Docker Commands with Examples

 

Docker is a containerization system which packages and runs the application with its dependencies inside a container. There are several docker commands you must know when working with Docker. This article is all about that.

1. Finding the version

One of the first things you want to know is how to find the installed docker version.

saten@satender:/home/satender$ docker --version

Docker version 18.09.6, build 481bc77

2. Downloading image

Let’s say you need to pull the docker image from dockerhub (docker repository). The following example of pulling the Apache HTTP server image.

saten@satender:/home/satender$ docker pull httpd

Using default tag: latest

latest: Pulling from library/httpd

f5d23c7fed46: Pull complete

b083c5fd185b: Pull complete

bf5100a89e78: Pull complete

98f47fcaa52f: Pull complete

622a9dd8cfed: Pull complete

Digest: sha256:8bd76c050761610773b484e411612a31f299dbf7273763103edbda82acd73642

Status: Downloaded newer image for httpd:latest

saten@satender:/home/satender$

3. Images

List all the docker images pulled on the system with image details such as TAG/IMAGE ID/SIZE etc.

saten@satender:/home/satender$ docker images

REPOSITORY                 TAG                 IMAGE ID            CREATED             SIZE

httpd                      latest              ee39f68eb241        2 days ago          154MB

hello-world                latest              fce289e99eb9        6 months ago        1.84kB

sequenceiq/hadoop-docker   2.7.0               789fa0a3b911        4 years ago         1.76GB

4. Run

Run the docker image mentioned in the command. This command will create a docker container in which the Apache HTTP server will run.

saten@satender:/home/satender$ docker run -it -d httpd

09ca6feb6efc0578951a3e2557ed5855b2edda39a795d9703eb54d975930fe6e

5. What’s running?

ps lists all the docker containers are running with container details.

saten@satender:/home/satender$ docker ps

CONTAINER ID        IMAGE               COMMAND              CREATED             STATUS              PORTS               NAMES

09ca6feb6efc        httpd               "httpd-foreground"   36 seconds ago      Up 33 seconds       80/tcp              suspicious_bell

As you can see, the Apache server is running in this docker container.

6. ps -a

List all the docker containers running/exited/stopped with container details.

saten@satender:/home/satender$ docker ps -a

CONTAINER ID        IMAGE                            COMMAND                  CREATED             STATUS                     PORTS                                                                                                                                NAMES

09ca6feb6efc        httpd                            "httpd-foreground"       51 seconds ago      Up 49 seconds              80/tcp                                                                                                                               suspicious_bell

2f6fb3381078        sequenceiq/hadoop-docker:2.7.0   "/etc/bootstrap.sh -d"   2 weeks ago         Exited (137) 9 days ago                                                                                                                                         quizzical_raman

9f397feb3a46        sequenceiq/hadoop-docker:2.7.0   "/etc/bootstrap.sh -…"   2 weeks ago         Exited (255) 2 weeks ago   2122/tcp, 8030-8033/tcp, 8040/tcp, 8042/tcp, 8088/tcp, 19888/tcp, 49707/tcp, 50010/tcp, 50020/tcp, 50070/tcp, 50075/tcp, 50090/tcp   determined_ritchie

9b6343d3b5a0        hello-world                      "/hello"                 2 weeks ago         Exited (0) 2 weeks ago                                                                                                                                          peaceful_mclean

7. exec

Access the docker container and run commands inside the container. I am accessing the apache server container in this example.

saten@satender:/home/satender$ docker exec -it 09ca6feb6efc bash

root@09ca6feb6efc:/usr/local/apache2# ls

bin  build  cgi-bin  conf  error  htdocs  icons  include  logs                modules

root@09ca6feb6efc:/usr/local/apache2#

Type exit and press enter to come out of the container.

