Docker-cheat-sheet

Quick reference guide for Docker commands

Login to a registry
> docker login [OPTIONS] [SERVER]

[OPTIONS]:
-u/--username username
-p/--password password

Example:
1. docker login localhost:8080 // Login to a registry on your localhost
2. docker login

Logout
Logout from a registry
> docker logout [SERVER]
Example:
docker logout localhost:8080 // Logout from a registry on your localhost

Search image
Search for an image in registry
docker search [OPTIONS] TERM

Example:
docker search golang
docker search --filter stars=3 --no-trunc golang

Pull image
This command pulls an image or a repository from a registry to local machine
docker image pull [OPTIONS] NAME[:TAG|@DIGEST]

Example:
docker image pull golang:latest

Push image
This command pushes an image to the registry from local machine.
docker image push [OPTIONS] NAME[:TAG]
docker image push golang:latest

Create,Run,Update and Delete containers

Create
Create a new container
docker container create [OPTIONS] IMAGE [COMMAND] [ARG...]

Example:
docker container create -t -i sudheerj/golang --name golang

Rename
Rename a container
docker container rename CONTAINER NEW_NAME
Example:
docker container rename golang golanguage
docker container rename golanguage golang

Run
docker container run [OPTIONS] IMAGE [COMMAND] [ARG...]

Example:
docker container run -it --name golang -d sudheerj/golang
You can also run a command inside container
docker exec [OPTIONS] CONTAINER COMMAND [ARG...]

Example:
docker exec -it golang sh // Or use bash command if sh is failed

Update
Update configuration of one or more containers
docker container update [OPTIONS] CONTAINER [CONTAINER...]

Example:
docker container update --memory "1g" --cpuset-cpu "1" golang // update the
golang to use 1g of memory and only use cpu core 1

Remove
Remove one or more containers
docker container rm [OPTIONS] CONTAINER [CONTAINER...]

Example:
docker container rm golang
docker rm $(docker ps -q -f status=exited) // Remove all the stopped containers

Start and stop containers

Start
Start one or more stopped containers
docker container start [OPTIONS] CONTAINER [CONTAINER...]

Example:
docker container start golang

Stop
Stop one or more running containers
docker container stop [OPTIONS] CONTAINER [CONTAINER...]

Example:
docker container stop golang
docker stop $(docker ps -a -q) // To stop all the containers

Restart
Restart one or more containers and processes running inside the container/containers.
docker container restart [OPTIONS] CONTAINER [CONTAINER...]

Example:
docker container restart golang

Pause
Pause all processes within one or more containers
docker container pause CONTAINER [CONTAINER...]

Example:
docker container pause golang

Unpause/Resume
Unpause all processes within one or more containers
docker container unpause CONTAINER [CONTAINER...]

Example:
docker container unpause golang

Kill
Kill one or more running containers
docker container kill [OPTIONS] CONTAINER [CONTAINER...]

Example:
docker container kill golang

Wait
Block until one or more containers stop and print their exit codes after that
docker container wait CONTAINER [CONTAINER...]

Example:
docker container wait golang

Networks
Docker provides network commands connect containers to each other and to other non-Docker
workloads. The usage of network commands would be docker network COMMAND

List networks
List down available networks
docker network ls

Connect a container to network

You can connect a container by name or by ID to any network. Once it connected, the container can
communicate with other containers in the same network.
docker network connect [OPTIONS] NETWORK CONTAINER

Example:
docker network connect multi-host-network container1

Disconnect a container from a network

You can disconnect a container by name or by ID from any network.
docker network disconnect [OPTIONS] NETWORK CONTAINER

Example:
docker network disconnect multi-host-network container1

Remove one or more networks

Removes one or more networks by name or identifier. Remember, you must first disconnect any
containers connected to it before removing it.
docker network rm NETWORK [NETWORK...]

Example:
docker network rm my-network

Create network
It is possible to create a network in Docker before launching containers
docker network create [OPTIONS] NETWORK

Example:
sudo docker network create –-driver bridge some_network
The above command will output the long ID for the new network.
Inspect network
You can see more details on the network associated with Docker using network inspect command.
docker network inspect networkname

Example:
docker network inspect bridge

Cleanup commands
You may need to cleanup resources (containers, volumes, images, networks) regularly.
Remove all unused resources
docker system prune

Images
$ docker images
$ docker rmi $(docker images --filter "dangling=true" -q --no-trunc)

$ docker images | grep "none"

$ docker rmi $(docker images | grep "none" | awk '/ / { print $3 }')

Containers
$ docker ps
$ docker ps -a
$ docker rm $(docker ps -qa --no-trunc --filter "status=exited")

Volumes
$ docker volume rm $(docker volume ls -qf dangling=true)
$ docker volume ls -qf dangling=true | xargs -r docker volume rm

Networks
$ docker network ls
$ docker network ls | grep "bridge"
$ docker network rm $(docker network ls | grep "bridge" | awk '/ / { print
$1 }')
Utility commands

Docker Hub
Docker Hub is a cloud-based repository provided by Docker to test, store and distribute container
images which can be accessed either privately or publicly.
From
It initializes a new image and sets the Base Image for subsequent instructions. It must be a first non-
comment instruction in the Dockerfile.
FROM <image>
FROM <image>:<tag>
FROM <image>@<digest>
Note: Both tag and digest are optional. If you omit either of them, the builder assumes a latest
by default.

