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Vishnu Chilamakuru
Vishnu Chilamakuru

Posted on • Updated 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]
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  • Rename an existing container 
docker rename [CONTAINER_NAME] [NEW_CONTAINER_NAME]
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  • Run a command in a new container 
docker run [IMAGE] [COMMAND]
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  • Remove container after it exits 
docker run --rm [IMAGE]
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  • Start a container and keep it running 
docker run -td [IMAGE]
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  • Start a container and creates an interactive bash shell in the container 
docker run -it [IMAGE]
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  • Create, Start, and run a command inside the container and remove the container after executing command. 
docker run -it-rm [IMAGE]
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  • Execute command inside already running container. 
docker exec -it [container]
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  • Delete a container (if it is not running) 
docker rm [CONTAINER]
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  • Update the configuration of the container 
docker update [CONTAINER]
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Starting and Stopping Containers

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

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

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

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

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njokudanielo profile image
NJOKU DANIEL •

Thanks

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claudemirfranco profile image
Claudemir F Franco •

awesome docker Cheatsheet!!!! Thank you @vishnuchilamakuru

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vishnuchilamakuru profile image
Vishnu Chilamakuru •

Thank you

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crazyuploader profile image
Jugal Kishore •

Great cheatsheet, thanks!

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aealu profile image
Mazi Chukwudi •

Thanks

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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

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vishnuchilamakuru profile image
Vishnu Chilamakuru •

Thanks..added it now :)

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andremoriya profile image
André Moriya •

Thanks man. :D

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akakshuki profile image
akakshuki •

thanks, that's so useful 😍

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