Introduction 👋
Docker has rapidly become the de facto standard for containerizing applications. As a developer or DevOps Engineer/SysAdmin, getting familiar with Docker is crucial for deploying modern, portable applications efficiently.
While Docker boasts numerous advanced features and commands, there are certain essential ones you’ll find yourself using consistently on a daily basis.
In this post, we will go through the top 17+ Docker commands and their use cases everyone should know.
Installation 🔨
To install Docker on your machine, follow this document (Supported various platforms)
To get hands-on experience and understand Docker better, you could visit this repository
Table of Contents 🔖
Docker General (info | help)
Docker Registry (login)
Docker Images (build | tag | images | pull | push | rmi )
Docker Containers (run | ps | stop/start/restart | rm | logs | exec | cp)
Docker Cleanup (system prune)
What’s next?
Docker general commands
1. docker info
docker info display system-wide information
2. docker –help
docker –help get help with Docker. Can also use –help on all subcommands
Docker Registry
3. docker login
docker login is used to log in to a Docker registry.
Title
Command
Description
Template
docker login <options>
Log in to a Docker registry with specified authentication
Usecase 1
docker login
Log in to the default Docker registry
Usecase 2
docker login myregistry -u username
Log in to a private registry with the specified username
Docker Images
4. docker build
docker build is used to build custom Docker images from a Dockerfile.
Title
Command
Description
Template
docker build -t <your_image_name> <option>
Build a Docker image from a Dockerfile with specified tag
Usecase 1
docker build -t MyImage .
Build an image using a Dockerfile in the current directory
Usecase 2
docker build -t MyImage -f demo/Dockerfile
Build an image using a Dockerfile in the demo directory
5. docker tag
docker tag allows you to create a new tag for an existing Docker image.
Title
Command
Description
Template
docker tag <source_image> <target_image>
Create a new tag for an existing Docker image
Usecase 1
docker tag myimage:latest myimage:v2
Create a new tag “v2” for the Docker image “myimage” with tag “latest”
Usecase 2
docker tag myimage:latest myregistry/myimage
Tag the Docker image “myimage” with tag “latest” and push it to a registry
6. docker images
The docker images command lists all Docker images pulled and built on your system. You’ll use this frequently to view images before running containers or cleaning up.
Title
Command
Description
Template
docker images <options>
List Docker images on the system
Usecase 1
docker images
List all Docker images on the system
Usecase 2
docker images -a
List all Docker images, including intermediate ones
7. docker pull
To download an image from a registry like Docker Hub, use docker pull. For example, docker pull nginx fetches the latest nginx image.
Title
Command
Description
Template
docker pull <image_name>
Pull a Docker image from a registry
Usecase 1
docker pull nginx
Pull the latest nginx image from Docker Hub
Usecase 2
docker pull myregistry/myimage:tag
Pull a specific image from a private registry
8. docker push
docker push is used to upload Docker images to a registry.
Title
Command
Description
Template
docker push <image_name>
Push a Docker image to a registry
Usecase 1
docker push myimage
Push the “myimage” image to the default registry
Usecase 2
docker push myregistry/myimage:tag
Push a specific tagged version of the “myimage” image to a private registry
9. docker rmi
docker rmi removes one or more Docker images. Make sure there are no stopped containers based on an image before removing it.
Title
Command
Description
Template
docker rmi <image_name>
Remove a Docker image
Usecase 1
docker rmi myimage
Remove the Docker image named “myimage”
Usecase 2
docker rmi myimage:tag
Remove a specific tagged version of the “myimage” image
Docker Container
10. docker run
docker run creates and starts a new container from an image. You can pass various options to configure the container’s networking, set environment variables, map volumes, and more.
Title
Command
Description
Template
docker run <options> <image>
Create and start a container from an image with specified options
Usecase 1
docker run -d –name mycontainer nginx
Run nginx image in detached mode with container name “mycontainer”
Usecase 2
docker run -p 8080:80 –name mycontainer nginx
Run nginx image with port mapping from host 8080 to container 80
Usecase 3
docker run -e MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD=password -v /mydata:/var/lib/mysql mysql
Run MySQL image with setting root password
Usecase 4
docker run -v /mydata:/var/lib/mysql mysql
Run MySQL image and mounting a host directory to container
Usecase 5
docker run –network=host myimage
Run a container using the host network
Usecase 6
docker run –privileged myimage
Run a container with extended privileges using the Docker image “myimage”
11. docker ps
Once you have containers running, you’ll need docker ps to list them. The basic docker ps shows just running containers. Use docker ps -a to include stopped containers as well.
Title
Command
Description
Template
docker ps <options>
List Docker containers on the system
Usecase 1
docker ps
List running containers
Usecase 2
docker ps -a
List all containers, including stopped ones
12. docker stop/start/restart
These commands allow you to stop, start, or restart one or more running containers. You reference containers by name or ID.
Title
Command
Description
Template
docker stop/start/restart <container_name>
Stop/start/restart a Docker container
Usecase 1
docker stop mycontainer
Stop a running container named “mycontainer”
Usecase 2
docker restart mycontainer
Restart a container named “mycontainer”
Usecase 3
docker start mycontainer
Start a stopped container named “mycontainer”
13. docker rm
Once you’ve stopped a container, docker rm removes it entirely from your system. Use docker rm -f to force-remove running containers.
Title
Command
Description
Template
docker rm <options> <container>
Remove a Docker container
Usecase 1
docker rm mycontainer
Remove a stopped container named “mycontainer”
Usecase 2
docker rm -f mycontainer
Force-remove a running container named “mycontainer”
14. docker logs
When a containerized application is not behaving correctly, docker logs retrieves the logs from a specified container to help troubleshoot.
Title
Command
Description
Template
docker logs <container>
Retrieve logs from a Docker container
Usecase 1
docker logs mycontainer
Retrieve logs from a container named “mycontainer”
Usecase 2
docker logs –tail 100 mycontainer
Retrieve last 100 lines of logs from “mycontainer”
15. docker exec
docker exec allows you to run a new command inside an already-running container. For example, starting a Bash shell with docker exec -it <container> /bin/bash.
Title
Command
Description
Template
docker exec <options> <container> <command>
Run a command inside a running Docker container
Usecase 1
docker exec -it mycontainer /bin/bash
Start an interactive Bash shell in “mycontainer”
Usecase 2
docker exec mycontainer ls -l /app
List files in directory “/app” in “mycontainer”
16. docker cp
docker cp allows you to copy files and directories between a container and the local filesystem.
Title
Command
Description
Template
docker cp <container_id_or_name>:<source_path> <destination_path>
Copy files or directories from a container to the local filesystem
Usecase 1
docker cp mycontainer:/app/logs/log.txt ./local_dir/
Copy the file “log.txt” from the container “mycontainer” to a local directory
Usecase 2
docker cp ./local_file.txt mycontainer:/app/data/
Copy the file “local_file.txt” from the local filesystem to the container “mycontainer”
Docker cleanup
17. docker system prune
docker system prune allows you to clean up unused data in your Docker environment.
Title
Command
Description
Template
docker system prune <options>
Clean up unused data in your Docker environment with specified options
Usecase 1
docker system prune
Remove all stopped containers, dangling images, and unused networks
Usecase 2
docker system prune -a
Remove all stopped containers, all unused images, and all unused networks
What’s next?
For the full list of docker commands, visit: https://docs.docker.com/reference/cli/docker/
You could the most comprehensive and up-to-date content on this topic, please visit this repo ⭐️.
Which Docker command do you find yourself using the most? Let us know in the comments below. Your feedback and suggestions are highly appreciated. Thank you, and happy coding! 💖
