# Bitnami Secure Image for Fluent Bit

## What is Fluent Bit?

> Fluent Bit is a Fast and Lightweight Log Processor and Forwarder. It has been made with a strong focus on performance to allow the collection of events from different sources without complexity.

[Overview of Fluent Bit](https://fluentbit.io/)
Trademarks: This software listing is packaged by Bitnami. The respective trademarks mentioned in the offering are owned by the respective companies, and use of them does not imply any affiliation or endorsement.

## TL;DR

```console
docker run --name fluent-bit bitnami/fluent-bit:latest
```

## Why use Bitnami Secure Images?

Those are hardened, minimal CVE images built and maintained by Bitnami. Bitnami Secure Images are based on the cloud-optimized, security-hardened enterprise [OS Photon Linux](https://vmware.github.io/photon/). Why choose BSI images?

- Hardened secure images of popular open source software with Near-Zero Vulnerabilities
- Vulnerability Triage & Prioritization with VEX Statements, KEV and EPSS Scores
- Compliance focus with FIPS, STIG, and air-gap options, including secure bill of materials (SBOM)
- Software supply chain provenance attestation through in-toto
- First class support for the internet’s favorite Helm charts

Each image comes with valuable security metadata. You can view the metadata in [our public catalog here](https://app-catalog.vmware.com/bitnami/apps). Note: Some data is only available with [commercial subscriptions to BSI](https://bitnami.com/).

![Alt text](https://github.com/bitnami/containers/blob/main/BSI%20UI%201.png?raw=true "Application details")
![Alt text](https://github.com/bitnami/containers/blob/main/BSI%20UI%202.png?raw=true "Packaging report")

If you are looking for our previous generation of images based on Debian Linux, please see the [Bitnami Legacy registry](https://hub.docker.com/u/bitnamilegacy).

## Why use a non-root container?

Non-root container images add an extra layer of security and are generally recommended for production environments. However, because they run as a non-root user, privileged tasks are typically off-limits. Learn more about non-root containers [in our docs](https://techdocs.broadcom.com/us/en/vmware-tanzu/application-catalog/tanzu-application-catalog/services/tac-doc/apps-tutorials-work-with-non-root-containers-index.html).

## Supported tags and respective `Dockerfile` links

Learn more about the Bitnami tagging policy and the difference between rolling tags and immutable tags [in our documentation page](https://techdocs.broadcom.com/us/en/vmware-tanzu/application-catalog/tanzu-application-catalog/services/tac-doc/apps-tutorials-understand-rolling-tags-containers-index.html).

## Get this image

The recommended way to get the Bitnami Fluent Bit Docker Image is to pull the prebuilt image from the [Docker Hub Registry](https://hub.docker.com/r/bitnami/fluent-bit).

```console
docker pull bitnami/fluent-bit:latest
```

To use a specific version, you can pull a versioned tag. You can view the [list of available versions](https://hub.docker.com/r/bitnami/fluent-bit/tags/) in the Docker Hub Registry.

```console
docker pull bitnami/fluent-bit:[TAG]
```

If you wish, you can also build the image yourself by cloning the repository, changing to the directory containing the Dockerfile and executing the `docker build` command. Remember to replace the `APP`, `VERSION` and `OPERATING-SYSTEM` path placeholders in the example command below with the correct values.

```console
git clone https://github.com/bitnami/containers.git
cd bitnami/APP/VERSION/OPERATING-SYSTEM
docker build -t bitnami/APP:latest .
```

## Connecting to other containers

Using [Docker container networking](https://docs.docker.com/engine/userguide/networking/), a different server running inside a container can easily be accessed by your application containers and vice-versa.

Containers attached to the same network can communicate with each other using the container name as the hostname.

### Using the Command Line

#### Step 1: Create a network

```console
docker network create fluent-bit-network --driver bridge
```

#### Step 2: Launch the Fluent Bit container within your network

Use the `--network <NETWORK>` argument to the `docker run` command to attach the container to the `fluent-bit-network` network.

```console
docker run --name fluent-bit-node1 --network fluent-bit-network bitnami/fluent-bit:latest
```

#### Step 3: Run another container

We can launch another container using the same flag (`--network NETWORK`) in the `docker run` command. If you also set a name to your container, you will be able to use it as hostname in your network.

### Using a Docker Compose file

When not specified, Docker Compose automatically sets up a new network and attaches all deployed services to that network. However, we will explicitly define a new `bridge` network named `app-tier`. In this example we assume that you want to connect to the Fluent Bit log processor from your own custom application image which is identified in the following snippet by the service name `myapp`.

```yaml
version: '2'

networks:
  app-tier:
    driver: bridge

services:
  fluent-bit:
    image: bitnami/fluent-bit:latest
    networks:
      - app-tier
  myapp:
    image: YOUR_APPLICATION_IMAGE
    networks:
      - app-tier
```

> **IMPORTANT**:
>
> 1. Please update the **YOUR_APPLICATION_IMAGE_** placeholder in the above snippet with your application image
> 2. In your application container, use the hostname `fluent-bit` to connect to the Fluent Bit log processor

Launch the containers using:

```console
docker-compose up -d
```

## Configuration

Fluent Bit is flexible enough to be configured either from the command line or through a configuration file. For production environments, Fluent Bit strongly recommends to use the configuration file approach.

[Configuration reference](https://fluentbit.io/documentation/)

### FIPS configuration in Bitnami Secure Images

The Bitnami Fluent Bit Docker image from the [Bitnami Secure Images](https://go-vmware.broadcom.com/contact-us) catalog includes extra features and settings to configure the container with FIPS capabilities. You can configure the next environment variables:

- `OPENSSL_FIPS`: whether OpenSSL runs in FIPS mode or not. `yes` (default), `no`.

## Plugins

Fluent Bit supports multiple extensions via plugins.

[Plugins reference](https://fluentbit.io/documentation/)

## Logging

The Bitnami fluent-bit Docker image sends the container logs to the `stdout`. To view the logs:

```console
docker logs fluent-bit
```

You can configure the containers [logging driver](https://docs.docker.com/engine/admin/logging/overview/) using the `--log-driver` option if you wish to consume the container logs differently. In the default configuration docker uses the `json-file` driver.

## Using `docker-compose.yaml`

Please be aware this file has not undergone internal testing. Consequently, we advise its use exclusively for development or testing purposes. For production-ready deployments, we highly recommend utilizing its associated [Bitnami Helm chart](https://github.com/bitnami/charts/tree/main/bitnami/fluent-bit).

If you detect any issue in the `docker-compose.yaml` file, feel free to report it or contribute with a fix by following our [Contributing Guidelines](https://github.com/bitnami/containers/blob/main/CONTRIBUTING.md).

## License

Copyright &copy; 2026 Broadcom. The term "Broadcom" refers to Broadcom Inc. and/or its subsidiaries.

Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
You may obtain a copy of the License at

<http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0>

Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
limitations under the License.
