which one to use (e.g., provide the Container ID).

## Running Commands in the Container

Prefix commands with `docker exec <CONTAINER_ID>` to run them inside the environment. Use the scripts in `/services/` to control backend and other processes.

```bash
docker exec <CONTAINER_ID> bash /workspaces/NetAlertX/.devcontainer/scripts/setup.sh
```

*Note: This script wipes `/tmp` ramdisks, ensures `/data`, `/data/config`, `/data/db` exist, and restarts services (python server, cron, php-fpm, nginx) by symlinking and running `/entrypoint.sh` (`install/production-filesystem/entrypoint.d/`). By default it does **not** delete existing database or config content - `entrypoint.d/25-first-run-db.sh` and `20-first-run-config.sh` only wipe them when `ALWAYS_FRESH_INSTALL=true` is set in the environment (default: unset/`false`, so content is preserved).*

```