:title: Command Line Interface :description: Docker's CLI command description and usage :keywords: Docker, Docker documentation, CLI, command line .. _cli: Command Line Help ----------------- To list available commands, either run ``docker`` with no parameters or execute ``docker help``:: $ sudo docker Usage: docker [OPTIONS] COMMAND [arg...] -H=[unix:///var/run/docker.sock]: tcp://host:port to bind/connect to or unix://path/to/socket to use A self-sufficient runtime for linux containers. ... .. _cli_attach: ``attach`` ---------- :: Usage: docker attach CONTAINER Attach to a running container. -nostdin=false: Do not attach stdin -sig-proxy=true: Proxify all received signal to the process (even in non-tty mode) You can detach from the container again (and leave it running) with ``CTRL-c`` (for a quiet exit) or ``CTRL-\`` to get a stacktrace of the Docker client when it quits. To stop a container, use ``docker stop`` To kill the container, use ``docker kill`` .. _cli_attach_examples: Examples: ~~~~~~~~~ .. code-block:: bash $ ID=$(sudo docker run -d ubuntu /usr/bin/top -b) $ sudo docker attach $ID top - 02:05:52 up 3:05, 0 users, load average: 0.01, 0.02, 0.05 Tasks: 1 total, 1 running, 0 sleeping, 0 stopped, 0 zombie Cpu(s): 0.1%us, 0.2%sy, 0.0%ni, 99.7%id, 0.0%wa, 0.0%hi, 0.0%si, 0.0%st Mem: 373572k total, 355560k used, 18012k free, 27872k buffers Swap: 786428k total, 0k used, 786428k free, 221740k cached PID USER PR NI VIRT RES SHR S %CPU %MEM TIME+ COMMAND 1 root 20 0 17200 1116 912 R 0 0.3 0:00.03 top top - 02:05:55 up 3:05, 0 users, load average: 0.01, 0.02, 0.05 Tasks: 1 total, 1 running, 0 sleeping, 0 stopped, 0 zombie Cpu(s): 0.0%us, 0.2%sy, 0.0%ni, 99.8%id, 0.0%wa, 0.0%hi, 0.0%si, 0.0%st Mem: 373572k total, 355244k used, 18328k free, 27872k buffers Swap: 786428k total, 0k used, 786428k free, 221776k cached PID USER PR NI VIRT RES SHR S %CPU %MEM TIME+ COMMAND 1 root 20 0 17208 1144 932 R 0 0.3 0:00.03 top top - 02:05:58 up 3:06, 0 users, load average: 0.01, 0.02, 0.05 Tasks: 1 total, 1 running, 0 sleeping, 0 stopped, 0 zombie Cpu(s): 0.2%us, 0.3%sy, 0.0%ni, 99.5%id, 0.0%wa, 0.0%hi, 0.0%si, 0.0%st Mem: 373572k total, 355780k used, 17792k free, 27880k buffers Swap: 786428k total, 0k used, 786428k free, 221776k cached PID USER PR NI VIRT RES SHR S %CPU %MEM TIME+ COMMAND 1 root 20 0 17208 1144 932 R 0 0.3 0:00.03 top ^C$ $ sudo docker stop $ID .. _cli_build: ``build`` --------- :: Usage: docker build [OPTIONS] PATH | URL | - Build a new container image from the source code at PATH -t="": Repository name (and optionally a tag) to be applied to the resulting image in case of success. -q=false: Suppress verbose build output. -no-cache: Do not use the cache when building the image. -rm: Remove intermediate containers after a successful build When a single Dockerfile is given as URL, then no context is set. When a git repository is set as URL, the repository is used as context .. _cli_build_examples: Examples: ~~~~~~~~~ .. code-block:: bash sudo docker build . This will read the ``Dockerfile`` from the current directory. It will also send any other files and directories found in the current directory to the ``docker`` daemon. The contents of this directory would be used by ``ADD`` commands found within the ``Dockerfile``. This will send a lot of data to the ``docker`` daemon if the current directory contains a lot of data. If the absolute path is provided instead of ``.`` then only the files and directories required by the ADD commands from the ``Dockerfile`` will be added to the context and transferred to the ``docker`` daemon. .. code-block:: bash sudo docker build -t vieux/apache:2.0 . This will build like the previous example, but it will then tag the resulting image. The repository name will be ``vieux/apache`` and the tag will be ``2.0`` .. code-block:: bash sudo docker build - < Dockerfile This will read a ``Dockerfile`` from *stdin* without context. Due to the lack of a context, no contents of any local directory will be sent to the ``docker`` daemon. ``ADD`` doesn't work when running in this mode because the