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Docker Commands Cheat Sheet

Essential Docker commands reference — containers, images, volumes, networks, Docker Compose and debugging.

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Container Lifecycle

CommandDescriptionExample
docker runCreate and start containerdocker run -d -p 8080:80 nginx
docker startStart stopped containerdocker start mycontainer
docker stopStop running container (graceful)docker stop mycontainer
docker killForce stop containerdocker kill mycontainer
docker restartStop then start containerdocker restart mycontainer
docker rmRemove stopped containerdocker rm mycontainer
docker rm -fForce remove running containerdocker rm -f mycontainer
docker pause / unpauseFreeze / unfreeze containerdocker pause mycontainer

Container Inspection

CommandDescriptionExample
docker psList running containersdocker ps
docker ps -aList all containersdocker ps -a
docker logsView container logsdocker logs -f mycontainer
docker execRun command in containerdocker exec -it mycontainer bash
docker inspectDetailed container info (JSON)docker inspect mycontainer
docker statsLive CPU/memory usagedocker stats
docker topRunning processes in containerdocker top mycontainer
docker cpCopy files to/from containerdocker cp file.txt mycontainer:/app/

Image Commands

CommandDescriptionExample
docker pullDownload imagedocker pull python:3.11
docker pushUpload image to registrydocker push myuser/myimage:tag
docker buildBuild image from Dockerfiledocker build -t myapp:1.0 .
docker imagesList local imagesdocker images
docker rmiRemove imagedocker rmi myimage:tag
docker tagTag an imagedocker tag myapp:1.0 myapp:latest
docker saveExport image to tardocker save myapp > myapp.tar
docker loadImport image from tardocker load < myapp.tar

Volumes & Networks

CommandDescriptionExample
docker volume createCreate named volumedocker volume create mydata
docker volume lsList volumesdocker volume ls
docker volume rmRemove volumedocker volume rm mydata
-v host:containerBind mountdocker run -v /data:/app/data nginx
docker network createCreate networkdocker network create mynet
docker network lsList networksdocker network ls
--network flagConnect to networkdocker run --network mynet nginx

Docker Compose

CommandDescription
docker compose up -dStart all services in background
docker compose downStop and remove containers
docker compose down -vStop and remove containers + volumes
docker compose logs -fFollow logs from all services
docker compose psList compose services
docker compose exec app bashShell into running service
docker compose buildRebuild images
docker compose pullPull latest images
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