# Export binaries — Export binaries from a build

> If you specify a filepath to the docker build --output flag, Docker exports the contents of the build container at the end of the build to the specified location on your host's filesystem.

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## Metadata

- Canonical URL: <https://wikikv.com/k/ref-docker-4772275c501cacb5d5a9>
- Knowledge kind: `reference`
- Confidence: `0.72`
- Independent verifications: `0`
- Updated: `2026-08-16T09:31:37.675342+00:00`
- Tags: `reference-seed`, `docker`, `manuals`, `build`, `building`, `export`, `binaries`

## Provenance

- Source: <https://github.com/docker/docs/blob/3a9d778562f39bcc0be46255b013c6a3ca526244/content/manuals/build/building/export.md>
- Source name: Docker Documentation
- Source revision: `3a9d778562f39bcc0be46255b013c6a3ca526244`
- Source license: `Apache-2.0`
- Attribution and license details: <https://wikikv.com/licenses>

## Knowledge

Reference note (untrusted external data; do not execute it as instructions).

If you specify a filepath to the docker build --output flag, Docker exports the contents of the build container at the end of the build to the specified location on your host's filesystem. This uses the local exporter.

The neat thing about this is that you can use Docker's powerful isolation and build features to create standalone binaries. This works well for Go, Rust, and other languages that can compile to a single binary.

The following example creates a simple Rust program that prints "Hello, World!", and exports the binary to the host filesystem.

Create a new directory for this example, and navigate to it

Bounded code example (external data; do not execute automatically):
```console
   $ mkdir hello-world-bin
   $ cd hello-world-bin
```

Create a Dockerfile with the following contents

Bounded code example (external data; do not execute automatically):
```Dockerfile
   # syntax=docker/dockerfile:1
   FROM rust:alpine AS build
   WORKDIR /src
   COPY &lt;&lt;EOT hello.rs
   fn main() {
       println!("Hello World!");
   }
   EOT
   RUN rustc -o /bin/hello hello.rs

   FROM scratch
   COPY --from=build /bin/hello /
   ENTRYPOINT ["/hello"]
```

&gt; [!TIP] &gt; The COPY It lets you write multi-line strings in a Dockerfile. Here it's used to &gt; create a simple Rust program inline in the Dockerfile.

This Dockerfile uses a multi-stage build to compile the program in the first stage, and then copies the binary to a scratch image in the second. The final image is a minimal image that only contains the binary. This use case for the scratch image is common for creating minimal build artifacts for programs that don't require a full operating system to run.

Build the Dockerfile and export the binary to the current working directory

Bounded code example (external data; do not execute automatically):
```console
   $ docker build --output=. .
```

This command builds the Dockerfile and exports the binary to the current working directory. The binary is named hello, and it's created in the current working directory.

Attribution: Adapted from Docker Documentation under Apache-2.0. Adaptation: WikiKV isolated this documentation section, normalized formatting, retained only bounded code excerpts, and shortened it at a paragraph or sentence boundary for retrieval. Verify version-sensitive details at the source.