absence of the context provides no source files to copy to the container. .. code-block:: bash sudo docker build github.com/creack/docker-firefox This will clone the Github repository and use it as context. The ``Dockerfile`` at the root of the repository is used as ``Dockerfile``. Note that you can specify an arbitrary git repository by using the ``git://`` schema. .. _cli_commit: ``commit`` ---------- :: Usage: docker commit [OPTIONS] CONTAINER [REPOSITORY [TAG]] Create a new image from a container's changes -m="": Commit message -author="": Author (eg. "John Hannibal Smith " -run="": Configuration to be applied when the image is launched with `docker run`. (ex: '{"Cmd": ["cat", "/world"], "PortSpecs": ["22"]}') Full -run example (multiline is ok within a single quote ``'``) :: $ sudo docker commit -run=' { "Entrypoint" : null, "Privileged" : false, "User" : "", "VolumesFrom" : "", "Cmd" : ["cat", "-e", "/etc/resolv.conf"], "Dns" : ["8.8.8.8", "8.8.4.4"], "MemorySwap" : 0, "AttachStdin" : false, "AttachStderr" : false, "CpuShares" : 0, "OpenStdin" : false, "Volumes" : null, "Hostname" : "122612f45831", "PortSpecs" : ["22", "80", "443"], "Image" : "b750fe79269d2ec9a3c593ef05b4332b1d1a02a62b4accb2c21d589ff2f5f2dc", "Tty" : false, "Env" : [ "HOME=/", "PATH=/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin" ], "StdinOnce" : false, "Domainname" : "", "WorkingDir" : "/", "NetworkDisabled" : false, "Memory" : 0, "AttachStdout" : false }' $CONTAINER_ID .. _cli_cp: ``cp`` ------ :: Usage: docker cp CONTAINER:RESOURCE HOSTPATH Copy files/folders from the containers filesystem to the host path. Paths are relative to the root of the filesystem. .. _cli_diff: ``diff`` -------- :: Usage: docker diff CONTAINER [OPTIONS] Inspect changes on a container's filesystem .. _cli_events: ``events`` ---------- :: Usage: docker events Get real time events from the server .. _cli_events_example: Examples ~~~~~~~~ You'll need two shells for this example. Shell 1: Listening for events ............................. .. code-block:: bash $ sudo docker events Shell 2: Start and Stop a Container ................................... .. code-block:: bash $ sudo docker start 4386fb97867d $ sudo docker stop 4386fb97867d Shell 1: (Again .. now showing events) ...................................... .. code-block:: bash [2013-09-03 15:49:26 +0200 CEST] 4386fb97867d: (from 12de384bfb10) start [2013-09-03 15:49:29 +0200 CEST] 4386fb97867d: (from 12de384bfb10) die [2013-09-03 15:49:29 +0200 CEST] 4386fb97867d: (from 12de384bfb10) stop .. _cli_export: ``export`` ---------- :: Usage: docker export CONTAINER Export the contents of a filesystem as a tar archive .. _cli_history: ``history`` ----------- :: Usage: docker history [OPTIONS] IMAGE Show the history of an image -notrunc=false: Don't truncate output -q=false: only show numeric IDs .. _cli_images: ``images`` ---------- :: Usage: docker images [OPTIONS] [NAME] List images -a=false: show all images -q=false: only show numeric IDs -viz=false: output in graphviz format Displaying images visually ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ :: sudo docker images -viz | dot -Tpng -o docker.png .. image:: docker_images.gif :alt: Example inheritance graph of Docker images. .. _cli_import: ``import`` ---------- :: Usage: docker import URL|- [REPOSITORY [TAG]] Create a new filesystem image from the contents of a tarball At this time, the URL must start with ``http`` and point to a single file archive (.tar, .tar.gz, .tgz, .bzip, .tar.xz, .txz) containing a root filesystem. If you would like to import from a local directory or archive, you can use the ``-`` parameter to take the data from standard in. Examples ~~~~~~~~ Import from a remote location ............................. ``$ sudo docker import http://example.com/exampleimage.tgz exampleimagerepo`` Import from a local file ........................ Import to docker via pipe and standard in ``$ cat exampleimage.tgz | sudo docker import - exampleimagelocal`` Import from a local directory ............................. ``$ sudo tar -c . | docker import - exampleimagedir`` Note the ``sudo`` in this example -- you must preserve the ownership of the files (especially root ownership) during the archiving with tar. If you are not root (or sudo) when you tar, then the ownerships might not get preserved. .. _cli_info: ``info`` -------- :: Usage: docker info Display system-wide information. .. _cli_insert: ``insert`` ---------- :: Usage: docker insert IMAGE URL PATH Insert a file from URL in the IMAGE at PATH Examples ~~~~~~~~ Insert file from github ....................... .. code-block:: bash $ sudo docker insert 8283e18b24bc https://raw.github.com/metalivedev/django/master/postinstall /tmp/postinstall.sh .. _cli_inspect: ``inspect`` ----------- :: Usage: docker inspect [OPTIONS] CONTAINER Return low-level information on a container .. _cli_kill: ``kill`` -------- :: Usage: docker kill CONTAINER [CONTAINER...] Kill a running container (Send SIGKILL) The main process inside the container will be sent SIGKILL. .. _cli_login: ``login`` --------- :: Usage: docker login [OPTIONS] [SERVER] Register or Login to the docker registry server -e="": email -p="": password -u="": username If you want to login to a private registry you can specify this by adding the server name. example: docker login localhost:8080 .. _cli_logs: ``logs`` -------- :: Usage: docker logs [OPTIONS] CONTAINER Fetch the logs of a container .. _cli_port: ``port`` -------- :: Usage: docker port [OPTIONS] CONTAINER PRIVATE_PORT Lookup the public-facing port which is NAT-ed to PRIVATE_PORT .. _cli_ps: ``ps`` ------ :: Usage: docker ps [OPTIONS] List containers -a=false: Show all containers. Only running containers are shown by default. -notrunc=false: Don't truncate output -q=false: Only display numeric IDs .. _cli_pull: ``pull`` -------- :: Usage: docker pull NAME Pull an image or a repository from the registry .. _cli_push: ``push`` -------- :: Usage: docker push NAME Push an image or a repository to the registry .. _cli_restart: ``restart`` ----------- :: Usage: docker restart [OPTIONS] NAME Restart a running container .. _cli_rm: ``rm`` ------ :: Usage: docker rm [OPTIONS] CONTAINER Remove one or more containers -link="": Remove the link instead of the actual container Examples: ~~~~~~~~~ .. code-block:: bash $ docker rm /redis /redis This will remove the container referenced under the link ``/redis``. .. code-block:: bash $ docker rm -link /webapp/redis /webapp/redis This will remove the underlying link between ``/webapp`` and the ``/redis`` containers removing all network communication. .. _cli_rmi: ``rmi`` ------- :: Usage: docker rmi IMAGE [IMAGE...] Remove one or more images .. _cli_run: ``run`` ------- :: Usage: docker run [OPTIONS] IMAGE[:TAG] [COMMAND] [ARG...] Run a command in a new container -a=map[]: Attach to stdin, stdout or stderr -c=0: CPU shares (relative weight) -cidfile="": Write the container ID to the file -d=false: Detached mode: Run container in the background, print new container id -e=[]: Set environment variables -h="": Container host name -i=false: Keep stdin open even if not attached -privileged=false: Give extended privileges to this container -m=0: Memory limit (in bytes) -n=true: Enable networking for this container -p=[]: Map a network port to the container -rm=false: Automatically remove the container when it exits (incompatible with -d) -t=false: Allocate a pseudo-tty -u="": Username or UID -dns=[]: Set custom dns servers for the container -v=[]: Create a bind mount with: [host-dir]:[container-dir]:[rw|ro]. If "container-dir" is missing, then docker creates a new volume. -volumes-from="": Mount all volumes from the given container -entrypoint="": Overwrite the default entrypoint set by the image -w="": Working directory inside the container -lxc-conf=[]: Add custom lxc options -lxc-conf="lxc.cgroup.cpuset.cpus = 0,1" -sig-proxy=true: Proxify all received signal to the process (even in non-tty mode) -expose=[]: Expose a port from the container without publishing it to your host -link="": Add link to another container (name:alias) -name="": Assign the specified name to the