Error response from daemon: No build stage in current context

Does your dockerfile have a: FROM repo/image

As the first line? I got this error when I forgot to specify the docker image that I was building from.

Even if you're building a "source image" you still need to specify FROM scratch as the first line of the dockerfile.

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This usually happens because of the text that is written before the FROM command. Try removing the comments in your dockerfile and build again.

For reference https://github.com/moby/buildkit/issues/164

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This message appears when you declare an environment variable (ENV) before declaring FROM.

For example:

# Define variables.
ARG PORT
ENV SERVER_PORT=$PORT

# Install minimal Python 3.
FROM python:3.7-alpine

# Install Python requirements.
COPY requirements.txt /
RUN pip install -r /requirements.txt

# Copy app source code.
COPY src/ /app
...

To resolve this, swap the declarations so that any environment variables are set after FROM.

# Install minimal Python 3.
FROM python:3.7-alpine

# Define variables.
ARG PORT
ENV SERVER_PORT=${PORT}

# Install Python requirements.
COPY requirements.txt /
RUN pip install -r /requirements.txt

# Copy app source code.
COPY src/ /app
...

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According to the documentation on docs.docker.com, the first non-comment line of your Dockerfile must be the FROM line. To quote the docs:

The FROM instruction initializes a new build stage and sets the Base Image for subsequent instructions. As such, a valid Dockerfile must start with a FROM instruction.

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If you are still using the deprecated MAINTAINER keyword, you must have the FROM command as the first command in the Dockerfile:

BAD:

MAINTAINER your name "your@email.com"
FROM dockerimagename

GOOD:

FROM dockerimagename
MAINTAINER your name "your@email.com"

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The problem is resolved. When I went to dockerfile to edit the code I noticed that I accidentally uncommented the first line. Stupid mistake, I know. Thank you both for the help.

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It was my case because I had ENV specified before FROM and as already mentioned, the FROM should be the first expression in your Dockerfile.

BUT

Since this PR https://github.com/moby/moby/pull/31352 you can specify ARG before FROM which might be suitable alternative for you.

So I've changed

ENV MY_VAR 1
FROM ...

to

ARG MY_VAR=1
FROM ...

BTW You can read about ARG vs ENV difference here https://vsupalov.com/docker-arg-vs-env/

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I do not think that this is your case, but it might help someone else with that error.

My Dockerfile ran without that error. I added "FROM vcatechnology/linux-mint:18.2" to the start of the Dockerfile, no error either. After deleting that FROM statement again, it was still searching for it, causing this error. I could only get rid of the error by adding the FROM statement again.

Thus, this error can simply appear if you have used a Dockerfile starting with a FROM statement and if you then drop that FROM statement again.

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In my case, I changed RUN to FROM.

Old Dockerfile:

RUN php:8-apache

COPY /src var/www/html/

ENV APACHE_DOCUMENT_ROOT ./src/public/

RUN sed -ri -e 's!/var/www/html!${APACHE_DOCUMENT_ROOT}!g' /etc/apache2/sites-available/*.conf

RUN sed -ri -e 's!/var/www/!${APACHE_DOCUMENT_ROOT}!g' /etc/apache2/apache2.conf /etc/apache2/conf-available/*.conf

EXPOSE 80

New Dockerfile:

FROM php:8-apache

COPY /src var/www/html/

ENV APACHE_DOCUMENT_ROOT ./src/public/

RUN sed -ri -e 's!/var/www/html!${APACHE_DOCUMENT_ROOT}!g' /etc/apache2/sites-available/*.conf

RUN sed -ri -e 's!/var/www/!${APACHE_DOCUMENT_ROOT}!g' /etc/apache2/apache2.conf /etc/apache2/conf-available/*.conf

EXPOSE 80

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