CLI Commands Reference

The Docker CLI (docker) is the primary interface for interacting with the Docker daemon. This reference covers the most commonly used commands organized by category.

Command Structure

Docker CLI commands follow a consistent structure:

docker [OPTIONS] COMMAND [SUBCOMMAND] [ARG...] [FLAGS]

Global Options

Option	Description
--config	Location of client config files (default ~/.docker)
-c, --context	Name of the context to use
-D, --debug	Enable debug mode
-H, --host	Daemon socket to connect to
-l, --log-level	Set the logging level (debug, info, warn, error, fatal)
--tls	Use TLS
--tlscacert	Trust certs signed only by this CA
--tlscert	Path to TLS certificate file
--tlskey	Path to TLS key file
-v, --version	Print version information

Container Commands

docker run

Create and start a new container:

# Basic usage
docker run [OPTIONS] IMAGE [COMMAND] [ARG...]

# Common examples
docker run nginx:latest                        # Run in foreground
docker run -d nginx:latest                     # Run in background (detached)
docker run -it ubuntu:22.04 /bin/bash          # Interactive with terminal
docker run --rm alpine echo "hello"            # Auto-remove after exit
docker run --name my-web -p 8080:80 nginx      # Name and port mapping
docker run -d -e DB_HOST=localhost my-app      # Environment variable
docker run -d -v data:/app/data my-app         # Volume mount
docker run -d --network my-net my-app          # Custom network
docker run -d --restart unless-stopped my-app  # Restart policy
docker run -d --memory 512m --cpus 1.5 my-app  # Resource limits

Run Options Reference

Category	Flag	Description
Detach	-d, --detach	Run in background
Interactive	-i, --interactive	Keep STDIN open
Terminal	-t, --tty	Allocate a pseudo-TTY
Name	--name	Assign a container name
Remove	--rm	Auto-remove when container exits
Ports	-p, --publish	Map host:container ports
Env	-e, --env	Set environment variables
Env File	--env-file	Read env vars from a file
Volume	-v, --volume	Bind mount a volume
Mount	--mount	Attach a filesystem mount
Network	--network	Connect to a network
Workdir	-w, --workdir	Working directory inside container
User	-u, --user	Username or UID
Memory	--memory	Memory limit
CPUs	--cpus	Number of CPUs
Restart	--restart	Restart policy
Platform	--platform	Set platform (e.g., linux/amd64)
Read Only	--read-only	Mount root filesystem as read-only
Privileged	--privileged	Give extended privileges
Cap Add	--cap-add	Add Linux capabilities
Cap Drop	--cap-drop	Drop Linux capabilities

Container Lifecycle Commands

# Create a container (without starting)
docker create --name my-container nginx:latest

# Start a stopped container
docker start my-container

# Stop a running container (SIGTERM, then SIGKILL after timeout)
docker stop my-container
docker stop -t 30 my-container    # 30-second timeout

# Restart a container
docker restart my-container

# Pause a container (freeze processes)
docker pause my-container

# Unpause a container
docker unpause my-container

# Kill a container (immediate SIGKILL)
docker kill my-container
docker kill -s SIGTERM my-container  # Send specific signal

# Remove a container
docker rm my-container
docker rm -f my-container           # Force remove (running container)

# Remove all stopped containers
docker container prune

Container Inspection Commands

# List running containers
docker ps
docker container ls

# List all containers (including stopped)
docker ps -a

# List container IDs only
docker ps -q

# Format output
docker ps --format "table {{.ID}}\t{{.Names}}\t{{.Status}}\t{{.Ports}}"

# View container logs
docker logs my-container
docker logs -f my-container          # Follow (stream)
docker logs --tail 100 my-container  # Last 100 lines
docker logs --since 1h my-container  # Last hour
docker logs --timestamps my-container # With timestamps

# Inspect container details (JSON)
docker inspect my-container

# Get specific fields
docker inspect -f '{{.State.Status}}' my-container
docker inspect -f '{{range.NetworkSettings.Networks}}{{.IPAddress}}{{end}}' my-container