container. If no name is specific docker will generate a random name Examples -------- .. code-block:: bash sudo docker run -cidfile /tmp/docker_test.cid ubuntu echo "test" This will create a container and print "test" to the console. The ``cidfile`` flag makes docker attempt to create a new file and write the container ID to it. If the file exists already, docker will return an error. Docker will close this file when docker run exits. .. code-block:: bash docker run mount -t tmpfs none /var/spool/squid This will *not* work, because by default, most potentially dangerous kernel capabilities are dropped; including ``cap_sys_admin`` (which is required to mount filesystems). However, the ``-privileged`` flag will allow it to run: .. code-block:: bash docker run -privileged mount -t tmpfs none /var/spool/squid The ``-privileged`` flag gives *all* capabilities to the container, and it also lifts all the limitations enforced by the ``device`` cgroup controller. In other words, the container can then do almost everything that the host can do. This flag exists to allow special use-cases, like running Docker within Docker. .. code-block:: bash docker run -w /path/to/dir/ -i -t ubuntu pwd The ``-w`` lets the command being executed inside directory given, here /path/to/dir/. If the path does not exists it is created inside the container. .. code-block:: bash docker run -v `pwd`:`pwd` -w `pwd` -i -t ubuntu pwd The ``-v`` flag mounts the current working directory into the container. The ``-w`` lets the command being executed inside the current working directory, by changing into the directory to the value returned by ``pwd``. So this combination executes the command using the container, but inside the current working directory. .. code-block:: bash docker run -p 127.0.0.0::80 ubuntu bash This the ``-p`` flag now allows you to bind a port to a specific interface of the host machine. In this example port ``80`` of the container will have a dynamically allocated port bound to 127.0.0.1 of the host. .. code-block:: bash docker run -p 127.0.0.1:80:80 ubuntu bash This will bind port ``80`` of the container to port ``80`` on 127.0.0.1 of your host machine. .. code-block:: bash docker run -expose 80 ubuntu bash This will expose port ``80`` of the container for use within a link without publishing the port to the host system's interfaces. .. code-block:: bash docker run -name console -t -i ubuntu bash This will create and run a new container with the container name being ``console``. .. code-block:: bash docker run -link /redis:redis -name console ubuntu bash The ``-link`` flag will link the container named ``/redis`` into the newly created container with the alias ``redis``. The new container can access the network and environment of the redis container via environment variables. The ``-name`` flag will assign the name ``console`` to the newly created container. .. _cli_search: ``search`` ---------- :: Usage: docker search TERM Searches for the TERM parameter on the Docker index and prints out a list of repositories that match. .. _cli_start: ``start`` --------- :: Usage: docker start [OPTIONS] NAME Start a stopped container -a=false: Attach container's stdout/stderr and forward all signals to the process -i=false: Attach container's stdin .. _cli_stop: ``stop`` -------- :: Usage: docker stop [OPTIONS] CONTAINER [CONTAINER...] Stop a running container (Send SIGTERM, and then SIGKILL after grace period) -t=10: Number of seconds to wait for the container to stop before killing it. The main process inside the container will receive SIGTERM, and after a grace period, SIGKILL .. _cli_tag: ``tag`` ------- :: Usage: docker tag [OPTIONS] IMAGE REPOSITORY [TAG] Tag an image into a repository -f=false: Force .. _cli_top: ``top`` ------- :: Usage: docker top CONTAINER Lookup the running processes of a container .. _cli_version: ``version`` ----------- Show the version of the docker client, daemon, and latest released version. .. _cli_wait: ``wait`` -------- :: Usage: docker wait [OPTIONS] NAME Block until a container stops, then print its exit code.