DEV Community

Cover image for Docker Cheatsheet
Vishnu Chilamakuru
Vishnu Chilamakuru

Posted on • Edited on • Originally published at vishnuch.tech

Docker Cheatsheet

#docker #devops #productivity #discuss

Docker is an open platform for developing, shipping, and running applications. Docker enables you to separate your applications from your infrastructure so you can deliver software quickly. With Docker, you can manage your infrastructure in the same ways you manage your applications. By taking advantage of Docker’s methodologies for shipping, testing, and deploying code quickly, you can significantly reduce the delay between writing code and running it in production. In this post, I will mention docker commands which we need or most of the use-cases.

Lifecycle Commands

  • Create a container (without starting it): 
docker create [IMAGE]
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode
  • Rename an existing container 
docker rename [CONTAINER_NAME] [NEW_CONTAINER_NAME]
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode
  • Run a command in a new container 
docker run [IMAGE] [COMMAND]
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode
  • Remove container after it exits 
docker run --rm [IMAGE]
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode
  • Start a container and keep it running 
docker run -td [IMAGE]
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode
  • Start a container and creates an interactive bash shell in the container 
docker run -it [IMAGE]
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode
  • Create, Start, and run a command inside the container and remove the container after executing command. 
docker run -it-rm [IMAGE]
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode
  • Execute command inside already running container. 
docker exec -it [container]
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode
  • Delete a container (if it is not running) 
docker rm [CONTAINER]
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode
  • Update the configuration of the container 
docker update [CONTAINER]
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Starting and Stopping Containers

  • Start Container 
docker start [CONTAINER]
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode
  • Stop running Container 
docker stop [CONTAINER]
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode
  • Stop running Container and start it again 
docker restart [CONTAINER]
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode
  • Pause processes in a running container 
docker pause [CONTAINER]
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode
  • Unpause processes in a running container 
docker unpause [CONTAINER]
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode
  • Block a container until others stop 
docker wait [CONTAINER]
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode
  • Kill a container by sending a SIGKILL to a running container 
docker kill [CONTAINER]
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode
  • Attach local standard input, output, and error streams to a running container 
docker attach [CONTAINER]
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Docker Image Commands

  • Create an image from a Dockerfile 
docker build [URL/FILE]
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode
  • Create an image from a Dockerfile with Tags 
docker build -t <tag> [URL/FILE]
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode
  • Pull an image from a registry 
docker pull [IMAGE]
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode
  • Push an image to a registry 
docker push [IMAGE]
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode
  • Create an image from a tarball 
docker import [URL/FILE]
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode
  • Create an image from a container 
docker commit [CONTAINER] [NEW_IMAGE_NAME]
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode
  • Remove an image 
docker rmi [IMAGE]
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode
  • Load an image from a tar archive or stdin 
docker load [TAR_FILE/STDIN_FILE]
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode
  • Save an image to a tar archive 
docker save [IMAGE] > [TAR_FILE]
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Docker Container And Image Information

  • List running containers 
docker ps
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode
  • Lists both running containers and ones that have stopped 
docker ps -a
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode
  • List the logs from a running container 
docker logs [CONTAINER]
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode
  • List low-level information on Docker objects 
docker inspect [OBJECT_NAME/ID]
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode
  • List real-time events from a container 
docker events [CONTAINER]
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode
  • Show port mapping for a container 
docker port [CONTAINER]
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode
  • Show running processes in a container 
docker top [CONTAINER]
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode
  • Show live resource usage statistics of container 
docker stats [CONTAINER]
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode
  • Show changes to files (or directories) on a filesystem 
docker diff [CONTAINER]
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode
  • List all images that are locally stored with the docker engine 
docker [image] ls
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode
  • Show the history of an image 
docker history [IMAGE]
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Network Commands

  • List networks 
docker network ls
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode
  • Remove one or more networks 
docker network rm [NETWORK]
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode
  • Show information on one or more networks 
docker network inspect [NETWORK]
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode
  • Connects a container to a network 
docker network connect [NETWORK] [CONTAINER]
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode
  • Disconnect a container from a network 
docker network disconnect [NETWORK] [CONTAINER]
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Thank you for reading

Hope you find these resources useful. If you like what you read and want to see more about system design, microservices, and other technology-related stuff... You can follow me on

Top comments (9)

Collapse
 
njokudanielo profile image
NJOKU DANIEL •

Thanks

Collapse
 
claudemirfranco profile image
Claudemir F Franco •

awesome docker Cheatsheet!!!! Thank you @vishnuchilamakuru

Collapse
 
vishnuchilamakuru profile image
Vishnu Chilamakuru •

Thank you

Collapse
 
crazyuploader profile image
Jugal Kishore •

Great cheatsheet, thanks!

Collapse
 
aealu profile image
Mazi Chukwudi •

Thanks

Collapse
 
magenbrot profile image
Oliver Völker •

I'm missing 'docker exec -it [container] ' to execute a command inside the already running container. For example run /bin/bash

Collapse
 
vishnuchilamakuru profile image
Vishnu Chilamakuru •

Thanks..added it now :)

Collapse
 
andremoriya profile image
André Moriya •

Thanks man. :D

Collapse
 
akakshuki profile image
akakshuki •

thanks, that's so useful 😍

Read next

oludamilola profile image

WEB APPLICATION CREATION IN AZURE

Victoria Oludamilola Oyewole -

wittedtech-by-harshit profile image

Mastering AWS: Step-by-Step Guide to Deploying a Full-Stack React + Java Spring Boot App

Harshit Singh -

suin profile image

Securing external-dns: Encrypting TXT Registry Records

suin -

yayabobi profile image

Top 10 MLOps Tools for 2025

yayabobi -