Master Docker: Essential Commands for Managing Images and Containers

Exploring More Docker Operations

1. List available images

# docker images

2. Search a public image

# docker search imageName

3. Pull an image

# docker pull imageName

4. Run a Docker container

Basic command: docker run [OPTIONS] IMAGE [COMMAND] [ARG...] Main options:

-d : run container in background

-t : allocate a pseudo‑TTY

-i : keep STDIN open (usually used with -t)

-v : bind‑mount a volume, e.g., -v /data/www:/var/www/html

-p : map container port to host, e.g., -p 8080:80

Examples

Start an interactive container: # docker -it centos:6.6 /bin/bash Start a container in background and map a port: # docker -d -p 4422:22 sshd Bind a local directory and map a port:

# docker run -d -v /data/www:/var/www/html -p 8080:80 httpd

5. List Docker containers

Show running containers: # docker ps Show all containers, including stopped ones:

# docker ps -a

6. View container logs

# docker logs "Container Name or Container ID"

Example for an nginx container:

# docker logs 034b9dc0346c
[log output omitted for brevity]

7. Stop a Docker container

Gracefully stop a running container: # docker stop "Container Name or Container ID" Force‑kill a container:

# docker kill "Container Name or Container ID"

8. Remove a Docker container

Delete a stopped container: # docker rm "Container Name or Container ID" Remove all stopped containers at once:

# docker rm `docker ps -a -q`

9. Restart a Docker container

# docker restart "Container Name or Container ID"

10. Access a container's interactive terminal

Method 1 – attach to a running container:

# docker attach "Container Name or Container ID"

Method 2 – enter the container’s namespace:

docker_ID=$(docker inspect -f {{.State.Pid}} Container_Name_or_ID)
nsenter --target $docker_ID --mount --uts --ipc --net --pid

11. Export and import containers

Export a container to a tar file: # docker export 034b9dc0346c > nginx.tar This creates a snapshot of the container on the local filesystem.

12. One‑page overview of main Docker operations