8. Removing container

Remove the docker container with container id mentioned in the command.

saten@satender:/home/satender$ docker rm 9b6343d3b5a0

9b6343d3b5a0

Run the below command to check if the container got removed or not.

saten@satender:/home/satender$ docker ps -a

CONTAINER ID        IMAGE                            COMMAND                  CREATED              STATUS                     PORTS                                                                                                                                NAMES

09ca6feb6efc        httpd                            "httpd-foreground"       About a minute ago   Up About a minute          80/tcp                                                                                                                               suspicious_bell

2f6fb3381078        sequenceiq/hadoop-docker:2.7.0   "/etc/bootstrap.sh -d"   2 weeks ago          Exited (137) 9 days ago                                                                                                                                         quizzical_raman

9f397feb3a46        sequenceiq/hadoop-docker:2.7.0   "/etc/bootstrap.sh -…"   2 weeks ago          Exited (255) 2 weeks ago   2122/tcp, 8030-8033/tcp, 8040/tcp, 8042/tcp, 8088/tcp, 19888/tcp, 49707/tcp, 50010/tcp, 50020/tcp, 50070/tcp, 50075/tcp, 50090/tcp   determined_ritchie

9. Removing image

Remove the docker image with the docker image id mentioned in the command

saten@satender:/home/satender$ docker rmi fce289e99eb9

Untagged: hello-world:latest

Untagged: hello-world@sha256:41a65640635299bab090f783209c1e3a3f11934cf7756b09cb2f1e02147c6ed8

Deleted: sha256:fce289e99eb9bca977dae136fbe2a82b6b7d4c372474c9235adc1741675f587e

Deleted: sha256:af0b15c8625bb1938f1d7b17081031f649fd14e6b233688eea3c5483994a66a3

saten@satender:/home/satender$

10. Restart Docker

Restart the docker container with container id mentioned in the command.

saten@satender:/home/satender$ docker restart 09ca6feb6efc

09ca6feb6efc

Run the command below and check the STATUS parameter to verify if the container started recently.

saten@satender:/home/satender$ docker ps

CONTAINER ID        IMAGE               COMMAND              CREATED             STATUS              PORTS               NAMES

09ca6feb6efc        httpd               "httpd-foreground"   6 minutes ago       Up 9 seconds        80/tcp              suspicious_bell

11. Stopping Docker

Stop a container with container id mentioned in the command.

saten@satender:/home/satender$ docker stop 09ca6feb6efc

09ca6feb6efc

Run the below command to check if the container is still running or it has stopped.

saten@satender:/home/satender$ docker ps

CONTAINER ID        IMAGE               COMMAND             CREATED             STATUS              PORTS               NAMES

12. Starting Docker

This command in docker starts the docker container with container id mentioned in the command.

saten@satender:/home/satender$ docker start 09ca6feb6efc

09ca6feb6efc

Run the command below to check if the container started or not.

saten@satender:/home/satender$ docker ps

CONTAINER ID        IMAGE               COMMAND              CREATED             STATUS              PORTS               NAMES

09ca6feb6efc        httpd               "httpd-foreground"   8 minutes ago       Up 3 seconds        80/tcp              suspicious_bell

13. Kill

Stop the docker container immediately. Docker stop command stops the container gracefully, that’s the difference between a kill and stop commands.

saten@satender:/home/satender$ docker kill 09ca6feb6efc

09ca6feb6efc

Run the below command to see if the container got killed or not.

saten@satender:/home/satender$ docker ps

CONTAINER ID        IMAGE               COMMAND             CREATED             STATUS              PORTS               NAMES

14. Commit

Save a new docker image with container id mentioned in the command on the local system. In the example below, satender is the username, and httpd_image is the image name.

saten@satender:/home/satender$ docker commit 09ca6feb6efc satender/httpd_image

sha256:d1933506f4c1686ab1a1ec601b1a03a17b41decbc21d8acd893db090a09bb31c

15. Login

Login into docker hub. You will be asked your docker hub credentials to log in.

saten@satender:/home/satender$ docker login

Login with your Docker ID to push and pull images from Docker Hub. If you don't have a Docker ID, head over to https://hub.docker.com to create one.

