Chainguard Container for graalvm

GraalVM is an advanced JDK with ahead-of-time Native Image compilation

Chainguard Containers are regularly-updated, secure-by-default container images.

Download this Container Image

For those with access, this container image is available on cgr.dev:

docker pull cgr.dev/ORGANIZATION/graalvm:latest

Be sure to replace the ORGANIZATION placeholder with the name used for your organization's private repository within the Chainguard Registry.

Compatibility Notes

This image is a production-ready distribution of GraalVM. It is part of the Chainguard Images collection, which are minimal, regularly-updated container images designed with security in mind. The image can be pulled from cgr.dev and is suitable for use in various environments, including production.

Tagging

Tags align with the version of the JDK provided on the image. For example, to pull GraalVM with JDK 24, you can run this command:

docker pull cgr.dev/ORGANIZATION/graalvm:24

There are additional tags covering other runtimes and variants documented below.

jmods

By default, Chainguard provides images that exclude jmods, significantly decreasing the overall size of the image. If your workflow requires jmods, you need only append -jmods to the image tag.

For example:

docker pull cgr.dev/ORGANIZATION/graalvm:<JDK VERSION>-jmods

nodejs

Chainguard also provides tags for images that include the Node.js runtime in addition to GraalVM. These images leverage GraalJS:

docker pull cgr.dev/ORGANIZATION/graalvm:<JDK VERSION>-nodejs

dev

Need a package that's critical to your workflow? Chainguard's -dev tags include additional utilities that are helpful for extending images:

docker pull cgr.dev/ORGANIZATION/graalvm:<JDK VERSION>-dev

Getting Started

To test the GraalVM image, start by pulling the image:

docker pull cgr.dev/ORGANIZATION/graalvm:latest

Replace ORGANIZATION with your organization's name.

Next, run a container using the image you just downloaded:

docker run -it --rm cgr.dev/ORGANIZATION/graalvm:latest java -version

This command will start a container and display the Java version to verify that the image is working correctly:

openjdk version "23.0.2" 2025-01-21
OpenJDK Runtime Environment GraalVM CE 23.0.2.1 (build 23.0.2+-cgr-r1)
OpenJDK 64-Bit Server VM GraalVM CE 23.0.2.1 (build 23.0.2+-cgr-r1, mixed mode, sharing)

Create a simple Java application, for example, HelloWorld.java:

    public class HelloWorld {
         public static void main(String[] args) {
              System.out.println("Hello, World!");
         }
    }

Then compile and run the application inside the container:

docker run -it --rm -v $(pwd):/workspace -w /workspace cgr.dev/ORGANIZATION/graalvm:latest javac HelloWorld.java
docker run -it --rm -v $(pwd):/workspace -w /workspace cgr.dev/ORGANIZATION/graalvm:latest java HelloWorld

You should see the output Hello, World!, indicating that the image can compile and run Java applications.

Let's take this a step further and create a Native Image:

docker run -it --rm -v $(pwd):/workspace -w /workspace cgr.dev/ORGANIZATION/graalvm:latest native-image HelloWorld -H:Name=HelloWorld

You can now run the image like any other executable:

docker run -it --rm -v $(pwd):/workspace -w /workspace cgr.dev/ORGANIZATION/graalvm:latest native-image ./HelloWorld

You will once again see the output "Hello, World!", displaying that the image can compile and run Native Images!

Documentation and Resources

• GraalVM documentation
• GraalVM guides
• GraalVM community

What are Chainguard Containers?

Chainguard Containers are minimal container images that are secure by default.

In many cases, the Chainguard Containers tagged as :latest contain only an open-source application and its runtime dependencies. These minimal container images typically do not contain a shell or package manager. Chainguard Containers are built with Wolfi, our Linux undistro designed to produce container images that meet the requirements of a more secure software supply chain.

The main features of Chainguard Containers include:

• Minimal design, without unnecessary software bloat
• Daily builds to ensure container images are up-to-date with available security patches
• High quality build-time SBOMs attesting to the provenance of all artifacts within the image
• Verifiable signatures provided by Sigstore
• Reproducible builds with Cosign and apko (read more about reproducibility)

For cases where you need container images with shells and package managers to build or debug, most Chainguard Containers come paired with a -dev variant.

Although the -dev container image variants have similar security features as their more minimal versions, they feature additional software that is typically not necessary in production environments. We recommend using multi-stage builds to leverage the -dev variants, copying application artifacts into a final minimal container that offers a reduced attack surface that won’t allow package installations or logins.

Learn More

To better understand how to work with Chainguard Containers, please visit Chainguard Academy and Chainguard Courses.

In addition to Containers, Chainguard offers VMs and Libraries. Contact Chainguard to access additional products.

Trademarks

This software listing is packaged by Chainguard. The trademarks set forth in this offering are owned by their respective companies, and use of them does not imply any affiliation, sponsorship, or endorsement by such companies.