Basic Docker Commands (CLI)

To continue the series of articles about Docker, I’d like to share about some basic Docker commands that we often used when we work with Docker.

0. Very first Docker command

The very first Docker command should be itself which shows how to to use the Docker commands, how many options, parameters, some basic Docker commands, etc.

$ docker

$ docker

For ex:

$ docker
Usage: docker [OPTIONS] COMMAND [arg...]
       docker daemon [ --help | ... ]
       docker [ --help | -v | --version ]

A self-sufficient runtime for containers.

Options:

  --config=~/.docker              Location of client config files
  -D, --debug                     Enable debug mode
  -H, --host=[]                   Daemon socket(s) to connect to
  -h, --help                      Print usage
  -l, --log-level=info            Set the logging level
  --tls                           Use TLS; implied by --tlsverify
  --tlscacert=~/.docker/ca.pem    Trust certs signed only by this CA
  --tlscert=~/.docker/cert.pem    Path to TLS certificate file
  --tlskey=~/.docker/key.pem      Path to TLS key file
  --tlsverify                     Use TLS and verify the remote
  -v, --version                   Print version information and quit

Commands:
    attach    Attach 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

$ docker

Usage: docker [OPTIONS] COMMAND [arg...]

docker daemon [ --help | ... ]

docker [ --help | -v | --version ]

A self-sufficient runtime for containers.

Options:

--config=~/.docker Location of client config files

-D, --debug Enable debug mode

-H, --host=[] Daemon socket(s) to connect to

-h, --help Print usage

-l, --log-level=info Set the logging level

--tls Use TLS; implied by --tlsverify

--tlscacert=~/.docker/ca.pem Trust certs signed only by this CA

--tlscert=~/.docker/cert.pem Path to TLS certificate file

--tlskey=~/.docker/key.pem Path to TLS key file

--tlsverify Use TLS and verify the remote

-v, --version Print version information and quit

Commands:

attach Attach 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

The next essential one which gives us summarized information about how many Docker containers in our environment, how many is Running, Paused, Stopped. How many Docker images in our environment, the server version, Docker Root Dir, Total Memory, Storage Driver and so on.

$ docker info

1	$ docker info

For ex:

$ docker info
Containers: 2
 Running: 0
 Paused: 0
 Stopped: 2
Images: 1
Server Version: 1.11.0
Storage Driver: aufs
 Root Dir: /var/lib/docker/aufs
 Backing Filesystem: extfs
 Dirs: 6
 Dirperm1 Supported: false
Logging Driver: json-file
Cgroup Driver: cgroupfs
Plugins:
 Volume: local
 Network: bridge null host
Kernel Version: 3.13.0-85-generic
Operating System: Ubuntu 14.04.4 LTS
OSType: linux
Architecture: x86_64
...

$ docker info

Containers: 2

Running: 0

Paused: 0

Stopped: 2

Images: 1

Server Version: 1.11.0

Storage Driver: aufs

Root Dir: /var/lib/docker/aufs

Backing Filesystem: extfs

Dirs: 6

Dirperm1 Supported: false

Logging Driver: json-file

Cgroup Driver: cgroupfs

Plugins:

Volume: local

Network: bridge null host

Kernel Version: 3.13.0-85-generic

Operating System: Ubuntu 14.04.4 LTS

OSType: linux

Architecture: x86_64

...

To check which version of Docker is being installed in your operating system, included Docker client and Server, you can use below command:

$ docker version

1	$ docker version

For ex:

$ docker version
Client:
 Version: 1.11.0
 API version: 1.23
 Go version: go1.5.4
 Git commit: 4dc5990
 Built: Wed Apr 13 18:34:23 2016
 OS/Arch: linux/amd64

Server:
 Version: 1.11.0
 API version: 1.23
 Go version: go1.5.4
 Git commit: 4dc5990
 Built: Wed Apr 13 18:34:23 2016
 OS/Arch: linux/amd64

$ docker version

Client:

Version: 1.11.0

API version: 1.23

Go version: go1.5.4

Git commit: 4dc5990

Built: Wed Apr 13 18:34:23 2016

OS/Arch: linux/amd64

Server:

Version: 1.11.0

API version: 1.23

Go version: go1.5.4

Git commit: 4dc5990

Built: Wed Apr 13 18:34:23 2016

OS/Arch: linux/amd64

1. Some Docker Registry, Repository Commands

1.1. Search For a Term on the Docker Registry

This Docker command used when you want to search for any image you want. For example, you want to search for ubuntu docker, centos docker, chef docker,..

