Docker Tutorials

Docker Command Guide: A Complete List of Essential Commands

DockerIn this tutorial you will be shown how to use Docker commands and if you need help Executing docker without using sudo privilege click here.

In this section below I will explain how to use docker commands. So, before going into these details, let’s take look at the syntax of ‘docker’ commands:

$ docker [options] [sub-commands] [arguments]

Now if you want to list all available sub-commands of docker, run:

$ docker

There are many sub-commands and arguments that can follow after $docker. Below are some of them in the following sections of this tutorial.


Management Commands:

  attach      ## Attach local standard input, output, and error streams to a running container
  build       ## Build an image from a Dockerfile
  commit      ## Create a new image from a container's changes
  cp          ## Copy files/folders between a container and the local filesystem
  create      ## Create a new container
  diff        ## Inspect changes to files or directories on a container's filesystem
  events      ## Get real time events from the server
  exec        ## Run a command in a running container
  export      ## Export a container's filesystem as a tar archive
  history     ## Show the history of an image
  images      ## List images
  import      ## Import the contents from a tarball to create a filesystem image
  info        ## Display system-wide information
  inspect     ## Return low-level information on Docker objects
  kill        ## Kill one or more running containers
  load        ## Load an image from a tar archive or STDIN
  login       ## Log in to a Docker registry
  logout      ## Log out from a Docker registry
  logs        ## Fetch the logs of a container
  pause       ## Pause all processes within one or more containers
  port        ## List port mappings or a specific mapping for the container
  ps          ## List containers
  pull        ## Pull an image or a repository from a registry
  push        ## Push an image or a repository to a registry
  rename      ## Rename a container
  restart     ## Restart one or more containers
  rm          ## Remove one or more containers
  rmi         ## Remove one or more images
  run         ## Run a command in a new container
  save        ## Save one or more images to a tar archive (streamed to STDOUT by default)
  search      ## Search the Docker Hub for images
  start       ## Start one or more stopped containers
  stats       ## Display a live stream of container(s) resource usage statistics
  stop        ## Stop one or more running containers
  tag         ## Create a tag TARGET_IMAGE that refers to SOURCE_IMAGE
  top         ## Display the running processes of a container
  unpause     ## Unpause all processes within one or more containers
  update      ## Update configuration of one or more containers
  version     ## Show the Docker version information
  wait        ## Block until one or more containers stop, then print their exit codes

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

Docker Commands

  builder     ## Manage builds
  config      ## Manage Docker configs
  container   ## Manage containers
  context     ## Manage contexts
  engine      ## Manage the docker engine
  image       ## Manage images
  network     ## Manage networks
  node        ## Manage Swarm nodes
  plugin      ## Manage plugins
  secret      ## Manage Docker secrets
  service     ## Manage services
  stack       ## Manage Docker stacks
  swarm       ## Manage Swarm
  system      ## Manage Docker
  trust       ## Manage trust on Docker images
  volume      ## Manage volumes

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