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Ömer Berat Sezer
Ömer Berat Sezer

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Top 20 Docker Commands with Examples and Outputs

#docker #cli #tutorial #devops

Important Docker commands with their outputs:

docker pull

  • downloads an image from Docker registry 
user@docker:$ docker pull nginx:latest # download latest tag
Using default tag: latest
latest: Pulling from library/nginx
a480a496ba95: Pull complete
Digest: sha256:28402db69fec7c17e179ea87882667
Status: Downloaded newer image for nginx:latest
docker.o/library/nginx:latest
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docker run

  • runs a container from an image 
user@docker:$ docker run -d -p 8080:80 nginx:latest
# -d => run in detach mode (background)
# -p => publish port  <host>:<container>
8f9f97dc08ffddb173ebe61eaa871b2944
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docker ps

  • lists all running containers 
user@docker:$ docker ps
user@docker:$ docker ps -a
CONTAINER ID  IMAGE               COMMAND                     CREATED            STATUS                      
8f9f97dc08ff     nginx:latest     "/docker-entrypoint"   2 minutes ago   Up 2 minutes
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docker images

  • lists all downloaded images 
user@docker:$ docker images
REPOSITORY      TAG        IMAGE ID            CREATED             SIZE
nginx                     latest     3b25b682ea82   4 weeks ago     192MB
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docker rm

  • removes a stopped container 
user@docker:$ docker container rm -f my_container
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user@docker:$ docker image rm -f nginx            # force to delete image
Untagged: nginx:latest
Untagged: nginx@sha256:28402db69fec7c17e179ea8788266
Deleted: sha256:3b25b682ea82b2db3cc4fd48db818be788ee
Deleted: sha256:3e8a4396bcdb62aeb916ec1e4cf645000380
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docker rmi

  • removes a specific image 
user@docker:$ docker rmi nginx
Untagged: nginx:latest
Untagged: nginx@sha256:28402db69fec7c17e179ea8788266
Deleted: sha256:3b25b682ea82b2db3cc4fd48db818be788ee
Deleted: sha256:3e8a4396bcdb62aeb916ec1e4cf645000380
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docker exec

  • runs a command inside a running container 
user@docker:$ docker exec -it my_container bash
user@docker:$ docker exec -it my_container bin/sh
# pwd
/
# read escape sequence      # CTRL + P + Q => go to host
user@docker:$
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docker build

  • builds an image from a Dockerfile 
user@docker:$ docker build -t myapp .    
# if Dockerfile in the same directory
user@docker:$ docker build -t myapp -f /other-directory/Dockerfile .
# if Dockerfile in the different directory path
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docker logs

  • shows logs from a container 
user@docker:$ docker logs my_container
2024/11/01 21:20:08 [notice] 1#1: nginx/1.27.2
2024/11/01 21:20:08 [notice] 1#1: built by gcc 12.2.0 (Debian 12.2.0-14)
2024/11/01 21:20:08 [notice] 1#1: OS: Linux 5.10.60.1
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docker network ls

  • lists all networks 
user@docker:$ docker network ls
NETWORK ID     NAME        DRIVER    SCOPE
19cb6e2b2cab   bridge       bridge    local
8ab407104066   host           host      local
67944d3050a3   none          null      local
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docker volume ls

  • lists all volumes 
user@docker:$ docker volume ls
DRIVER    VOLUME NAME
local          3a243556537e4e11
local          myvolume
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docker login

  • login dockerhub or docker registry 
user@docker:$ docker login
Login with your Docker ID to push and pull images from Docker Hub.
Username:
Password:
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docker tag

  • creates a new tag for an image, useful for renaming or versioning 
user@docker:$ docker tag nginx:latest my_nginx:latest
REPOSITORY    TAG            IMAGE ID                CREATED           SIZE
my_nginx           latest        3b25b682ea82      4 weeks ago     192MB
nginx                   latest        3b25b682ea82      4 weeks ago     192MB
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docker push

  • uploads an image to Docker Hub or another Docker registry 
user@docker:$ docker push <my_username>/my_nginx
The push refers to repository [docker.io/<my_username>/my_nginx]
e4e9e9ad93c2: Mounted from library/nginx
latest: digest: sha256:7ba542bde95e6523a4b126f610 size: 1778
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docker save

  • saves a Docker image as a .tar archive 
user@docker:$ docker save -o <imageName>.tar  <imageName>
user@docker:$ docker save -o my_nginx.tar my_nginx
user@docker:$  ls
my_nginx.tar
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docker load

  • loads an image from a .tar archive 
user@docker:$ docker load -i my_image.tar
user@docker:$ docker load -i my_nginx.tar
Loaded image: my_nginx:latest
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docker stats

  • displays real-time resource usage statistics for containers 
user@docker:$ docker stats
CONTAINER ID   NAME      CPU %     MEM USAGE / LIMIT   MEM %     NET I/O   BLOCK I/O   PIDS
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docker-compose up

  • starts and runs all services defined in a docker-compose.yml file 
user@docker:$ docker-compose up -d      
# -d => run detach mode, background
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docker-compose down

  • stops and removes all services and networks created by docker-compose up 
user@docker:$ docker-compose down
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docker system prune

  • cleans up unused containers, images, networks, and volumes 
user@docker:$ docker system prune
user@docker:$ docker system prune -a
WARNING! This will remove:
  - all stopped containers
  - all networks not used by at least one container
  - all images without at least one container associated to them
  - all build cache
Are you sure you want to continue? [y/N] y
Deleted Containers: 94eabb9dd32f55061bc3d6
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