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Docker Installation and commands

Docker Installation Installation Uninstall old versions Install using the apt repository Another method for installing docker is to run the official script from https://get.docker.com Post…

Deependra Bhatta9 Jul 2025 · updated 5 Oct 2026 · 10 min read

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Docker Installation and commands screenshot 1

Docker Installation and commands screenshot 2

Installation

Follow all the steps in this document.ie;
- Uninstall old versions
- Install using the apt repository

Docker install on Ubuntu

Another method for installing docker is to run the official script from https://get.docker.com

SHBash

curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com -o docker_install.sh
 
sudo sh ./docker_install.sh

Post installation steps

sudo usermod -aG docker $USER

To unistall the docker engine

SHBash

sudo apt-get purge docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io docker-buildx-plugin docker-compose-plugin docker-ce-rootless-extras

SHBash

sudo rm -rf /var/lib/docker
sudo rm -rf /var/lib/containerd

SHBash

sudo rm /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list
sudo rm /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc

Commands

Here i am using CIN as shortcut for container ID or name .
and CN for container name

Basic commands

docker –version : To see docker version
docker system info / docker info : To see information of docker
docker container ps: To see only running containers
- ps -a: To see running and exited containers.
docker image ls: To list all the images
- docker images: To list all the images in the system
docker: To see all the docker related commands

Container Commands

Docker Installation and commands screenshot 3

Can use basic commands like ls, rm.
docker container: To see all the container related commands.
docker container exec -it CIN shell : To login to the container
- docker exec -t mynginx bash
  - To exit the container write “exit” then enter.
  - -i : Interactive
  - -t: Terminal
docker container attach CIN: To attach output of the container in current screen
docker container commit CIN newname: To save the container as image locally. The container is volatile in nature so if we save container as image it’s data won’t be lost.
docker container cp CIN:/path/filename /path_in_host: To copy the contents of the container in your local machine
- docker container cp ./hostfile container_name:/path : To copy from host to container
docker container start CIN: To start the container
docker container stop CIN: To stop the container
- docker container kill CIN: To stop the container
docker container pause CIN: TO pause the container
docker container unpause CIN: To unpause the container
docker container export CIN > filename.tar: To export the container as a tar file.
docker container inspect CIN: TO inspect the container in detail
docker container logs CIN: To see logs related container.

Inspect command details

ARGS: Arguments that are passed to the container
state: To see the state of the container
OOM: Out of memory killed
PID: Process ID
Exit code=0 means it has run successfully
- Exit code=1 means it hasn’t run successfully
image sha256: Encryption method
Resolve conf path: Show the path of the container
logpath: Provides the path where we can see detailed logs
Network mode: bridge means the, the container is using which network mode
docker container prune: To remove all the paused and exited containers
docker container restart CIN: To restart the Container
docker container rename OLD_CIN NEW_CN: To rename the container
docker container stats CIN: To see the consumption of CPU, memory, etc by container. Same as top command output.
docker container top CIN: To see inside running process and their consumption. Similar to ps-ef command output.
docker container update CIN: To make update in existing container
- docker container update –restart unless-stopped CIN.

Run time configuration

docker container run image_name:version : To run the image
docker container run -d –name CN image_name: To run the container in detached mode.
docker container run -d –name CN -p 8085:8080 image_name: To attach host port to the container
- -p: Attach port statically
- -P: Attach port dynamically
  - 8085: Host port
  - 8080:Container
- Cannot use the same port for different containers
  - ie: 8080:8080 for C1 and 8080:8080 for c2
  - but can use 8080:8080 for c1 and 8081:8080 for c2
docker container run -d –restart always –name CN image_name: To set restart policy
- always: Always restart the container when it is stopped
- unless-stopped: This is similar to always. It will work unless it is stopped manually.

Flag	Used
–help	To get help
–rm	Remove the container automatically when it exits.
-d, –detach	To run the container in detached mode
-i, –interactive	To run the container in interactive terminal mode
–name	To assign a name to the container
-t	Assign a pseudotty [Allocates a virtual terminal in container]
-v	Bind mount a volume
–mount	Attach a file system mount to the container
-p	Publish a container port to the host Note: STDIN: Standard input -i: STDIN open, can send cinput to container manually from another container
–network	Defines a specific network for container
–expose	Tells the docker that container will use a certain port internally and cannot be accessible from host unless -P is used Here -P: Dynamically maps exposed port to the host

