Docker Cheatsheet

A comprehensive reference guide for Docker commands and concepts. This is a quick reference cheat sheet for Docker. And you can find the most common Docker commands here.

Table of Contents

• Getting Started
• Docker Containers
• Docker Images
• Docker Networking
• Clean Up
• Miscellaneous

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Getting Started

Basic Container Operations

Run Container in Background

docker run -d -p 80:80 docker/getting-started

Flags:

• -d - Run container in detached mode (background)
• -p 80:80 - Map host port 80 to container port 80
• docker/getting-started - Image to use

Run Container in Foreground (Interactive)

docker run -it -p 8001:8080 --name my-nginx nginx

Flags:

• -it - Interactive mode with pseudo-TTY
• -p 8001:8080 - Map host port 8001 to container port 8080
• --name my-nginx - Assign a custom name to the container
• nginx - Image to use

General Commands

Command	Description
docker ps	List running containers
docker ps -a	List all containers (including stopped)
docker ps -s	List running containers with CPU/memory stats
docker images	List all images
docker exec -it <container> bash	Connect to a running container via bash
docker logs <container>	Show container's console logs
docker stop <container>	Stop a container gracefully
docker restart <container>	Restart a container
docker rm <container>	Remove a container
docker port <container>	Show container's port mapping
docker top <container>	List processes running in container
docker kill <container>	Force kill a container

Note: <container> parameter can be either container ID or name

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Docker Containers

Starting & Stopping Containers

Command	Description
docker start my-nginx	Start a container
docker stop my-nginx	Stop a container gracefully
docker restart my-nginx	Restart a container
docker pause my-nginx	Pause a container
docker unpause my-nginx	Unpause a container
docker wait my-nginx	Block until container stops
docker kill my-nginx	Send SIGKILL to container
docker attach my-nginx	Connect to an existing container

Container Information

Command	Description
docker ps	List running containers
docker ps -a	List all containers
docker logs my-nginx	View container logs
docker inspect my-nginx	Inspect container details (JSON)
docker events my-nginx	View container events
docker port my-nginx	Show published ports
docker top my-nginx	Show running processes
docker stats my-nginx	Monitor container resource usage
docker diff my-nginx	Show filesystem changes

Creating Containers

docker create [options] IMAGE

Common Options:

• -a, --attach - Attach stdout/stderr
• -i, --interactive - Attach stdin (interactive)
• -t, --tty - Allocate pseudo-TTY
• --name NAME - Assign name to container
• -p, --publish 5000:5000 - Port mapping (host:container)
• --expose 5432 - Expose port to other containers
• -P, --publish-all - Publish all exposed ports
• --link container:alias - Link to another container
• -v, --volume \pwd`:/app` - Mount volume (absolute paths needed)
• -e, --env NAME=hello - Set environment variables

Example:

docker create --name my_redis --expose 6379 redis:3.0.2

Container Manipulation

Renaming a Container

docker rename my-nginx my-nginx-new

Removing a Container

docker rm my-nginx

Updating Container Resources

docker update --cpu-shares 512 -m 300M my-nginx

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Docker Images

Image Manipulation

Command	Description
docker images	List all images
docker rmi nginx	Remove an image
docker load < ubuntu.tar.gz	Load image from tar archive
docker load --input ubuntu.tar	Load image from tar file
docker save busybox > ubuntu.tar	Save image to tar archive
docker history nginx	Show image layer history
docker commit nginx	Create image from container changes
docker tag nginx eon01/nginx	Tag an image
docker push eon01/nginx	Push image to registry

Building Images

# Various build methods
docker build .
docker build github.com/creack/docker-firefox
docker build - < Dockerfile
docker build - < context.tar.gz
docker build -t eon/my-nginx .
docker build -f myOtherDockerfile .
curl example.com/remote/Dockerfile | docker build -f - .

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Docker Networking

Network Management

Removing a Network

docker network rm MyOverlayNetwork

Listing Networks

docker network ls

Inspecting a Network

docker network inspect MyOverlayNetwork

Connecting/Disconnecting Containers

# Connect running container to network
docker network connect MyOverlayNetwork nginx

# Connect at container startup
docker run -it -d --network=MyOverlayNetwork nginx

# Disconnect container from network
docker network disconnect MyOverlayNetwork nginx

Creating Networks

# Create overlay network
docker network create -d overlay MyOverlayNetwork

# Create bridge network
docker network create -d bridge MyBridgeNetwork

# Create complex overlay network with custom settings
docker network create -d overlay \
  --subnet=192.168.0.0/16 \
  --subnet=192.170.0.0/16 \
  --gateway=192.168.0.100 \
  --gateway=192.170.0.100 \
  --ip-range=192.168.1.0/24 \
  --aux-address="my-router=192.168.1.5" \
  --aux-address="my-switch=192.168.1.6" \
  --aux-address="my-printer=192.170.1.5" \
  --aux-address="my-nas=192.170.1.6" \
  MyOverlayNetwork

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Clean Up

System Prune

Basic Cleanup

# Clean up dangling images, containers, volumes, and networks
docker system prune

Comprehensive Cleanup

# Remove stopped containers and all unused images
docker system prune -a

Container Cleanup

Stop All Running Containers

docker stop $(docker ps -a -q)

Delete Stopped Containers

docker container prune

Image Cleanup

Remove Dangling Images

# Remove untagged images not associated with containers
docker image prune

Remove All Unused Images

# Remove all images not used by existing containers
docker image prune -a

Volume Cleanup

# Remove all volumes not used by at least one container
docker volume prune

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Miscellaneous

Docker Hub Operations

Command	Description
docker search search_word	Search Docker Hub for images
docker pull user/image	Download image from Docker Hub
docker login	Authenticate to Docker Hub
docker push user/image	Upload image to Docker Hub

Registry Commands

Authentication

# Login to registry
docker login
docker login localhost:8080

# Logout from registry
docker logout
docker logout localhost:8080

Image Management

# Search for images
docker search nginx
docker search nginx --stars=3 --no-trunc busybox

# Pull images
docker pull nginx
docker pull eon01/nginx localhost:5000/myadmin/nginx

# Push images
docker push eon01/nginx
docker push eon01/nginx localhost:5000/myadmin/nginx

Batch Operations

# Stop all containers
docker stop -f $(docker ps -a -q)

# Remove all containers
docker rm -f $(docker ps -a -q)

# Remove all images
docker rmi -f $(docker images -q)

Volume Management

# List volumes
docker volume ls

# Clean up unused volumes
docker volume prune

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Tips

• Use --help with any Docker command to see available options
• Container names must be unique
• Use -f flag for force removal when containers are running
• Always specify versions in image tags for production use
• Use .dockerignore files to exclude unnecessary files from build context

This cheatsheet covers the most common Docker commands and scenarios. For more detailed information, refer to the official Docker documentation.