$ docker search [OPTIONS] TERM

1	$ docker search [OPTIONS] TERM

For ex: Below example will search for Docker Apache Kafka on the registry. You can see that the first one has 143 rated stars. I’m going to pull it on the next command.

$ docker search kafka
NAME                        DESCRIPTION                                     STARS     OFFICIAL   AUTOMATED
wurstmeister/kafka          Multi-Broker kafka 0.8.x image                  143                  [OK]
spotify/kafka               A simple docker image with both Kafka and ...   108                  [OK]
sheepkiller/kafka-manager   kafka-manager                                   31                   [OK]
ches/kafka                  Apache Kafka. Tagged versions. JMX. Cluste...   30                   [OK]
digitalwonderland/kafka     Latest Kafka - clusterable                      7                    [OK]

$ docker search kafka

NAME DESCRIPTION STARS OFFICIAL AUTOMATED

wurstmeister/kafka Multi-Broker kafka 0.8.x image 143 [OK]

spotify/kafka A simple docker image with both Kafka and ... 108 [OK]

sheepkiller/kafka-manager kafka-manager 31 [OK]

ches/kafka Apache Kafka. Tagged versions. JMX. Cluste... 30 [OK]

digitalwonderland/kafka Latest Kafka - clusterable 7 [OK]

1.2. Pull a Docker Image from Registry to Local Machine

$ docker pull [OPTIONS] NAME[:TAG|@DIGEST]

1	$ docker pull [OPTIONS] NAME[:TAG\|@DIGEST]

For ex: Below command will pull the wurstmeiter/kafka image to local machine.

$ docker pull  wurstmeister/kafka
Using default tag: latest
latest: Pulling from wurstmeister/kafka

ee54741ab35b: Downloading [=&gt;                                                 ] 58.29 kB/2.125 MB
a3ed95caeb02: Download complete
9c9e170ca59d: Pulling fs layer
9515f029f814: Retrying in 1 second

$ docker pull wurstmeister/kafka

Using default tag: latest

latest: Pulling from wurstmeister/kafka

ee54741ab35b: Downloading [=> ] 58.29 kB/2.125 MB

a3ed95caeb02: Download complete

9c9e170ca59d: Pulling fs layer

9515f029f814: Retrying in 1 second

2. Some Docker commands used for Docker images.

This section list out some Docker commands to manipulate Docker images.

2.1. List all Docker Images in Our Environment

$ docker images

1	$ docker images

For ex:

$ docker images
REPOSITORY          TAG                 IMAGE ID            CREATED             SIZE
hello-world         latest              690ed74de00f        6 months ago        960 B

$ docker images

REPOSITORY TAG IMAGE ID CREATED SIZE

hello-world latest 690ed74de00f 6 months ago 960 B

The above example shows that there is only one image: hello-world on my environment.

2.2. Remove a Docker Image

$ docker rmi image_name

1	$ docker rmi image_name

For ex:

$ docker rmi hello-world

1	$ docker rmi hello-world

On above example, I’ve tried to remove image: hello-world. Note that if there is any container still has reference to the image, an exception likes below will be thrown:

Error response from daemon: conflict: unable to remove repository reference "hello-world" (must force) - container 
c09660ed4522 is using its referenced image 690ed74de00f

1 2	Error response from daemon: conflict: unable to remove repository reference "hello-world" (must force) - container c09660ed4522 is using its referenced image 690ed74de00f

In this case, we have to remove all the containers referenced to this Docker image first. Then remove the docker image. However, we can force to remove the image by adding -f parameter in the preceding the command.

