How to fix ERROR: build path either does not exist, is not accessible, or is not a valid URL in Docker

services:
  myservice:
    build:
      context: ./backend  # Check this path
      dockerfile: Dockerfile

# List the directory contents
ls -la ./backend

# Or check if directory exists
test -d ./backend && echo "Directory exists" || echo "Directory NOT found"

# Show current directory
pwd

# Find where your compose file is
ls -la docker-compose.yml

# Run compose from the correct directory
cd /path/to/project
docker-compose build

# This resolves paths relative to /other/path/, not current directory
docker-compose -f /other/path/docker-compose.yml build

# WRONG - absolute path, not portable
services:
  web:
    build:
      context: /Users/john/projects/myapp/backend

# CORRECT - relative path from compose file location
services:
  web:
    build:
      context: ./backend
      dockerfile: Dockerfile

services:
  web:
    build:
      context: .
      dockerfile: Dockerfile

services:
  web:
    build:
      context: .
      dockerfile: backend/Dockerfile

# base.yml is in /project/compose/
# override.yml is in /project/compose/overrides/
docker-compose -f /project/compose/base.yml -f /project/compose/overrides/override.yml up

# In override.yml, adjust paths knowing resolution starts from base.yml location
services:
  web:
    build:
      context: ../app  # Goes up from compose/, then into app/

export COMPOSE_FILE=docker-compose.yml:docker-compose.override.yml
docker-compose up

# Check permissions on the directory
ls -la ./backend

# You should see at least read and execute permissions (r-x)
# drwxr-xr-x  5 user  group  160 Jan 15 10:00 backend

# Fix permissions if needed
chmod 755 ./backend

# For permission issues on Linux, also check if running as correct user
whoami
ls -la /var/run/docker.sock

# Check current context
ls -Z ./backend

# Allow Docker to read the directory
chcon -Rt svirt_sandbox_file_t ./backend

# Create the directory
mkdir -p ./backend

# If it should contain a Dockerfile, create it
touch ./backend/Dockerfile

# GitHub Actions example
- name: Create required directories
  run: mkdir -p ./backend

- name: Docker Compose Build
  run: docker-compose build

# Check .gitignore
cat .gitignore | grep backend

# Check if directory is tracked
git ls-files ./backend

# Option 1: Use separate compose files for build vs deploy
# docker-compose.build.yml (for building)
services:
  web:
    build:
      context: ./backend

# docker-compose.yml (for deployment)
services:
  web:
    image: myregistry/myapp:latest

# For building
docker-compose -f docker-compose.build.yml build

# For deployment (no build context needed)
docker-compose up

# Create minimal placeholder to pass validation
mkdir -p ./backend
echo "FROM scratch" > ./backend/Dockerfile
docker-compose up --no-build