Username: satender

Password:

Configure a credential helper to remove this warning. See

https://docs.docker.com/engine/reference/commandline/login/#credentials-store

Login Succeeded

16. Push

Upload a docker image with the image name mentioned in the command on the dockerhub.

saten@satender:/home/satender$ docker push satender/httpd_image

The push refers to repository

734d9104a6a2: Pushed

635721fc6973: Mounted from library/httpd

bea448567d6c: Mounted from library/httpd

bfaa5f9c3b51: Mounted from library/httpd

9d542ac296cc: Mounted from library/httpd

d8a33133e477: Mounted from library/httpd

latest: digest: sha256:3904662761df9d76ef04ddfa5cfab764b85e3eedaf10071cfbe2bf77254679ac size: 1574

17. Docker network

The following command in docker lists the details of all the network in the cluster.

saten@satender:/home/satender$ docker network ls

NETWORK ID          NAME                DRIVER              SCOPE

85083e766f04        bridge              bridge              local

f51d1f3379e0        host                host                local

5e5d9a192c00        none                null                local

There are several other docker network commands.

saten@satender:/home/satender$ docker network

Usage:  docker network COMMAND

Manage networks

Commands:

connect     Connect a container to a network

create      Create a network

disconnect  Disconnect a container from a network

inspect     Display detailed information on one or more networks

ls          List networks

prune       Remove all unused networks

rm          Remove one or more networks

Run 'docker network COMMAND --help' for more information on a command.

18. Docker info

Get detailed information about docker installed on the system including the kernel version, number of containers and images, etc.

saten@satender:/home/satender$ docker info

Containers: 3

Running: 1

Paused: 0

Stopped: 2

Images: 3

Server Version: 18.09.6

Storage Driver: overlay2

Backing Filesystem: extfs

Supports d_type: true

Native Overlay Diff: true

Logging Driver: json-file

Cgroup Driver: cgroupfs

Plugins:

Volume: local

Network: bridge host macvlan null overlay

Log: awslogs fluentd gcplogs gelf journald json-file local logentries splunk syslog

Swarm: inactive

Runtimes: runc

Default Runtime: runc

Init Binary: docker-init

containerd version: bb71b10fd8f58240ca47fbb579b9d1028eea7c84

runc version: 2b18fe1d885ee5083ef9f0838fee39b62d653e30

init version: fec3683

Security Options:

apparmor

seccomp

Profile: default

Kernel Version: 4.18.0-25-generic

Operating System: Ubuntu 18.10

OSType: linux

Architecture: x86_64

CPUs: 1

Total Memory: 4.982GiB

Name: satender

ID: RBCP:YGAP:QG6H:B6XH:JCT2:DTI5:AYJA:M44Z:ETRP:6TO6:OPAY:KLNJ

Docker Root Dir: /var/lib/docker

Debug Mode (client): false

Debug Mode (server): false

Username: satender

Registry: https://index.docker.io/v1/

Labels:

Experimental: false

Insecure Registries:

127.0.0.0/8

Live Restore Enabled: false

Product License: Community Engine

19. Copying file

Copy a file from a docker container to the local system.

In this example, I am copying httpd.pid file inside a docker container with id 09ca6feb6efc to /home/satender/

saten@satender:/home/satender$ sudo docker cp 09ca6feb6efc:/usr/local/apache2/logs/httpd.pid /home/satender/

[sudo] password for satender:

Run the command below to check if the file got copied or not.

saten@satender:/home/satender$ ls

Desktop  Documents  example  examples.desktop  httpd.pid  nginx_new.yml  nginx.yml

20. Checking history

Shows the history of a docker image with the image name mentioned in the command.

saten@satender:/home/satender$ docker history httpd

IMAGE               CREATED             CREATED BY                                      SIZE                COMMENT

ee39f68eb241        2 days ago          /bin/sh -c #(nop)  CMD ["httpd-foreground"]     0B

<missing>           2 days ago          /bin/sh -c #(nop)  EXPOSE 80                    0B

<missing>           2 days ago          /bin/sh -c #(nop) COPY file:c432ff61c4993ecd…   138B

<missing>           4 days ago          /bin/sh -c set -eux;   savedAptMark="$(apt-m…   49.1MB

<missing>           4 days ago          /bin/sh -c #(nop)  ENV HTTPD_PATCHES=           0B

<missing>           4 days ago          /bin/sh -c #(nop)  ENV HTTPD_SHA256=b4ca9d05…   0B

<missing>           4 days ago          /bin/sh -c #(nop)  ENV HTTPD_VERSION=2.4.39     0B

<missing>           4 days ago          /bin/sh -c set -eux;  apt-get update;  apt-g…   35.4MB

