jlcox1970/side-loader repository overview

⁠side-loader

docker.io/jlcox1970/side-loader is a tiny, static init-container utility for Kubernetes.

It recursively copies files from one directory to another while preserving permissions, symlinks, and ownership — with optional UID/GID overrides.

⁠What It’s For

• Initializing writable volumes
• Copying baked-in image data to a PVC or emptyDir
• Preparing directories for non-root containers

⁠Configuration (Environment Variables)

Supports loading from a .env file automatically if present.

⁠Example (Kubernetes Init Container)

initContainers:
  - name: side-loader
    image: docker.io/jlcox1970/side-loader
    env:
      - name: SRC_DIR
        value: /app/defaults
      - name: DST_DIR
        value: /data
      - name: UID
        value: "1000"
      - name: GID
        value: "1000"
    volumeMounts:
      - name: data
        mountPath: /data

⁠Example (docker-compose)

version: "3.9"

services:
  side-loader:
    image: docker.io/jlcox1970/side-loader
    env_file:
      - .env
    volumes:
      - ./data:/data
    environment:
      DST_DIR: /data

Example .env:

SRC_DIR=/src
UID=1000
GID=1000

⁠Notes

• Symlinks are preserved (not dereferenced)
• Ownership is applied after file creation
• Permission-related chown errors are ignored
• Designed for scratch/distroless images

Minimal, predictable, and purpose-built for init containers.