The Ultimate Docker Cheat Sheet
A cheatsheet is a concise summary of important information that is meant to be used as a quick reference. Cheatsheets are often used in the form of a list or a table, and they typically cover a specific topic or subject area. In the context of Docker, a Docker cheatsheet is a summary of commonly used Docker commands and their options, as well as other useful information related to Docker.
Cheatsheets can be particularly helpful when learning a new tool or technology, as they provide a convenient way to quickly look up and remind oneself of key concepts and commands. They can also be useful for experienced users who need to recall a specific command or option but may not remember all the details.
Table of Contents
Basic Docker CLIs
Here’s the list of the basic Docker commands that works on both Docker Desktop as well as Docker Engine:
Container Management CLIs
Here’s the list of the Docker commands that manages Docker images and containers flawlessly:
Inspecting The Container
Here’s the list of the basic Docker commands that helps you inspect the containers seamlessly:
Interacting with Container
Do you want to know how to access the containers? Check out these fundamental commands:
Image Management Commands
Here’s the list of Docker commands that helps you manage the Docker Images:
Image Transfer Commands
Here’s the list of Docker image transfer commands:
Builder Main Commands
Want to know how to build Docker Image? Do check out the list of Image Build Commands:
The Docker CLI
Manage images
docker build
docker build [options] . -t "app/container_name" # name Create an image from a Dockerfile.
docker run
docker run [options] IMAGE # see `docker create` for options Run a command in an image.
Manage containers
docker create
docker create [options] IMAGE -a, --attach # attach stdout/err -i, --interactive # attach stdin (interactive) -t, --tty # pseudo-tty --name NAME # name your image -p, --publish 5000:5000 # port map --expose 5432 # expose a port to linked containers -P, --publish-all # publish all ports --link container:alias # linking -v, --volume `pwd`:/app # mount (absolute paths needed) -e, --env NAME=hello # env vars Example
$ docker create --name app_redis_1 \ --expose 6379 \ redis:3.0.2 Create a container from an image.
docker exec
docker exec [options] CONTAINER COMMAND -d, --detach # run in background -i, --interactive # stdin -t, --tty # interactive Example
$ docker exec app_web_1 tail logs/development.log $ docker exec -t -i app_web_1 rails c Run commands in a container.
docker start
docker start [options] CONTAINER -a, --attach # attach stdout/err -i, --interactive # attach stdin docker stop [options] CONTAINER Start/stop a container.
docker ps
$ docker ps $ docker ps -a $ docker kill $ID Manage containers using ps/kill.
Images
docker images
$ docker images REPOSITORY TAG ID ubuntu 12.10 b750fe78269d me/myapp latest 7b2431a8d968 $ docker images -a # also show intermediate Manages images.
docker rmi
docker rmi b750fe78269d Deletes images.
Also see
- Getting Started (docker.io)
Dockerfile
Inheritance
FROM ruby:2.2.2 Variables
ENV APP_HOME /myapp RUN mkdir $APP_HOME Initialization
RUN bundle install WORKDIR /myapp VOLUME ["/data"] # Specification for mount point ADD file.xyz /file.xyz COPY --chown=user:group host_file.xyz /path/container_file.xyz Onbuild
ONBUILD RUN bundle install # when used with another file Commands
EXPOSE 5900 CMD ["bundle", "exec", "rails", "server"] Entrypoint
ENTRYPOINT ["executable", "param1", "param2"] ENTRYPOINT command param1 param2 Configures a container that will run as an executable.
ENTRYPOINT exec top -b This will use shell processing to substitute shell variables, and will ignore any CMD or docker run command line arguments.
Metadata
LABEL version="1.0" LABEL "com.example.vendor"="ACME Incorporated" LABEL com.example.label-with-value="foo" LABEL description="This text illustrates \ that label-values can span multiple lines." See also
docker-compose
Basic example
# docker-compose.yml version: '2' services: web: build: . # build from Dockerfile context: ./Path dockerfile: Dockerfile ports: - "5000:5000" volumes: - .:/code redis: image: redis Commands
docker-compose start docker-compose stop docker-compose pause docker-compose unpause docker-compose ps docker-compose up docker-compose down Reference
Building
web: # build from Dockerfile build: . # build from custom Dockerfile build: context: ./dir dockerfile: Dockerfile.dev # build from image image: ubuntu image: ubuntu:14.04 image: tutum/influxdb image: example-registry:4000/postgresql image: a4bc65fd Ports
ports: - "3000" - "8000:80" # guest:host # expose ports to linked services (not to host) expose: ["3000"] Commands
# command to execute command: bundle exec thin -p 3000 command: [bundle, exec, thin, -p, 3000] # override the entrypoint entrypoint: /app/start.sh entrypoint: [php, -d, vendor/bin/phpunit] Environment variables
# environment vars environment: RACK_ENV: development environment: - RACK_ENV=development # environment vars from file env_file: .env env_file: [.env, .development.env] Dependencies
# makes the `db` service available as the hostname `database` # (implies depends_on) links: - db:database - redis # make sure `db` is alive before starting depends_on: - db Other options
# make this service extend another extends: file: common.yml # optional service: webapp volumes: - /var/lib/mysql - ./_data:/var/lib/mysql Advanced features
Labels
services: web: labels: com.example.description: "Accounting web app" DNS servers
services: web: dns: 8.8.8.8 dns: - 8.8.8.8 - 8.8.4.4 Devices
services: web: devices: - "/dev/ttyUSB0:/dev/ttyUSB0" External links
services: web: external_links: - redis_1 - project_db_1:mysql Hosts
services: web: extra_hosts: - "somehost:192.168.1.100" services
To view list of all the services running in swarm
docker service ls To see all running services
docker stack services stack_name to see all services logs
docker service logs stack_name service_name To scale services quickly across qualified node
docker service scale stack_name_service_name=replicas clean up
To clean or prune unused (dangling) images
docker image prune To remove all images which are not in use containers , add - a
docker image prune -a To prune your entire system
docker system prune To leave swarm
docker swarm leave To remove swarm ( deletes all volume data and database info)
docker stack rm stack_name To kill all running containers
docker kill $(docker ps -q ) Docker Security
Docker Scout
Command line tool for Docker Scout:
docker scout Analyzes a software artifact for vulnerabilities
docker scout cves [OPTIONS] IMAGE|DIRECTORY|ARCHIVE Display vulnerabilities from a docker save tarball
docker save redis > redis.tar Display vulnerabilities from an OCI directory
skopeo copy --override-os linux docker://alpine oci:redis Export vulnerabilities to a SARIF JSON file
docker scout cves --format sarif --output redis.sarif.json redis Comparing two images
docker scout compare --to redis:6.0 redis:6-bullseye Displaying the Quick Overview of an Image
docker scout quickview redis:6.0 Contributors
Sangam biradar - Docker Community Leader
Ajeet Singh Raina - Docker Captain, Collabnix
Support and Community
If you do get enough interest to contribute to this Cheat Sheet, the community at Collabnix is available to support you. Feel free to raise PR and get your favorite Cheat Sheet added to the list via PR, or you can connect to us either on Slack or Discord server.