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Suleiman Dibirov
Suleiman Dibirov

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Essential Docker Commands for Developers

Docker has revolutionized the way we build, ship, and run applications.
In this article, we’ll explore the most useful Docker commands every developer should know.

1. Installation and Setup

Before diving into Docker commands, ensure Docker is installed on your machine. You can download Docker Desktop from the official Docker website.

2. Basic Docker Commands

docker run

Run a Docker container from an image. If the image is not present locally, Docker will pull it from the Docker Hub.

docker run hello-world
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docker pull

Download an image from a Docker registry.

docker pull nginx
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docker ps

List running Docker containers.

docker ps
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To include stopped containers, use:

docker ps -a
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docker stop

Stop a running container.

docker stop <container_id>
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docker rm

Remove a stopped container.

docker rm <container_id>
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docker rmi

Remove an image.

docker rmi <image_id>
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3. Image Management

docker build

Build an image from a Dockerfile.

docker build -t myapp .
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docker images

List all Docker images on your machine.

docker images
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docker tag

Tag an image for a specific repository.

docker tag myapp myrepo/myapp:latest
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docker push

Push an image to a Docker registry.

docker push myrepo/myapp:latest
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4. Container Management

docker exec

Run a command in a running container. This is useful for debugging and inspection.

docker exec -it <container_id> /bin/bash
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docker logs

View the logs of a container.

docker logs <container_id>
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docker inspect

Inspect the details of a container or image.

docker inspect <container_id>
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docker-compose

Docker Compose is a tool for defining and running multi-container Docker applications. Define your services in a docker-compose.yml file, and then use the following commands:

docker-compose up

Start and run your entire application defined in docker-compose.yml.

docker-compose up
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docker-compose down

Stop and remove all containers defined in docker-compose.yml.

docker-compose down
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5. Networking and Volumes

docker network ls

List all Docker networks.

docker network ls
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docker network create

Create a new Docker network.

docker network create mynetwork
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docker volume ls

List all Docker volumes.

docker volume ls
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docker volume create

Create a new Docker volume.

docker volume create myvolume
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docker run with Networking and Volumes

Run a container with a specific network and volume.

docker run -d --name mycontainer --network mynetwork -v myvolume:/data myimage
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6. Cleanup Commands

docker system prune

Clean up unused Docker objects (containers, images, networks, and volumes).

docker system prune
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docker volume prune

Remove all unused volumes.

docker volume prune
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docker network prune

Remove all unused networks.

docker network prune
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