Docker Container Monitoring Commands and Third‑Party Tools (Sysdig, Weave Scope)

Preface

In enterprises, business cannot be stopped arbitrarily because it would cause huge economic loss. Operations engineers must ensure services run normally, including containerized services, by continuously monitoring their status.

Docker Monitoring Commands

docker ps

The docker ps command shows container status. An equivalent command is docker container ls .

docker top

The docker top command displays processes running inside a container. Adding a container name or parameters (e.g., -u ) can filter the output.

docker stats

The docker stats command provides a live list of resource usage (CPU, memory, network, etc.) for each container. Adding a container name shows statistics for that specific container.

Sysdig

Sysdig is a lightweight command‑line monitoring tool that aggregates functionalities of tools like strace , htop , and lsof . It can run as a container, requiring absolute host paths and appropriate permissions. After starting, Sysdig presents a UI with resource usage, process information, and various options for container interaction.

Weave Scope

Weave Scope offers a graphical interface for container and host monitoring. After installing the binary script and granting execution permission, the service runs on a specified port (e.g., http://192.168.77.128:4040/ ). It visualizes containers and hosts, allows filtering, searching, and provides detailed views for each entity, including status, info, processes, labels, and image data.

Weave Scope also supports multi‑host monitoring, enabling users to view containers across several hosts, search by name or logical conditions (e.g., cpu>1 ), and access help documentation.

Summary

The chapter covered Docker's built‑in monitoring commands and introduced third‑party tools Sysdig and Weave Scope. Sysdig is a powerful CLI tool, while Weave Scope provides an intuitive graphical view, helping users ensure containerized services run smoothly.