Docker Containers Cheatsheet
A container is a runnable instance of a Docker image. Here are the most common commands for managing the lifecycle of your containers.
Container Lifecycle Commands
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
docker run [IMAGE] | Creates and starts a new container from an image. This is the first step to get a container running. |
docker ps | Lists all running containers. Use docker ps -a to see all containers, including stopped ones. |
docker start [CONTAINER_ID or NAME] | Starts a stopped container. |
docker stop [CONTAINER_ID or NAME] | Gracefully stops a running container. Docker will send a SIGTERM signal to the main process and then a SIGKILL after a timeout. |
docker restart [CONTAINER_ID or NAME] | Restarts a running container. |
docker rm [CONTAINER_ID or NAME] | Removes a stopped container from the system. You must stop a container before you can remove it. |
docker exec -it [CONTAINER_ID or NAME] [COMMAND] | Executes a command inside a running container. The -it flags are commonly used to create an interactive terminal session (e.g., docker exec -it my-container bash). |
docker container prune | Removes all stopped containers. This is a quick way to clean up your system. |