Docker Commands

Table of Contents

Docker Commands
Table of Contents

Basic listing and status

docker ps — running containers
docker ps -a — all containers (including stopped)
docker stats — live CPU/memory/network/IO usage
docker stats --no-stream — one-shot snapshot

Detailed inspection

docker inspect <container> — full JSON config, state, network, mounts
docker inspect -f '' <container> — extract a single field via Go template
docker inspect -f '' <container> — get IP
docker inspect -f '' <container> — environment variables
docker inspect -f '' <container> — host PID of main process

Logs

docker logs <container> — stdout/stderr
docker logs -f <container> — follow
docker logs --tail 100 <container> — last N lines
docker logs --since 10m <container> — time-filtered

Processes and runtime

docker top <container> — running processes inside the container
docker port <container> — port mappings
docker diff <container> — filesystem changes vs image
docker exec -it <container> sh — interactive shell (or bash)
docker exec <container> ps aux — run a command without a shell session

Resource and filesystem

docker cp <container>:/path ./local — copy files out for inspection
docker inspect -f '' <container> — memory limit
docker inspect -f '->\n' <container> — mounts

Events and history

docker events --filter container=<container> — real-time lifecycle events
docker container inspect --size <container> — include writable-layer size (SizeRw, SizeRootFs)

Image provenance

docker inspect -f '' <container> — image ID
docker history <image> — layer history