Dockerfile - removing a file in one RUN command, it is still present in the next RUN command

Question

I have a Dockerfile (https://gist.github.com/hasMobi/e198555704ee57e84399) that have these two commands in sequence:

RUN rm -frv /usr/share/nginx/html/*
RUN ls /         


        

Answer 1

I had a similar issue:

   RUN rm -rf /full/path
   RUN ln -s /other /full/path

This fails because "/full/path" still exists on the second RUN. This workaround works:

   RUN rm -rf /full/path; ln -s /other /full/path

I don't understand the behavior but was able to work around it in my case.