Docker Check if DB is Running - bash

Question

entrypoint.sh contains various cqlsh commands that require Cassandra. Without something like script.sh, cqlsh commands fail because Cassandra doesn't have enough time to start. When I execute the following locally, everything appears to work properly. However, when I run via Docker, script.sh never finishes. In other words, $status never changes from 1 to 0.
Dockerfile
FROM cassandra
RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y netcat
RUN mkdir /dir
ADD ./scripts /dir/scripts
RUN /bin/bash -c 'service cassandra start'
RUN /bin/bash -c '/dir/scripts/script.sh'
RUN /bin/bash -c '/dir/scripts/entrypoint.sh'
script.sh
#!/bin/bash
set -e
cmd="$#"
status=$(nc -z localhost 9042; echo $?)
echo $status
while [ $status != 0 ]
do
sleep 3s
status=$(nc -z localhost 9042; echo $?)
echo $status
done
exec $cmd
Alternatively, I could do something like until cqlsh -e 'some code'; do .., as noted here for psql, but that doesn't appear to work for me. Wondering how best to approach the problem.

Answer 1

You're misusing the RUN command in your Dockerfile. It's not for starting services, it's for making filesystem changes in your image. The reason $status doesn't update is because you can't start Cassandra via a RUN command.
You should add service cassandra start and /dir/scripts/entrypoint.sh to your script.sh file, and make that the CMD that's executed by default:
Dockerfile
CMD ['/bin/bash', '-c', '/dir/scripts/script.sh']
script.sh
#!/bin/bash
set -e
# NOTE: I removed your `cmd` processing in favor of invoking entrypoint.sh
# directly.
# Start Cassandra before waiting for it to boot.
service cassandra start
status=$(nc -z localhost 9042; echo $?)
echo $status
while [ $status != 0 ]
do
sleep 3s
status=$(nc -z localhost 9042; echo $?)
echo $status
done
exec /bin/bash -c /dir/scripts/entrypoint.sh