NOTE: Container is volatile in nature. Once it is created and packages are installed. After logging out of the container all the data will be lost so if we install packages using image then it won’t be lost.

docker image ls: To list the images in the machine
- docker images
docker image rm: Remove specific image
docker image prune -a: Remove all unused images
docker iamge inspect
docker image save name:tag > filename.tar: To save the image in tar format
docker image load < filename.tar : Load the image from tar ball
- Can use import in the place of load
docker image history: To see the history of the image
docker image pull: To pull the image from the registry.
- docker image push deependrabhatta/jenkins_data:v1
docker image push: To push the image to the registry
- docker image pull deependrabhatta/jenkins_data:v1
docker image inspect: To inspect the image
docker image -t imagename:version imageID/Name: To change the tag of the image

Docker Network

docker network ls: To list all the available network available in the machine
docker network rm network_name: To remove the network
docker network prune: To remove all the unused networks.
docker network inspect : To see detailed description of the network
docker network create network_name: To create a network
docker network connect network_name CIN: To connect the container to specific network
docker network disconnect network_name CIN: To disconnect a container from specific network
docker network create –subnet –gateway –driver network_name: To create a custom network

SHBash

docker network create \
--subnet 192.168.10/0/28 \
--gateway 192.168.10.1 \
--ip-range=10.1.4.0/24 \
--driver bridge \
--label=hostnetwork
my_custom_network

docker container run -d –network mynetwork Image_name: To attach a specific network
docker container run–name -it–network –ip : Assigning an IP to a container

Docker volumes

docker volume ls
docker volume rm
docker volume inspect
docker volume prune
docker volume create myvol

How to mount volumes/bind mounts

Volumes
- METHOD 1
- docker container run -d –name -p -v volumename:/path_of_container <image_name>
- METHOD2:
- docker container run-d–name –mount type=volume,source=,target=
Bind mounts
- METHOD 1
- docker container run -d –name -v /home/vagrant/dir:/path_to_container <iamge_name>
- METHOD 2
- docker container run -d –name –mount type=bind,source=,target=,target>

Note:

Volume cannot be updated using update command so need to mount volume during run time

Summary

Command	Description
Help & Version
docker –version	Show installed Docker version
docker version	Show client & server version
docker info	Detailed system info
docker –help	General Docker help
docker –help	Help for a specific command
Images
docker images	List images
docker pull	Download image from registry
docker build -t :tag .	Build image from Dockerfile
docker rmi	Remove image
docker image prune	Remove unused images
Containers
docker ps	List running containers
docker ps -a	List all containers
docker run	Run a container
docker run -d	Run in background
docker run -it bash	Interactive terminal
docker exec -it	Run command inside container
docker start	Start container
docker stop	Stop container
docker restart	Restart container
docker rm	Remove container
Logs & Monitoring
docker logs	Show logs
docker logs -f	Follow logs
docker top	Show processes in container
docker stats	Show resource usage
docker inspect	Inspect container details
docker events	Show real-time events
Networking
docker port	Show port mappings
docker network ls	List networks
docker network inspect	Inspect network
docker network create	Create network
docker network connect	Connect container to network
docker network disconnect	Disconnect container
docker network rm	Remove network
Volumes
docker volume ls	List volumes
docker volume create	Create volume
docker volume inspect	Inspect volume
docker volume rm	Remove volume
docker volume prune	Remove unused volumes
Docker Compose
docker-compose up	Start services
docker-compose up -d	Start in background
docker-compose down	Stop and remove services
docker-compose ps	List services
docker-compose logs	Show logs
docker-compose build	Build images
docker-compose restart	Restart services
Cleanup
docker system df	Show disk usage
docker system prune	Remove unused data
docker system prune -a	Remove everything unused
Export & Import
docker save -o file.tar	Save image to tar
docker load -i file.tar	Load image from tar
docker export > file.tar	Export container FS
docker import file.tar	Import as image
Registry
docker login	Login to registry
docker logout	Logout from registry
docker tag :tag	Tag image
docker push :tag	Push image
docker pull :tag	Pull image
Swarm (Advanced)
docker swarm init	Initialize swarm
docker swarm join	Join swarm
docker node ls	List nodes
docker service create	Create service
docker service ls	List services
docker service scale =3	Scale service
docker stack deploy -c docker-compose.yml mystack	Deploy stack
Security & Troubleshooting
docker exec -u 0 -it bash	Root shell inside container
docker diff	Show changes in filesystem
docker cp :/file ./	Copy file from container
docker cp ./file :/path	Copy file into container

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