Docker CLI Guide

The Docker CLI is your primary interface for interacting with Docker. This guide covers essential commands for container and image management, debugging, and system administration.

Command Structure

Docker commands follow the pattern: docker [object] [command] [options] Example: docker container ls --all

Command Structure

Container Commands

Run, start, stop, and manage containers

Image Commands

Build, pull, push, and manage images

System Commands

Cleanup, monitoring, and administration

Essential Commands Overview

# Run a container
docker run -d -p 8080:80 --name web nginx:alpine

# List containers
docker ps          # Running only
docker ps -a       # All containers

# Container lifecycle
docker start web
docker stop web
docker restart web
docker rm web

# Interact with container
docker exec -it web sh
docker logs -f web
docker inspect web

# Pull image
docker pull nginx:alpine

# Build image
docker build -t myapp:latest .

# List images
docker images

# Tag image
docker tag myapp:latest myregistry/myapp:v1.0

# Push image
docker push myregistry/myapp:v1.0

# Remove image
docker rmi nginx:alpine

# List networks
docker network ls

# Create network
docker network create mynetwork

# Connect container
docker network connect mynetwork container_name

# Disconnect container
docker network disconnect mynetwork container_name

# Inspect network
docker network inspect mynetwork

# Remove network
docker network rm mynetwork

# List volumes
docker volume ls

# Create volume
docker volume create mydata

# Inspect volume
docker volume inspect mydata

# Remove volume
docker volume rm mydata

# Prune unused volumes
docker volume prune

Common Workflows

Running a Web Server

# Run nginx with port mapping
docker run -d \
  --name webserver \
  -p 8080:80 \
  -v $(pwd)/html:/usr/share/nginx/html:ro \
  nginx:alpine

# Check it's running
docker ps

# View logs
docker logs webserver

# Stop and remove
docker stop webserver && docker rm webserver

Building and Running an Application

# Build image
docker build -t myapp:latest .

# Run container
docker run -d \
  --name myapp \
  -p 3000:3000 \
  -e NODE_ENV=production \
  myapp:latest

# Check logs
docker logs -f myapp

# Execute command inside
docker exec -it myapp sh

Development Workflow

# Build with no cache
docker build --no-cache -t myapp:dev .

# Run with volume mount for hot reload
docker run -d \
  --name myapp-dev \
  -p 3000:3000 \
  -v $(pwd):/app \
  -v /app/node_modules \
  myapp:dev npm run dev

# Follow logs
docker logs -f myapp-dev

# Rebuild and restart
docker stop myapp-dev && docker rm myapp-dev
docker build -t myapp:dev . && docker run -d --name myapp-dev ...

Command Quick Reference

Container Commands

Command	Description
`docker run`	Create and start container
`docker start`	Start stopped container
`docker stop`	Stop running container
`docker restart`	Restart container
`docker rm`	Remove container
`docker exec`	Execute command in container
`docker logs`	View container logs
`docker inspect`	Detailed container info
`docker cp`	Copy files to/from container
`docker stats`	Container resource usage

Image Commands

Command	Description
`docker build`	Build image from Dockerfile
`docker pull`	Download image from registry
`docker push`	Upload image to registry
`docker images`	List local images
`docker rmi`	Remove image
`docker tag`	Tag image
`docker history`	Show image layers
`docker save`	Export image to tar
`docker load`	Import image from tar

System Commands

Command	Description
`docker system df`	Disk usage
`docker system prune`	Remove unused data
`docker info`	System-wide information
`docker version`	Docker version info

Global Options

# Specify Docker host
docker -H tcp://host:2375 ps

# Debug mode
docker --debug ps

# Use different config
docker --config ~/.docker/alt ps

# Format output as JSON
docker ps --format json

Output Formatting

Use --format with Go templates for custom output.

# List container names and status
docker ps --format "table {{.Names}}\t{{.Status}}"

# JSON output
docker ps --format json

# Custom template
docker ps --format "{{.ID}}: {{.Image}} ({{.Status}})"

# Inspect specific field
docker inspect --format '{{.NetworkSettings.IPAddress}}' container_name

Common Format Fields

Field	Description
`.ID`	Container ID
`.Names`	Container name
`.Image`	Image name
`.Status`	Container status
`.Ports`	Port mappings
`.Size`	Container size
`.CreatedAt`	Creation time

Shell Completion

# Bash (add to ~/.bashrc)
source <(docker completion bash)

# Zsh (add to ~/.zshrc)
source <(docker completion zsh)

# Fish
docker completion fish | source

Aliases for Productivity

# Add to ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc
alias d='docker'
alias dc='docker compose'
alias dps='docker ps'
alias dpsa='docker ps -a'
alias dimg='docker images'
alias drm='docker rm'
alias drmi='docker rmi'
alias dexec='docker exec -it'
alias dlogs='docker logs -f'
alias dprune='docker system prune -af'

Next Steps

Container Commands

Deep dive into container management

Image Commands

Building and managing images

System Commands

Cleanup and maintenance

Command Structure

Quick Navigation

Container Commands

Image Commands

System Commands

Essential Commands Overview

Common Workflows

Running a Web Server

Building and Running an Application

Development Workflow

Command Quick Reference

Container Commands

Image Commands

System Commands

Global Options

Output Formatting

Common Format Fields

Shell Completion

Aliases for Productivity

Next Steps

Container Commands

Image Commands

System Commands

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