$ docker rmi -f  hello-world
Untagged: hello-world:latest
Deleted: sha256:690ed74de00f99a7d00a98a5ad855ac4febd66412be132438f9b8dbd300a937d

$ docker rmi -f hello-world

Untagged: hello-world:latest

Deleted: sha256:690ed74de00f99a7d00a98a5ad855ac4febd66412be132438f9b8dbd300a937d

2.3. Remove all Docker Images

There will be some cases, you want to remove all Docker images instead of one by one. Let’s use the below command:

$ docker rmi $(docker images -q)

1	$ docker rmi $(docker images -q)

2.4. To Show History of a Docker Image

$ docker history image_name

1	$ docker history image_name

For ex:

$ docker history hello-world
IMAGE               CREATED             CREATED BY                                      SIZE                
690ed74de00f        6 months ago        /bin/sh -c #(nop) CMD ["/hello"]                0 B
&lt;missing&gt;           6 months ago        /bin/sh -c #(nop) COPY file:1ad52e3eaf4327c8f   960 B

$ docker history hello-world

IMAGE CREATED CREATED BY SIZE

690ed74de00f 6 months ago /bin/sh -c #(nop) CMD ["/hello"] 0 B

<missing> 6 months ago /bin/sh -c #(nop) COPY file:1ad52e3eaf4327c8f 960 B

3. Some Docker Commands Used for Container

Below are some Docker commands which can be used for Docker containers.

3.1. Create a Container from a Docker Image

$ docker create image_name

1	$ docker create image_name

For ex:

$ docker create hello-world
2470fa9d4b7edf6318ede1d90a6a263802177231439abd025053cf58d3223b3b

1 2	$ docker create hello-world 2470fa9d4b7edf6318ede1d90a6a263802177231439abd025053cf58d3223b3b

We have just created a new container from the hello-world image, and the output of above command is a docker container id of the container has been started yet.

3.2. Start a Docker Container

docker start container_id

1	docker start container_id

For example:

$ docker start -i  2470fa9d4b7edf6318ede1d90a6a263802177231439abd025053cf58d3223b3b

Hello from Docker.
This message shows that your installation appears to be working correctly.

$ docker start -i 2470fa9d4b7edf6318ede1d90a6a263802177231439abd025053cf58d3223b3b

Hello from Docker.

This message shows that your installation appears to be working correctly.

Note that we add the parameter -i to Keep STDIN opened so that we can see the “Hello from Docker” message above.

3.3. Start and Run a Container

$ docker run image_name

1	$ docker run image_name

For example:

$ docker run -i hello-world

Hello from Docker.
This message shows that your installation appears to be working correctly.

$ docker run -i hello-world

Hello from Docker.

This message shows that your installation appears to be working correctly.

The above command create a container from the image: hello-world and start it.

3.4. See All The Docker Containers

$ docker ps  -a
CONTAINER ID        IMAGE               COMMAND             CREATED             STATUS                     PORTS            
2470fa9d4b7e        hello-world         "/hello"            6 minutes ago       Exited (0) 3 minutes ago

$ docker ps -a

CONTAINER ID IMAGE COMMAND CREATED STATUS PORTS

2470fa9d4b7e hello-world "/hello" 6 minutes ago Exited (0) 3 minutes ago

We just have 1 Stopped container. If we just wanted to see all Running container, we can drop the parameter: -a

$ docker ps
CONTAINER ID        IMAGE               COMMAND             CREATED             STATUS              PORTS

1 2	$ docker ps CONTAINER ID IMAGE COMMAND CREATED STATUS PORTS

3.5. Inspect a Docker Container

$ docker inspect [OPTIONS] CONTAINER|IMAGE [CONTAINER|IMAGE...]

1	$ docker inspect [OPTIONS] CONTAINER\|IMAGE [CONTAINER\|IMAGE...]

