Simple docker-like container with java build the docker container docker build --tag java-linux-jontainer . start the docker container - to get linux note: container will be removed when the process is stopped docker run --rm --interactive --tty --privileged --volume $(pwd):/app --name jon-linux java-linux-jontainer to get a shell to the started container docker exec --interactive --tty jon-linux /bin/bash start jontainer inside docker: start the docker container and run: java -cp "lib/*:." jontainer.java run /bin/bash