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Balvinder Singh
Balvinder Singh

Posted on • Updated on • Originally published at Medium

Common Docker Commands you must know


Hi, I will share some easy and common docker commands that will help you In managing Docker data in your system. These commands are the ones that are used daily. I will not mention all Commands, just the basic ones that I use mostly. So let us see.


Cleanup Docker Commands

  1. Image Prune

It will clear all dangling images.

sudo docker image prune

2. Volume prune

It will remove all volumes which are not in use.

sudo docker volume prune

3. Network Prune

Will remove all Networks not in use or leftover from old configurations.

sudo docker network prune

4. System Prune

Will remove all stopped containers along with the network, volume, and dangling images.

sudo docker system prune

Information Docker Commands

1. Stats

To check stats like Cpu Usage, memory, network and I/O usage of the containers.

sudo docker stats

2. Inspect

To get information about a docker container, like layer images, network, storage, and more.

sudo docker inspect container_id

3. Logs

To check logs of the running Containers

sudo docker logs container_id

4. PS (Running containers or stopped containers)

To check the running containers, and also Stopped containers with additional flags.

// for only running containers<br>sudo docker ps<br><br>
// for running as well stopped containers<br>sudo docker ps -a

Execution and running-related Docker Commands

1. EXEC (to drop to docker shell of the running container)

It helps to drop to the shell of the docker container running, so you can execute commands for the specific container, inside the container. You just need to pass the correct shell used by docker container

sudo docker exec -it container_id bash
sudo docker exec -it container_id sh

2. Pull

Used to pull docker images from the container registry or your hosted registry.

sudo docker pull image_name
sudo docker pull repo_name/image_name

3. Run

To run a docker container using an image you just pulled above. Additional parameters can be provided

sudo docker run image_name

4. Start

To run a stopped container

sudo docker start container_id

5. Stop

To stop a running container

sudo docker stop container_id

6. Restart

To restart a running container

sudo docker restart container_id

These are the common ones, but to check all, commands type below command

sudo docker --help

 
balvinder@balvinder-Inspiron-5575:~$ sudo docker --help

Usage:  docker [OPTIONS] COMMAND

A self-sufficient runtime for containers

Options:
      --config string      Location of client config files (default "/root/.docker")
  -c, --context string     Name of the context to use to connect to the daemon (overrides DOCKER_HOST env var and default context set with "docker context use")
  -D, --debug              Enable debug mode
  -H, --host list          Daemon socket(s) to connect to
  -l, --log-level string   Set the logging level ("debug"|"info"|"warn"|"error"|"fatal") (default "info")
      --tls                Use TLS; implied by --tlsverify
      --tlscacert string   Trust certs signed only by this CA (default "/root/.docker/ca.pem")
      --tlscert string     Path to TLS certificate file (default "/root/.docker/cert.pem")
      --tlskey string      Path to TLS key file (default "/root/.docker/key.pem")
      --tlsverify          Use TLS and verify the remote
  -v, --version            Print version information and quit

Management Commands:
  builder     Manage builds
  config      Manage Docker configs
  container   Manage containers
  context     Manage contexts
  engine      Manage the docker engine
  image       Manage images
  network     Manage networks
  node        Manage Swarm nodes
  plugin      Manage plugins
  secret      Manage Docker secrets
  service     Manage services
  stack       Manage Docker stacks
  swarm       Manage Swarm
  system      Manage Docker
  trust       Manage trust on Docker images
  volume      Manage volumes

Commands:
  attach      Attach local standard input, output, and error streams to a running container
  build       Build an image from a Dockerfile
  commit      Create a new image from a container's changes
  cp          Copy files/folders between a container and the local filesystem
  create      Create a new container
  diff        Inspect changes to files or directories on a container's filesystem
  events      Get real time events from the server
  exec        Run a command in a running container
  export      Export a container's filesystem as a tar archive
  history     Show the history of an image
  images      List images
  import      Import the contents from a tarball to create a filesystem image
  info        Display system-wide information
  inspect     Return low-level information on Docker objects
  kill        Kill one or more running containers
  load        Load an image from a tar archive or STDIN
  login       Log in to a Docker registry
  logout      Log out from a Docker registry
  logs        Fetch the logs of a container
  pause       Pause all processes within one or more containers
  port        List port mappings or a specific mapping for the container
  ps          List containers
  pull        Pull an image or a repository from a registry
  push        Push an image or a repository to a registry
  rename      Rename a container
  restart     Restart one or more containers
  rm          Remove one or more containers
  rmi         Remove one or more images
  run         Run a command in a new container
  save        Save one or more images to a tar archive (streamed to STDOUT by default)
  search      Search the Docker Hub for images
  start       Start one or more stopped containers
  stats       Display a live stream of container(s) resource usage statistics
  stop        Stop one or more running containers
  tag         Create a tag TARGET_IMAGE that refers to SOURCE_IMAGE
  top         Display the running processes of a container
  unpause     Unpause all processes within one or more containers
  update      Update configuration of one or more containers
  version     Show the Docker version information
  wait        Block until one or more containers stop, then print their exit codes

Run 'docker COMMAND --help' for more information on a command.

You can also check the official documentation here. https://docs.docker.com/

Thanks for reading the article, I hope it will Surely do help. Do let me know in the comments below.

Originally published at Tekraze.com

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