<missing>           4 days ago          /bin/sh -c #(nop) WORKDIR /usr/local/apache2    0B

<missing>           4 days ago          /bin/sh -c mkdir -p "$HTTPD_PREFIX"  && chow…   0B

<missing>           4 days ago          /bin/sh -c #(nop)  ENV PATH=/usr/local/apach…   0B

<missing>           4 days ago          /bin/sh -c #(nop)  ENV HTTPD_PREFIX=/usr/loc…   0B

<missing>           5 days ago          /bin/sh -c #(nop)  CMD ["bash"]                 0B

<missing>           5 days ago          /bin/sh -c #(nop) ADD file:71ac26257198ecf6a…   69.2MB

21. Checking logs

Show the logs of the docker container with contained id mentioned in the command.

saten@satender:/home/satender$ docker logs 09ca6feb6efc

AH00558: httpd: Could not reliably determine the server's fully qualified domain name, using 172.17.0.2. Set the 'ServerName' directive globally to suppress this message

AH00558: httpd: Could not reliably determine the server's fully qualified domain name, using 172.17.0.2. Set the 'ServerName' directive globally to suppress this message

[Mon Jul 15 14:01:55.400472 2019] [mpm_event:notice] [pid 1:tid 140299791516800] AH00489: Apache/2.4.39 (Unix) configured -- resuming normal operations

[Mon Jul 15 14:01:55.400615 2019] [core:notice] [pid 1:tid 140299791516800] AH00094: Command line: 'httpd -D FOREGROUND'

[Mon Jul 15 14:08:36.798229 2019] [mpm_event:notice] [pid 1:tid 140299791516800] AH00491: caught SIGTERM, shutting down

AH00558: httpd: Could not reliably determine the server's fully qualified domain name, using 172.17.0.2. Set the 'ServerName' directive globally to suppress this message

AH00558: httpd: Could not reliably determine the server's fully qualified domain name, using 172.17.0.2. Set the 'ServerName' directive globally to suppress this message

[Mon Jul 15 14:08:38.259870 2019] [mpm_event:notice] [pid 1:tid 139974087980160] AH00489: Apache/2.4.39 (Unix) configured -- resuming normal operations

[Mon Jul 15 14:08:38.260007 2019] [core:notice] [pid 1:tid 139974087980160] AH00094: Command line: 'httpd -D FOREGROUND'

[Mon Jul 15 14:09:01.540647 2019] [mpm_event:notice] [pid 1:tid 139974087980160] AH00491: caught SIGTERM, shutting down

AH00558: httpd: Could not reliably determine the server's fully qualified domain name, using 172.17.0.2. Set the 'ServerName' directive globally to suppress this message

AH00558: httpd: Could not reliably determine the server's fully qualified domain name, using 172.17.0.2. Set the 'ServerName' directive globally to suppress this message

[Mon Jul 15 14:10:43.782606 2019] [mpm_event:notice] [pid 1:tid 140281554879616] AH00489: Apache/2.4.39 (Unix) configured -- resuming normal operations

[Mon Jul 15 14:10:43.782737 2019] [core:notice] [pid 1:tid 140281554879616] AH00094: Command line: 'httpd -D FOREGROUND'

AH00558: httpd: Could not reliably determine the server's fully qualified domain name, using 172.17.0.2. Set the 'ServerName' directive globally to suppress this message

AH00558: httpd: Could not reliably determine the server's fully qualified domain name, using 172.17.0.2. Set the 'ServerName' directive globally to suppress this message

[Mon Jul 15 14:14:08.270906 2019] [mpm_event:notice] [pid 1:tid 140595254346880] AH00489: Apache/2.4.39 (Unix) configured -- resuming normal operations

[Mon Jul 15 14:14:08.272628 2019] [core:notice] [pid 1:tid 140595254346880] AH00094: Command line: 'httpd -D FOREGROUND'

22. Searching image

Search for a docker image on dockerhub with the name mentioned in the command.

