Apache Spark on Docker

Docker and Spark are two powerful technologies that remain highly relevant in 2025. While the original docker-spark repository demonstrates basic containerization, this guide has been updated to reflect modern best practices.

Updated for 2025: This post was originally published in 2015. It has been significantly revised to replace deprecated tools (boot2docker), use current Spark versions (3.4+), add Docker Compose examples, include PySpark workflows, and mention Kubernetes deployment patterns.

Install Docker (2025 Edition)

Docker Desktop (Recommended for 2024+)

Install Docker Desktop for your platform:

• macOS: Docker Desktop for Mac
• Windows: Docker Desktop for Windows
• Linux: Docker Engine Installation

Ubuntu/Debian Linux

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install docker.io docker-compose
sudo usermod -aG docker $USER
newgrp docker

Verify Installation

docker run hello-world

This will pull and run the hello-world image, confirming Docker is working correctly.

Modern Spark on Docker Context (2025)

When containerizing Apache Spark in 2025, consider these important points:

1. Use Current Spark Versions: Spark 3.4+ provides significant performance improvements and Python 3.10+ support
2. Deployment Architecture:
   • Docker Compose: Ideal for local development and testing
   • Kubernetes: Industry standard for production workloads (see Spark on Kubernetes)
3. Best Practices:
   • Use lightweight base images (e.g., eclipse-temurin:11-jre-slim or python:3.11-slim)
   • Implement security scanning for container images
   • Use minimal, multi-stage builds
4. PySpark Support: Modern deployments typically support both Scala and Python APIs

Pull the image from Docker Repository

docker pull duyetdev/docker-spark

Building the image

docker build --rm -t duyetdev/docker-spark .

Running the Image

Historical Note: Boot2Docker

Note: boot2docker was deprecated in favor of Docker Desktop (2016+). If you're using a legacy system, skip this section.

Modern Approach: Docker Compose (Recommended)

For containerized Spark with proper networking and resource management, use Docker Compose:

version: '3.8'
services:
  spark-master:
    image: bitnami/spark:latest
    environment:
      - SPARK_MODE=master
      - SPARK_RPC_AUTHENTICATION_ENABLED=no
      - SPARK_RPC_ENCRYPTION_ENABLED=no
      - SPARK_LOCAL_STORAGE_ENCRYPTION_ENABLED=no
    ports:
      - '8080:8080'
      - '7077:7077'
      - '4040:4040'
    healthcheck:
      test: ['CMD', 'curl', '-f', 'http://localhost:8080']
      interval: 30s
      timeout: 10s
      retries: 3

  spark-worker:
    image: bitnami/spark:latest
    depends_on:
      - spark-master
    environment:
      - SPARK_MODE=worker
      - SPARK_MASTER_URL=spark://spark-master:7077
      - SPARK_WORKER_MEMORY=1G
      - SPARK_WORKER_CORES=1
    ports:
      - '8081:8081'

Then run:

docker-compose up -d

Access Spark Master UI at http://localhost:8080

Legacy: Direct Docker Run (Not Recommended)

For simple testing with the original image:

docker run -it -p 8080:8080 -p 7077:7077 \
  -h spark-master \
  bitnami/spark:latest

Testing Spark (2025 Edition)

Using Spark Shell (Scala)

Connect to the running container and test with Scala:

docker-compose exec spark-master spark-shell --master spark://spark-master:7077

# In the Spark shell:
scala> sc.parallelize(1 to 1000).count()
res0: Long = 1000

Using PySpark (Python) - Recommended

Modern Spark workflows typically use Python. Test with PySpark:

docker-compose exec spark-master pyspark --master spark://spark-master:7077

# In the PySpark shell:
>>> sc.parallelize(range(1, 1001)).count()
1000
>>> df = spark.createDataFrame([(i, i*2) for i in range(1, 100)], ["id", "value"])
>>> df.show(5)

Submit a Spark Job

For production-like testing, submit a job:

docker-compose exec spark-master spark-submit \
  --master spark://spark-master:7077 \
  --class org.apache.spark.examples.SparkPi \
  /opt/spark/examples/jars/spark-examples_2.13-3.4.0.jar 100

Monitor with Web UI

• Spark Master UI: http://localhost:8080
• Spark Worker UI: http://localhost:8081
• Application UI: http://localhost:4040 (while job is running)

Additional Resources for 2025

• Apache Spark Official Documentation
• Spark on Kubernetes Guide
• Bitnami Spark Docker Image
• Spark Best Practices