COMPOSE_PROFILES vs. --profile in compose v2

Docker Engine Compose
1

Hi,

I’m migrating from compose v1 to v2 and I noticed that COMPOSE_PROFILES=foo in .env now seems to take precedence over --profile on the command line.
Is this intentional? If yes then it makes my setup more awkward to use:

  • COMPOSE_PROFILES=all in .env
  • all services are in profile all
  • with v1, users can choose another subset of services via docker-compose --profile x ...
  • with v2, I now have to use COMPOSE_PROFILES=x docker compose ... as --profile doesn’t work anymore (until I remove COMPOSE_PROFILES from .env)

Version is 2.10.2, as per latest Docker Desktop for Windows (actual usage is within WSL2).

Cheers!

2

I don’t know if it was intentional. I rarely use profiles with Docker Compose, but if you feel it can be a bug, I think the best place to report it would be on GitHub:

Even if it was intentional, if the variable can override the --profile options, there should be a warning at least. It could be similar to when you get a waning about undefined variables.

3

Thanks @rimelek! I though it’s better to ask here first in case I missed something.

I’ve created an issue: `COMPOSE_PROFILES` has higher priority than `–profile` in compose v2 (as opposed to v1) · Issue #9895 · docker/compose · GitHub

4

You did the right thing. It looks like someone tagged the issue as “bug”, so let’s hope it will be fixed soon. :slight_smile:

5

Just came here since I’m having the similar issue with the --profile as we use that a lot here in work for different composing options. Stopped working when spinning down on v2.