saten@satender:/home/satender$ docker search hadoop

NAME                             DESCRIPTION                                     STARS               OFFICIAL            AUTOMATED

sequenceiq/hadoop-docker         An easy way to try Hadoop                       611                                     [OK]

uhopper/hadoop                   Base Hadoop image with dynamic configuration…   98                                      [OK]

harisekhon/hadoop                Apache Hadoop (HDFS + Yarn, tags 2.2 - 2.8)     54                                      [OK]

bde2020/hadoop-namenode          Hadoop namenode of a hadoop cluster             22                                      [OK]

kiwenlau/hadoop                  Run Hadoop Cluster in Docker Containers         19

izone/hadoop                     Hadoop 2.8.5 Ecosystem fully distributed, Ju…   14                                      [OK]

uhopper/hadoop-namenode          Hadoop namenode                                 9                                       [OK]

bde2020/hadoop-datanode          Hadoop datanode of a hadoop cluster             9                                       [OK]

singularities/hadoop             Apache Hadoop                                   8                                       [OK]

uhopper/hadoop-datanode          Hadoop datanode                                 7                                       [OK]

harisekhon/hadoop-dev            Apache Hadoop (HDFS + Yarn) + Dev Tools + Gi…   6                                       [OK]

23. Updating configuration

Update container configurations. This shows all the update options.

saten@satender:/home/saten$ docker update --help

Usage:  docker update [OPTIONS] CONTAINER [CONTAINER...]

Update configuration of one or more containers

Options:

--blkio-weight uint16        Block IO (relative weight), between 10 and 1000, or 0 to disable

(default 0)

--cpu-period int             Limit CPU CFS (Completely Fair Scheduler) period

--cpu-quota int              Limit CPU CFS (Completely Fair Scheduler) quota

--cpu-rt-period int          Limit the CPU real-time period in microseconds

--cpu-rt-runtime int         Limit the CPU real-time runtime in microseconds

-c, --cpu-shares int             CPU shares (relative weight)

--cpus decimal               Number of CPUs

--cpuset-cpus string         CPUs in which to allow execution (0-3, 0,1)

--cpuset-mems string         MEMs in which to allow execution (0-3, 0,1)

--kernel-memory bytes        Kernel memory limit

-m, --memory bytes               Memory limit

--memory-reservation bytes   Memory soft limit

--memory-swap bytes          Swap limit equal to memory plus swap: '-1' to enable unlimited swap

--restart string             Restart policy to apply when a container exits

Run the below command to update the CPU configuration of docker container with container id mentioned in the command.

saten@satender:/home/satender$ docker update -c 1 2f6fb3381078

2f6fb3381078

24. Creating volume

Create a volume which docker container will use to store data.

saten@satender:/home/satender$ docker volume create

7e7bc886f69bb24dbdbf19402e31102a25db91bb29c56cca3ea8b0c611fd9ad0

Run the below command if the volume got created or not.

saten@satender:/home/satender$ docker volume ls

DRIVER              VOLUME NAME

local               7e7bc886f69bb24dbdbf19402e31102a25db91bb29c56cca3ea8b0c611fd9ad0

25. Installing plugin

Install a docker plugin vieux/sshfs with debug environment set to 1.

saten@satender:/home/satender$ docker plugin install vieux/sshfs DEBUG=1

Plugin "vieux/sshfs" is requesting the following privileges:

- network: [host]

- mount: [/var/lib/docker/plugins/]

- mount: []

- device: [/dev/fuse]

- capabilities: [CAP_SYS_ADMIN]

Do you grant the above permissions? [y/N] y

latest: Pulling from vieux/sshfs

52d435ada6a4: Download complete

Digest: sha256:1d3c3e42c12138da5ef7873b97f7f32cf99fb6edde75fa4f0bcf9ed277855811

Status: Downloaded newer image for vieux/sshfs:latest

Installed plugin vieux/sshfs

Run the below command to list the docker plugins.

saten@satender:/home/satender$ docker plugin ls

ID                  NAME                 DESCRIPTION               ENABLED

2a32d1fb95af        vieux/sshfs:latest   sshFS plugin for Docker   true

26. Logout

Logging out from dockerhub.

saten@satender:/home/satender$ docker logout

Removing login credentials for https://index.docker.io/v1/

Conclusion

I hope you have got a fair understanding of docker commands by now. Try out those commands in your dev or lab environment to practice and learn.