Dockerfile
Dockerfile is a text document that contains set of commands and instructions which will be
executed in a sequence in the docker environment for building a new docker image.
FROM
This command Sets the Base Image for subsequent instructions
FROM <image>
FROM <image>:<tag>
FROM <image>@<digest>

Example:
FROM ubuntu:18.04

RUN
RUN instruction allows you to install your application and packages required for it. It executes any
commands on top of the current image and creates a new layer by committing the results. It is quite
common to have multiple RUN instructions in a Dockerfile.
It has two forms
1.Shell Form: RUN
RUN npm start
2.Exec form RUN ["", "", ""]
RUN [ "npm", "start" ]

ENTRYPOINT
An ENTRYPOINT allows you to configure a container that will run as an executable. It is used to
run when container starts.
Exec Form:
ENTRYPOINT ["executable", "param1", "param2"]
Shell Form:
ENTRYPOINT command param1 param2

Example:
FROM alpine:3.5
ENTRYPOINT ["/bin/echo", "Print ENTRYPOINT instruction of Exec Form"]
If an image has an ENTRYPOINT and pass an argument to it while running the container, it wont
override the existing entrypoint but it just appends what you passed with the entrypoint. To override
the existing ENTRYPOINT. you should user –entrypoint flag for the running container.

Let's see the behavior with the above dockerfile,

Build image:
docker build -t entrypointImage .

Run the image:

docker container run entrypointImage // Print ENTRYPOINT instruction of Exec
Form

Override entrypoint:
docker run --entrypoint "/bin/echo" entrypointImage "Override ENTRYPOINT
instruction" // Override ENTRYPOINT instruction

CMD
CMD instruction is used to set a default command, which will be executed only when you run a
container without specifying a command. But if the docker container runs with a command, the
default command will be ignored.
The CMD instruction has three forms,
1. Exec form:
CMD ["executable","param1","param2"]
2. Default params to ENTRYPOINT:
CMD ["param1","param2"]
3. Shell form:
CMD command param1 param2
The main purpose of the CMD command is to launch the required software in a container. For
example, running an executable .exe file or a Bash terminal as soon as the container starts.
Remember, if docker runs with executable and parameters then CMD instruction will be
overridden(Unlike ENTRYPOINT).
docker run executable parameters
Note: There should only be one CMD command in your Dockerfile. Otherwise only the last
instance of CMD will be executed.
COPY
The COPY instruction copies new files or directories from source and adds them to the destination
filesystem of the container.
COPY [--chown=<user>:<group>] <src>... <dest>
COPY [--chown=<user>:<group>] ["<src>",... "<dest>"]

Example:
COPY test.txt /absoluteDir/
COPY tes? /absoluteDir/ // Copies all files or directories starting with test to
destination container
The path must be relative to the source directory that is being built. Whereas is an absolute path, or
a path relative to WORKDIR.
ADD
The ADD instruction copies new files, directories or remote file URLs from source and adds them
to the filesystem of the image at the destination path. The functionality is similar to COPY
command and supports two forms of usage,
ADD [--chown=<user>:<group>] <src>... <dest>
ADD [--chown=<user>:<group>] ["<src>",... "<dest>"]

Example:
ADD test.txt /absoluteDir/
ADD tes? /absoluteDir/ // Copies all files or directories starting with test to
destination container
ADD commands provides additional features such as downloading remote resources, extracting
TAR files etc.
1. Download an external file and copy to the destination
ADD http://source.file/url /destination/path

2. Copies compressed files and extract the content in the destination

ADD source.file.tar.gz /temp

ENV
The ENV instruction sets the environment variable to the value . It has two forms,
1.The first form, ENV <key> <value>, will set a single variable to a value.

2.The second form, ENV <key>=<value> ..., allows for multiple variables to be set at
one time.
ENV <key> <value>
ENV <key>=<value> [<key>=<value> ...]

Example:
ENV name="John Doe" age=40
ENV name John Doe
ENV age 40

EXPOSE
The EXPOSE instruction informs Docker that the container listens on the specified network ports at
runtime. i.e, It helps in inter-container communication. You can specify whether the port listens on
TCP or UDP, and the default is TCP.
EXPOSE <port> [<port>/<protocol>...]

Example:
EXPOSE 80/udp
EXPOSE 80/tcp
But if you want to bind the port of the container with the host machine on which the container is
running, use -p option of docker run command.
docker run -p <HOST_PORT>:<CONTAINER:PORT> IMAGE_NAME

Example:
docker run -p 80:80/udp myDocker
WORKDIR
The WORKDIR command is used to define the working directory of a Docker container at any
given time for any RUN, CMD, ENTRYPOINT, COPY and ADD instructions that follow it in the
Dockerfile.
WORKDIR /path/to/workdir

Example:
WORKDIR /c
WORKDIR d
WORKDIR e
RUN pwd // /c/d/e

LABEL
The LABEL instruction adds metadata as key-value pairs to an image. Labels included in base or
parent images (images in the FROM line) are inherited by your image.
LABEL <key>=<value> <key>=<value> <key>=<value> ...

Example:
LABEL version="1.0"
LABEL multi.label1="value1" \
multi.label2="value2" \
other="value3"
You can view an image’s labels using the docker image inspect --format=''
myimage command. The output would be as below,
{
"version": "1.0",
"multi.label1": "value1",
"multi.label2": "value2",
"other": "value3"
}

MAINTAINER
The MAINTAINER instruction sets the Author field of the generated images.
MAINTAINER <name>

Example:
MAINTAINER John
This command is deprecated status now and the recommended usage is with LABEL command
LABEL maintainer="John"

VOLUME
The VOLUME instruction creates a mount point with the specified name and mounted volumes
from native host or other containers.
VOLUME ["/data"]

Example:
FROM ubuntu
RUN mkdir /test
VOLUME /test

Docker Compose
Docker compose(or compose) is a tool for defining and running multi-container Docker
applications.
Docker Swarm
Docker Swarm(or swarm) is an open-source tool used to cluster and orchestrate Docker containers.