Frequently Used Docker Commands

docker version

Client:
 Version:           27.5.1-rd
 API version:       1.47
 Go version:        go1.22.11
 Git commit:        0c97515
 Built:             Thu Jan 23 18:12:38 2025
 OS/Arch:           darwin/arm64
 Context:           desktop-linux

Server: Docker Desktop 4.42.0 (195023)
 Engine:
  Version:          28.2.2
  API version:      1.50 (minimum version 1.24)
  Go version:       go1.24.3
  Git commit:       45873be
  Built:            Fri May 30 12:07:27 2025
  OS/Arch:          linux/arm64
  Experimental:     false
 containerd:
  Version:          1.7.27
  GitCommit:        05044ec0a9a75232cad458027ca83437aae3f4da
 runc:
  Version:          1.2.5
  GitCommit:        v1.2.5-0-g59923ef
 docker-init:
  Version:          0.19.0
  GitCommit:        de40ad0

1. Image & Container Management

Command	Description
docker pull <image-name>	Pull image from registry
docker create --name <container-name> <image-name>	Create container without running it
docker run -it --name <container-name> <image-name>	Create and Run container interactively
docker exec -it <container-name> <command>	Execute command in running container
docker ps -a	List all containers
docker start <container-name>	Start container
docker stop <container-name>	Stop container
docker logs <container-name>	Show logs
docker rm <container-name>	Remove container
docker rmi <image-name>	Remove image

2. Volume Management

Command	Description
docker volume ls	List volumes
docker volume create <volume-name>	Create volume
docker volume rm <volume-name>	Remove volume
docker run -v <volume-name>:<container-path> <image-name>	Mount volume to container
docker run -v <host-path>:<container-path> <image-name>	Mount host path to container

Press Ctrl + p + q to exit the terminal without stopping the container

3. System Management

Command	Description
docker system df -v	Show Docker daemon disk usage
docker system prune	Remove unused data

4. Docker Prune Commands Comparison

Command	Stopped Containers	Unused Networks	Dangling Images	Unused Images	Unused Anonymous Volumes	Unused Named Volumes
docker system \ prune	✅	✅	✅	❌	❌	❌
docker system \ prune --volumes	✅	✅	✅	❌	✅	❌
docker system \ prune -a	✅	✅	✅	✅	❌	❌
docker system \ prune -a --volumes	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	❌
docker volume \ prune	❌	❌	❌	❌	✅	❌
docker volume \ prune -a	❌	❌	❌	❌	✅	✅

5. Examples

# Pull Ubuntu image
docker image pull ubuntu:24.04

# Run Ubuntu container
docker container run -it -v ./test-volume:/home/ubuntu --name ubuntu-test ubuntu:24.04

# Execute bash in container
docker container exec -it ubuntu-test /bin/bash

6. Docker Compose Commands

Command	Description
docker compose up	Apply changed compose.yml and start services
docker compose up <service-name>	Start a specific service
docker compose down	Stop services
docker compose down -v	Stop services and remove volumes
docker compose ls	List all projects

docker compose up --build rebuilds the images