Every essential Docker command for containers, images, volumes, networks, and Docker Compose β with copy-ready examples.
docker run -d IMAGE
docker run -d nginx
docker run -it IMAGE bash
docker run -it ubuntu bash
docker run --name NAME -p HOST:CTR IMAGE
docker run --name web -p 8080:80 nginx
docker run -e KEY=VALUE IMAGE
docker run -e NODE_ENV=production node:18 node app.js
docker run -v /host/path:/ctr/path IMAGE
docker run -v $(pwd)/data:/app/data myapp
docker run --rm IMAGE
docker run --rm alpine echo 'hello'
docker ps
docker ps
docker ps -a
docker ps -a
docker stop CONTAINER
docker stop web
docker start CONTAINER
docker start web
docker restart CONTAINER
docker restart web
docker rm CONTAINER
docker rm web
docker rm -f CONTAINER
docker rm -f web
docker exec -it CONTAINER bash
docker exec -it web bash
docker logs -f CONTAINER
docker logs -f web
docker inspect CONTAINER
docker inspect web
docker stats
docker stats
docker pull IMAGE:TAG
docker pull postgres:16
docker images
docker images
docker build -t NAME:TAG .
docker build -t myapp:latest .
docker build -f PATH/Dockerfile .
docker build -f docker/Dockerfile.prod -t myapp:prod .
docker tag SOURCE TARGET
docker tag myapp:latest registry.io/user/myapp:v1.0
docker push IMAGE
docker push registry.io/user/myapp:v1.0
docker rmi IMAGE
docker rmi myapp:latest
docker image prune
docker image prune
docker image prune -a
docker image prune -a
docker volume create NAME
docker volume create pgdata
docker volume ls
docker volume ls
docker volume inspect NAME
docker volume inspect pgdata
docker volume rm NAME
docker volume rm pgdata
docker run -v VOLUME:/ctr/path IMAGE
docker run -v pgdata:/var/lib/postgresql/data postgres:16
docker network create NAME
docker network create mynet
docker network ls
docker network ls
docker network connect NET CONTAINER
docker network connect mynet web
docker run --network NET IMAGE
docker run --network mynet --name api myapp
docker network rm NAME
docker network rm mynet
docker compose up -d
docker compose up -d
docker compose down
docker compose down
docker compose down -v
docker compose down -v
docker compose ps
docker compose ps
docker compose logs -f SERVICE
docker compose logs -f api
docker compose exec SERVICE bash
docker compose exec api bash
docker compose build
docker compose build
docker compose pull
docker compose pull
docker compose restart SERVICE
docker compose restart api
docker compose -f FILE up -d
docker compose -f docker-compose.prod.yml up -d
FROM BASE:TAG
FROM node:18-alpine
WORKDIR /path
WORKDIR /app
COPY src dest
COPY package*.json ./ COPY . .
RUN command
RUN npm ci --only=production
ENV KEY=VALUE
ENV NODE_ENV=production PORT=3000
ARG NAME=default
ARG APP_VERSION RUN echo $APP_VERSION
EXPOSE PORT
EXPOSE 3000
CMD ["executable", "arg"]
CMD ["node", "server.js"]
ENTRYPOINT ["executable"]
ENTRYPOINT ["docker-entrypoint.sh"]
VOLUME ["/data"]
VOLUME ["/var/lib/mysql"]
USER name
USER node
docker system prune
docker system prune
docker system prune -a
docker system prune -a
docker system df
docker system df
docker container prune
docker container prune
docker info
docker info
docker version
docker version
# Stage 1: build FROM node:18-alpine AS builder WORKDIR /app COPY package*.json ./ RUN npm ci COPY . . RUN npm run build # Stage 2: runtime FROM node:18-alpine AS runner WORKDIR /app ENV NODE_ENV=production COPY --from=builder /app/dist ./dist COPY --from=builder /app/node_modules ./node_modules EXPOSE 3000 USER node CMD ["node", "dist/server.js"]
Multi-stage builds keep the final image small by only copying production artifacts. The USER node instruction avoids running as root for better security.
services:
api:
build: .
ports:
- "3000:3000"
environment:
DATABASE_URL: postgres://user:pass@db:5432/mydb
depends_on:
db:
condition: service_healthy
db:
image: postgres:16-alpine
volumes:
- pgdata:/var/lib/postgresql/data
environment:
POSTGRES_USER: user
POSTGRES_PASSWORD: pass
POSTGRES_DB: mydb
healthcheck:
test: ["CMD-SHELL", "pg_isready -U user"]
interval: 5s
retries: 5
volumes:
pgdata:docker run creates a new container from an image and starts it. docker start restarts an existing stopped container. Use docker run when creating a container for the first time or when you want a fresh container. Use docker start when you want to resume a previously stopped container with its existing state.
Use docker system prune to remove all stopped containers, dangling images, unused networks, and build cache. Add -a flag to also remove unused images (not just dangling ones). Use docker container prune for only containers, docker image prune for only images.
COPY simply copies files from the build context into the image. ADD does the same but also supports URL sources and automatic extraction of compressed archives (.tar, .tar.gz, .tar.bz2). Best practice: use COPY unless you specifically need ADD's extra capabilities, as COPY is more transparent.
Use Docker volumes (docker volume create myvol, then -v myvol:/data in docker run) for persistent named storage managed by Docker. Use bind mounts (-v /host/path:/container/path) to mount a specific host directory. Volumes are preferred for production as they are fully managed by Docker and portable.