Docker build stops on software-properties-common when run with `apt update`

I have 2 dockerfiles:

FROM ubuntu:20.04
RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y \
    software-properties-common \
    python3

FROM ubuntu:20.04
RUN apt-get update
RUN apt-get install -y software-properties-common
RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y \
    python3

The thing is: when I run the first of them (with docker build) the build process hangs on:

The software-properties-common package is asking me about the geographical area - I cannot provide any input, it is not allowed when building images, I suppose.

However, when I build the second dockerfile, this problem does not occur. I'm curious - why is that?

Solution 1:

Add the following line in your Dockerfile and build again.

RUN DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive apt-get install -y tzdata

Solution 2:

I found that running

ln -fs /usr/share/zoneinfo/UTC /etc/localtime

before setting DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive worked for me. (You'd want to replace the bit after zoneinfo with whatever is applicable for you.)

If you need it to be set dynamically, [this answer] (https://stackoverflow.com/a/63153978/1995015) suggests calling out to a website that can provide that.