Docker Commands Cheatsheet

Images

Command	Description
docker pull <image>	Pull an image from a registry
docker pull <image>:<tag>	Pull a specific tagged version
docker build -t <name>:<tag> .	Build image from Dockerfile in current dir
docker build -f <file> .	Build image from a specific Dockerfile
docker tag <image> <new_name>:<tag>	Tag an image with a new name
docker push <image>:<tag>	Push an image to a registry
docker images	List all local images
docker images -a	List all images including intermediates
docker rmi <image>	Remove an image
docker rmi $(docker images -q)	Remove all images
docker inspect <image>	Show detailed image information
docker history <image>	Show image layer history
docker image prune	Remove dangling images
docker image prune -a	Remove all unused images
docker save -o <file>.tar <image>	Save image to a tar archive
docker load -i <file>.tar	Load image from a tar archive

Containers

Command	Description
docker run <image>	Create and start a container
docker run -d <image>	Run container in detached (background) mode
docker run -p <host>:<container> <image>	Map host port to container port
docker run -v <host>:<container> <image>	Bind mount a host path into the container
docker run -e KEY=VALUE <image>	Set environment variable
docker run --name <name> <image>	Assign a name to the container
docker run --rm <image>	Automatically remove container on exit
docker run --network <net> <image>	Connect container to a network
docker run --restart=unless-stopped <image>	Set restart policy
docker run -it <image> /bin/sh	Run interactive shell in container
docker ps	List running containers
docker ps -a	List all containers
docker start <container>	Start a stopped container
docker stop <container>	Stop a running container
docker restart <container>	Restart a container
docker rm <container>	Remove a stopped container
docker rm -f <container>	Force remove a running container
docker container prune	Remove all stopped containers
docker logs <container>	Show container logs
docker logs -f <container>	Follow (tail) container logs
docker logs --tail 100 <container>	Show last 100 lines of logs
docker exec -it <container> /bin/sh	Open interactive shell in running container
docker exec <container> <cmd>	Run a command in a running container
docker inspect <container>	Show detailed container information
docker cp <container>:<path> <host_path>	Copy file from container to host
docker cp <host_path> <container>:<path>	Copy file from host to container
docker stats	Show live resource usage for all containers
docker stats <container>	Show live resource usage for a container
docker top <container>	Show running processes in a container
docker rename <old> <new>	Rename a container

Docker Compose

Command	Description
docker compose up	Create and start all services
docker compose up -d	Start all services in detached mode
docker compose up --build	Build images before starting services
docker compose down	Stop and remove containers, networks
docker compose down -v	Also remove named volumes
docker compose down --rmi all	Also remove all images used by services
docker compose build	Build or rebuild services
docker compose logs	View output from all services
docker compose logs -f <service>	Follow logs for a specific service
docker compose ps	List running service containers
docker compose exec <service> <cmd>	Run a command in a running service container
docker compose pull	Pull latest images for all services
docker compose config	Validate and view the composed configuration
docker compose restart	Restart all services
docker compose restart <service>	Restart a specific service
docker compose stop	Stop services without removing them
docker compose run <service> <cmd>	Run a one-off command against a service

Volumes

Command	Description
docker volume create <name>	Create a named volume
docker volume ls	List all volumes
docker volume inspect <name>	Show detailed volume information
docker volume rm <name>	Remove a volume
docker volume prune	Remove all unused volumes
docker run -v <vol>:<path> <image>	Mount a named volume to a container
docker run -v <host_path>:<path> <image>	Bind mount a host directory
docker run -v <path> <image>	Create an anonymous volume

Networks

Command	Description
docker network create <name>	Create a network
docker network create --driver bridge <name>	Create a bridge network
docker network ls	List all networks
docker network inspect <name>	Show detailed network information
docker network rm <name>	Remove a network
docker network connect <net> <container>	Connect a container to a network
docker network disconnect <net> <container>	Disconnect a container from a network
docker network prune	Remove all unused networks

System

Command	Description
docker info	Display system-wide information
docker system df	Show Docker disk usage
docker system df -v	Show detailed disk usage
docker system prune	Remove unused containers, networks, images
docker system prune -a	Also remove unused images (not just dangling)
docker system prune -a --volumes	Remove everything unused including volumes
docker system events	Stream real-time events from the daemon
docker system events --filter type=container	Filter events by type
docker version	Show Docker version info

Common Run Flag Combinations

Command	Description
docker run -it --rm <image> /bin/sh	Disposable interactive shell
docker run -d -p 8080:80 <image>	Detached with port mapping
docker run -d -p 8080:80 -v ./data:/data <image>	Detached with port and volume
docker run -d -e DB_HOST=db -e DB_PORT=5432 <image>	Detached with env vars
docker run -d --name app --network mynet <image>	Named container on custom network
docker run -d -p 5432:5432 -v pgdata:/var/lib/postgresql/data -e POSTGRES_PASSWORD=secret --name db postgres	Full Postgres example
docker run -d -p 6379:6379 --restart=unless-stopped --name cache redis	Persistent service with auto-restart
docker run --rm -v $(pwd):/app -w /app node:20 npm install	Run a one-off command with working dir