Docker Cheat Sheet: All the Most Essential Commands in One Place + Downloadable PDF

Docker is a popular open-source platform that makes it easy to build, test, deploy, and manage containerized applications in a consistent, portable, or virtual environment such as VPS.

While a powerful tool in your development arsenal, learning the different Docker commands can take time and effort. New users often benefit from having a Docker cheat sheet readily at hand.

In this tutorial, we will explain how Docker works and provide the most common Docker commands, along with a downloadable cheat sheet for you to use.

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Docker Architecture

Docker architecture consists of five main components: server, client, container, image, and registry.

Docker Server

A Docker server or Docker daemon is a program that runs in the background of your computer and manages Docker containers and images. When you use the Docker command line interface.

(CLI) to create, run, or manage containers, you interact with the Docker daemon.

The Docker daemon is an essential platform component that ensures containers can be started and stopped automatically when the system boots up.

Docker Client

The Docker client lets users interact with the Docker daemon with its command-line interface (CLI). In simple terms, it’s the main part of the Docker architecture for creating, managing, and running container applications.

When you use the Docker CLI to pass a command, the Docker client sends the command to the Docker daemon running on your computer, which then carries out the requested operation. The Docker client can be installed on any machine that needs to interact with the Docker daemon, including your local machine, a remote server, or a virtual server.

Docker Container

A Docker container is a package that contains all the required prerequisites to run an application.

Containers are designed to be highly portable, meaning that they can be easily moved from one environment to another, such as from a developer’s laptop to a testing environment or from a testing environment to a production environment.

Docker Image

A Docker image is a preconfigured template that specifies what should be included in a Docker container. Usually, images are downloaded from websites like Docker Hub. However, it’s also possible to create a custom image with the help of Dockerfile.

Docker Registry

The Docker registry is a central repository that stores and manages Docker images. It is a server-based system that lets users store and share Docker images with others, making it easy to distribute and deploy applications. The most notable Docker registry is Docker Hub.

Docker Commands Cheat Sheet

Now that you know how Docker functions, let’s look at some of the most popular Docker command examples.

Build Commands

Docker uses the build command for building images from a Docker file. Some of the most common commands include:

Command	Explanation
docker build	Builds an image from a Dockerfile in the current directory
docker build https://github.com/docker/ rootfs.git#container:docker	Builds an image from a remote GIT repository
docker build -t imagename/tag	Builds and tags an image for easier tracking
docker build https://yourserver/file.tar.gz	Builds an image from a remote tar archive
docker build -t image:1.0 -<<EOFFROM busyboxRUN echo “hello world”EOF	Builds an image via a Dockerfile that is passed through STDIN

Clean Up Commands

To keep your system clean and save disk space, it’s a great idea to clean up unused images, containers, and volumes. Check the commands below for more details:

Command	Explanation
docker image prune	Clears an unused image
docker image prune -a	Clears all images that are not being used by containers
docker system prune	Removes all stopped containers, all networks not used by containers, all dangling images, and all build cache
docker image rm image	Removes an image
docker rm container	Removes a running container
docker swarm leave	Leaves a swarm
docker stack rm stackname	Removes a swarm
docker volume rm $(docker volume ls -f dangling=true -q)	Removes all dangling volumes
docker rm $(docker ps -a -q)	Removes all stopped containers
docker kill $ (docker ps -q)	Stops all running containers

Container Interaction Commands

Interact with your Docker container with the following common commands:

Command	Explanation
docker start container	Starts a new container
docker stop container	Stops a container
docker pause container	Pauses a container
docker unpause container	Unpauses a container
docker restart container	Restarts a container
docker wait container	Blocks a container
docker export container	Exports container contents to a tar archive
docker attach container	Attaches to a running container
docker wait container	Waits until the container is terminated and shows the exit code
docker commit -m “commit message” -a “author” container username/image_name: tag	Saves a running container as an image
docker logs -ft container	Follows container logs
docker exec -ti container script.sh	Runs a command in a container
docker commit container image	Creates a new image from a container
docker create image	Creates a new container from an image

Container Inspection Commands

Sometimes, you need to inspect your containers for quality assurance or troubleshooting purposes. These commands help you get an overview of what different containers are doing:

Command	Explanation
docker ps	Lists all running containers
docker -ps -a	Lists all containers
docker diff container	Inspects changes to directories and files in the container filesystem
docker top container	Shows all running processes in an existing container
docker inspect container	Displays low-level information about a container
docker logs container	Gathers the logs for a container
docker stats container	Shows container resource usage statistics

Manage Images Commands

Some of the most common image management commands include:

Command	Explanation
docker image ls	Lists images
docker image rm mysql	Removes an image
docker tag image tag	Tags an image
docker history image	Displays the image history
docker inspect image	Displays low-level information about an image

Run Commands

Docker uses the run command to create containers from provided images. The default syntax for this command looks like this:

docker run (options) image (command) (arg...)

After the default syntax, use one of the following flags:

Flag	Explanation
--detach , -d	Runs a container in the background and prints the container ID
--env , -e	Sets environment variables
--hostname , -h	Sets a hostname to a container
--label , -l	Creates a meta data label for a container
--name	Assigns a name to a container
--network	Connects a container to a network
--rm	Removes container when it stops
--read-only	Sets the container filesystem as read-only
--workdir , -w	Sets a working directory in a container

Registry Commands

If you need to interact with Docker Hub, use the following commands:

Command	Explanation
docker login	Logs in to a registry
docker logout	Logs out from a registry
docker pull mysql	Pulls an image from a registry
docker push repo/ rhel-httpd:latest	Pushes an image to a registry
docker search term	Searches Docker Hub for images with the specified term

Service Commands

Manage all Docker services with these basic commands:

Command	Explanation
docker service ls	Lists all services running in a swarm
docker stack services stackname	Lists all running services
docker service ps servicename	Lists the tasks of a service
docker service update servicename	Updates a service
docker service create image	Creates a new service
docker service scale servicename=10	Scales one or more replicated services
docker service logs stackname servicename	Lists all service logs

Network Commands

If you need to interact with the Docker network, use one of the following commands:

Command	Explanation
docker network create networkname	Creates a new network
docker network rm networkname	Removes a specified network
docker network ls	Lists all networks
docker network connect networkname container	Connects a container to a network
docker network disconnect networkname container	Disconnects a container from a network
docker network inspect networkname	Displays detailed information about a network

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Conclusion

Docker is a great tool for anyone willing to try out containers. The learning curve can be steep if you’re unfamiliar with container-based development. Luckily, having a cheat sheet at hand can speed up the process, as all common commands are easily reachable, and you don’t need to look them up on the internet.

In this tutorial, we’ve covered the basics of Docker architecture and gone through all the basic Docker commands, all of which can be found in our downloadable Docker cheat sheet.

We hope that you found this Docker tutorial useful. If you have any questions, leave them in the comments section below.