Cheat sheet: Docker

The Docker and Compose commands you need every day. Replace container with the name or ID of your container.

Containers

View running containers	`docker ps`
View all containers, including stopped ones	`docker ps -a`
Start a container	`docker start container`
Stop a container	`docker stop container`
Restart a container	`docker restart container`
Remove a container	`docker rm container`
Clean up stopped containers	`docker container prune`
Start a new container in the background	`docker run -d --name web -p 8080:80 nginx`
View logs	`docker logs -f container`
The last 100 lines of logs	`docker logs --tail 100 container`
Open shell	`docker exec -it container bash`
Open shell if there’s no bash	`docker exec -it container sh`
Live CPU and memory usage	`docker stats`
All details of a container	`docker inspect container`
Copy a file to the container	`docker cp file container:/path/`
Get a file from the container	`docker cp container:/path/file .`

Images

View images	`docker images`
Download an image	`docker pull nginx:latest`
Build an image from a Dockerfile	`docker build -t mijn-app .`
Remove an image	`docker rmi image`
Clean up unused images	`docker image prune -a`

Storage and network

View volumes	`docker volume ls`
Create a volume	`docker volume create data`
Clean up unused volumes (careful!)	`docker volume prune`
View networks	`docker network ls`
Create a network	`docker network create mijn-net`

Docker Compose

Start everything in the background	`docker compose up -d`
Stop and remove everything	`docker compose down`
Only stop	`docker compose stop`
Status of the services	`docker compose ps`
Follow logs of all services	`docker compose logs -f`
Logs of one service	`docker compose logs -f service`
Pull new images	`docker compose pull`
Update: pull and restart	`docker compose pull && docker compose up -d`
Restart a service	`docker compose restart service`
Shell in a service	`docker compose exec service sh`
Check the compose file	`docker compose config`

Cleanup and overview

How much space does Docker use?	`docker system df`
Clean up everything unused (careful!)	`docker system prune`
Information about the installation	`docker info`
Show the version	`docker version`

Good to know

docker system prune and docker volume prune delete data. Check first with docker system df and back up important volumes.
Ports that you publish bypass the UFW firewall: see the UFW cheat sheet.
More explanation: our Docker guides.

Sources and attribution

This overview is compiled in our own words. Commands and options change per version: when in doubt, check the official documentation.