# View resource usage statistics
docker stats
docker stats my-container
docker stats --no-stream             # Snapshot (non-streaming)

# View running processes
docker top my-container

# View port mappings
docker port my-container

# View filesystem changes
docker diff my-container

# Copy files between container and host
docker cp my-container:/app/log.txt ./log.txt
docker cp ./config.json my-container:/app/config.json

Execute Commands in Containers

# Run a command in a running container
docker exec my-container ls /app

# Interactive shell
docker exec -it my-container /bin/bash
docker exec -it my-container /bin/sh    # For Alpine-based containers

# Run as a specific user
docker exec -u root my-container whoami

# Set environment variables
docker exec -e MY_VAR=value my-container env

# Set working directory
docker exec -w /app my-container ls

Image Commands

# List local images
docker images
docker image ls

# Pull an image
docker pull nginx:1.25
docker pull --platform linux/amd64 nginx:1.25

# Build an image
docker build -t my-app:1.0 .
docker build -f Dockerfile.prod -t my-app:prod .
docker build --no-cache -t my-app:1.0 .
docker build --build-arg VERSION=2.0 -t my-app:2.0 .

# Tag an image
docker tag my-app:1.0 myuser/my-app:1.0
docker tag my-app:1.0 registry.example.com/my-app:1.0

# Push an image
docker push myuser/my-app:1.0

# Remove an image
docker rmi my-app:1.0
docker image rm my-app:1.0

# Remove unused images
docker image prune            # Dangling images only
docker image prune -a         # All unused images

# Inspect an image
docker image inspect nginx:1.25

# View image history (layers)
docker image history nginx:1.25

# Save an image to tar archive
docker save -o my-app.tar my-app:1.0

# Load an image from tar archive
docker load -i my-app.tar

# Search Docker Hub
docker search nginx

Volume Commands

# Create a volume
docker volume create my-data

# List volumes
docker volume ls

# Inspect a volume
docker volume inspect my-data

# Remove a volume
docker volume rm my-data

# Remove unused volumes
docker volume prune

Network Commands

# Create a network
docker network create my-network
docker network create --driver bridge --subnet 172.20.0.0/16 my-network

# List networks
docker network ls

# Inspect a network
docker network inspect my-network

# Connect a container to a network
docker network connect my-network my-container

# Disconnect a container
docker network disconnect my-network my-container

# Remove a network
docker network rm my-network

# Remove unused networks
docker network prune

System Commands

# View system-wide information
docker info

# View Docker version details
docker version

# View disk usage
docker system df
docker system df -v      # Verbose

# Remove all unused data
docker system prune
docker system prune -a              # Include unused images
docker system prune -a --volumes    # Include volumes

# View real-time events
docker events
docker events --filter event=start
docker events --since 1h

Docker Compose Commands

# Start services
docker compose up
docker compose up -d                  # Detached
docker compose up --build             # Rebuild images

# Stop services
docker compose down
docker compose down -v                # Remove volumes
docker compose down --rmi all         # Remove images

# List running services
docker compose ps

# View logs
docker compose logs
docker compose logs -f web            # Follow specific service

# Scale services
docker compose up -d --scale web=3

# Execute command in a service
docker compose exec web /bin/sh

# Build services
docker compose build

# Pull images
docker compose pull

# Restart services
docker compose restart

Command Cheat Sheet

Task	Command
Run a container	docker run -d -p 80:80 nginx
List containers	docker ps -a
Stop a container	docker stop <name>
View logs	docker logs -f <name>
Shell into container	docker exec -it <name> sh
Build an image	docker build -t app:1.0 .
Push an image	docker push user/app:1.0
Remove everything	docker system prune -a --volumes
Check disk usage	docker system df
Inspect anything	docker inspect <name>

Next Steps

• Configuration Management — Configure Docker daemon settings
• API Reference — Programmatic Docker access
• Docker Engine Architecture — Understand how commands are processed
• CLI Reference — Complete CLI command listing
• Docker Compose Quick Start — Multi-container applications