For ex:

$ docker inspect 78ae776f45c6
[
    {
        "Id": "78ae776f45c6207504c33501a4b17c771c0c441de2a20603871fc660dff71d41",
        "Created": "2016-04-26T17:24:54.618594804Z",
        "Path": "/hello",
        "Args": [],
        "State": {
            "Status": "exited",
            "Running": false,
            "Paused": false,
            "Restarting": false,
            "OOMKilled": false,
            "Dead": false,
            "Pid": 0,
            "ExitCode": 0,
            "Error": "",
            "StartedAt": "2016-04-26T17:24:54.794157192Z",
            "FinishedAt": "2016-04-26T17:24:54.799527453Z"
        },
...
]

$ docker inspect 78ae776f45c6

[

{

"Id": "78ae776f45c6207504c33501a4b17c771c0c441de2a20603871fc660dff71d41",

"Created": "2016-04-26T17:24:54.618594804Z",

"Path": "/hello",

"Args": [],

"State": {

"Status": "exited",

"Running": false,

"Paused": false,

"Restarting": false,

"OOMKilled": false,

"Dead": false,

"Pid": 0,

"ExitCode": 0,

"Error": "",

"StartedAt": "2016-04-26T17:24:54.794157192Z",

"FinishedAt": "2016-04-26T17:24:54.799527453Z"

...

]

Return all information about docker container.

3.6. Stop a Docker Container

$ docker stop [OPTIONS] CONTAINER [CONTAINER...]

1	$ docker stop [OPTIONS] CONTAINER [CONTAINER...]

For ex:

docker stop 2470fa9d4b7e

1	docker stop 2470fa9d4b7e

docker stop is diffrent with docker kill. docker stop attempts to trigger a graceful shutdown by sending the standard POSIX signal SIGTERM, whereas docker kill just kills the process by default.

3.7. Kill a Docker Container

$ docker kill [OPTIONS] CONTAINER [CONTAINER...]

1	$ docker kill [OPTIONS] CONTAINER [CONTAINER...]

For ex:

$ docker kill 2470fa9d4b7e

1	$ docker kill 2470fa9d4b7e

3.8. Remove a Docker Container

docker rm  &lt;CONTAINER ID&gt;

1	docker rm <CONTAINER ID>

For ex:

docker rm 2470fa9d4b7e

1	docker rm 2470fa9d4b7e

3.9. Remove All Docker Containers

docker rm $(docker ps -a -q)

1	docker rm $(docker ps -a -q)

3.10. Get Bash Shell Inside a Docker Container

docker exec -i -t "container_id" bash

1	docker exec -i -t "container_id" bash

For example:

$ docker exec -i -t 2470fa9d4b7e bash

1	$ docker exec -i -t 2470fa9d4b7e bash

To see all other commands, we can go to docker official site.

https://docs.docker.com/engine/reference/commandline/

4. Conclusion

We have learned some basic Docker commands which are often used when we manipulate with Docker. Hopefully, this article bring you a useful reference. Below are other articles related to Docker. If you’re interested in, you can refer to the following links:

How to Get IP Address of a Docker Container

Copy Files, Folders from Host to Docker Container and Vice Versa

Install Docker on Ubuntu 16.04, 15.10, 14.04 Step By Step

Install Docker on CentOS 7.X

Introduction to Docker Compose

Vagrant Docker Provider Tutorial

Using Apache Kafka Docker

Insecure docker registry

0 0 vote

Article Rating

Basic Docker Commands (CLI)

0. Very first Docker command

1. Some Docker Registry, Repository Commands

1.1. Search For a Term on the Docker Registry

1.2. Pull a Docker Image from Registry to Local Machine

2. Some Docker commands used for Docker images.

2.1. List all Docker Images in Our Environment

2.2. Remove a Docker Image

2.3. Remove all Docker Images

2.4. To Show History of a Docker Image

3. Some Docker Commands Used for Container

3.1. Create a Container from a Docker Image

3.2. Start a Docker Container

3.3. Start and Run a Container

3.4. See All The Docker Containers

3.5. Inspect a Docker Container

3.6. Stop a Docker Container

3.7. Kill a Docker Container

3.8. Remove a Docker Container

3.9. Remove All Docker Containers

3.10. Get Bash Shell Inside a Docker Container

4. Conclusion

howtoprogram