Essential Docker Commands Cheat Sheet: Quick Reference for Developers

Essential Docker Commands Cheat Sheet

Introduction

Docker has become the de‑facto standard for containerised applications; developers and DevOps engineers need to master it.

While Docker offers many advanced features, a core set of commands is used daily.

This guide lists more than 20 basic Docker commands and their typical use cases.

1. Docker General Commands

docker info

docker info

– display system‑wide information.

Syntax:

docker info

docker --help

docker --help

– show Docker help; also works on sub‑commands.

Syntax:

docker <subcommands> --help

2. Docker Registry Commands

docker login

docker login

– log in to a Docker registry (default if no server is specified).

Syntax:

docker login <options> <registry>

docker logout

docker logout

– log out from a Docker registry.

Syntax:

docker logout <registry_url>

3. Docker Image Commands

docker build

docker build

– build a custom image from a Dockerfile.

Syntax:

docker build -t <image_name> <options> <dockerfile_path>

docker tag

docker tag <source_image> <target_image>

– create a new tag for an existing image.

docker images

docker images

– list all images on the system.

Syntax:

docker images <options>

docker pull

docker pull <image_name>

– download an image from a registry.

docker push

docker push <image_name>

– upload an image to a registry.

docker save

docker save -o <output_file> <image_name>

– export an image to a .tar file.

docker load

docker load -i <path_to_image_archive>

– import an image from a .tar file.

docker rmi

docker rmi <image_name>

– remove one or more images.

4. Docker Container Commands

docker run

docker run <options> <image>

– create and start a new container from an image.

docker ps

docker ps

– list running containers. docker ps -a – list all containers, including stopped ones.

docker stop / start / restart

docker stop <container_name>

– stop a running container. docker start <container_name> – start a stopped container. docker restart <container_name> – restart a container.

docker rm

docker rm <container>

– remove a stopped container. docker rm -f <container> – force‑remove a running container.

docker logs

docker logs <container>

– retrieve logs from a container. docker logs --tail 100 <container> – show the last 100 lines.

docker exec

docker exec -it <container> /bin/bash

– start an interactive Bash shell inside a container. docker exec <container> ls -l /app – run an arbitrary command inside a container.

docker cp

docker cp <container>:<source_path> <dest_path>

– copy files from a container to the host.

docker cp <host_path> <container>:<dest_path>

– copy files from the host into a container.

5. Docker Cleanup

docker system prune

docker system prune

– remove all stopped containers, dangling images, and unused networks. docker system prune -a – additionally remove all unused images.