Sphinx-Server allows you to build Sphinx documentation using a Docker image based on Alpine.

Functionnalities:

• Sphinx documentation served by a python server
• UML support with PlantUML
• dot support with Graphviz
• Autobuild with sphinx-autobuild
• HTTP authentication

Limitations:

• This image is not bundled with LaTeX but you can generate .tex files and compile them outside of the container
• It is not possible to customize ports when autobuild is enabled

Pull the image from Docker Hub using:

docker pull dldl/sphinx-server

If you only want to compile files without using the server, you can use the following command (for example) at the root of your documentation:

docker run -t -v "$(pwd)":/web dldl/sphinx-server make html

Clone this repository on your computer and build the image using the following command:

docker build -t dldl/sphinx-server .

You may add a .sphinx-server.yml file at the root of your project documentation if you want to use a custom configuration. You can see the default .sphinx-server.yml in this repository that will be used if you don't add yours.

Without autobuild (production mode):

If you want to enable HTTP authentication, just add a .sphinx-server.yml file at the root of your project documentation and add a credentials section. You also need to set autobuild to false.

Run the following command at the root of your documentation:

docker run -itd -v "$(pwd)":/web -p 8000:8000 --name sphinx-server dldl/sphinx-server

With autobuild enabled:

Autobuild is enabled by default. You may add folders and files to the ignore list.

Run the following command at the root of your documentation:

docker run -itd -v "$(pwd)":/web -u $(id -u):$(id -g) -p 35729:35729 -p 8000:8000 --name sphinx-server dldl/sphinx-server

The web server will be listening on port 8000. You should not change it or autobuild will no longer works. All the files in the current directory will be mount in the container. A websocket will be listening on port 35729 to automatically refresh the pages after a change.

• To stop the server, use docker stop sphinx-server
• To start the server, use docker start sphinx-server
• To remove the server, use docker rm -v sphinx-server

You can use the following command to open a shell into the container:

docker exec -it sphinx-server /bin/sh

You can then run commands like make html to build the documentation.