A Docker cheat sheet
This is the beginning of a Docker cheat sheet. I couldn’t find any out here that I liked, so I’m starting to create my own, which will hopefully be organized the way I like it. (This cheat sheet is cross-posted at alvinalexander.com/programming/docker-cheat-sheet-cheatsheet.)
Docker Basics
Recommended as a first command on a Docker system:
docker version # should show Client and Server sections
Docker Lifecycle
This section mostly comes from (https://github.com/wsargent/docker-cheat-sheet):
docker create creates a container but does not start it
docker rename allows the container to be renamed
docker run creates and starts a container in one operation
docker rm deletes a container
docker update updates a container's resource limits
Docker Build
Build an image using a Dockerfile
in the current directory:
docker build -t scala-webserver-1 .
Other build
commands:
docker build [url] # create an image from a Dockerfile at a URL
docker build -t [url] # build an image from a Dockerfile and tag it
docker load [tafile] # TODO (more on this)
I needed to use this command when building a Linux distro on macOS (which uses an ARM chip):
docker build --platform linux/amd64 -t scala-webserver-1 .
TODO: There is also a docker create
.
Example Dockerfile
:
FROM openjdk:11
WORKDIR /home
COPY target/scala-3.1.0/WebServerDocker3-assembly-0.1.0.jar WebServerDocker3-assembly-0.1.0.jar
#CMD java -jar ManualDockerfile2-assembly-0.1.0.jar
EXPOSE 5150
CMD ["java", "-jar", "WebServerDocker3-assembly-0.1.0.jar"]
Can also expose multiple ports:
EXPOSE 5150 5151
Docker Images
List images:
docker image ls
docker images
docker images -a
docker images -f dangling=true
Pull and push images from a registry:
docker pull [image]
docker pull alpine
docker pull alpine:latest
docker push [image]
Remove images:
docker rmi [image]
docker rmi alpine:latest
docker rmi $(docker images -q)
docker rmi $(docker images -a -q)
docker rmi $(docker images -aq)
docker image prune
Other image commands:
docker history [image] # show the history of an image
Docker Run (run an image)
Start a container with an interactive shell:
docker run -it alpine /bin/sh
docker run -it rhel7/rhel bash
docker exec -it <container-name> /bin/sh
docker run -it --rm --name my-running-app my-java-app
# example:
$ docker run -it debian:stable /bin/bash
Unable to find image 'debian:stable' locally
stable: Pulling from library/debian
d39780c72a13: Pull complete
Digest: sha256:e8795576943b7bb2ecf2126c3b7f467da64c84f3c4d63f75c24fb91502ab8487
Status: Downloaded newer image for debian:stable
root@ef74a0677a41:/#
Run an image, exposing its port 5150 as port 8080 of the container:
docker run -p 8080:5150 scala-webserver-1
> curl http://localhost:8080
Have a nice day!
More run commands:
docker run [image] # start a container
docker run --rm [image] # run a container, remove it when it stops
docker run -td [image] # TODO
docker run -it [image] # start a container, run a command in it, connect to it (TODO)
An example from https://design.jboss.org/redhatdeveloper/marketing/docker_cheatsheet/cheatsheet/images/docker_cheatsheet_r3v2.pdf:
docker run -d \
-p 8000:8000 \
--name=pythonweb \
-v `pwd`/www:/var/www/html \
-w /var/www/html \
rhel7/rhel \
/bin/python \
-m SimpleHTTPServer 8000
Docker Containers
List active/running containers:
docker container ls
docker ps
List active/running and stopped containers:
docker container ls -a
docker ps -a
List all containers:
$ docker container ls -a
CONTAINER ID IMAGE COMMAND CREATED STATUS PORTS NAMES
3fd5b267c069 scala-webserver-1 "java -jar WebServer…" 3 minutes ago Exited (130) 26 seconds ago ecstatic_shamir
2835d9c80513 scala-hello-1 "java -jar ManualDoc…" 24 hours ago Exited (0) 24 hours ago busy_sammet
# list by status
docker ps -a -f status=exited
docker ps -a -f status=exited -f status=created
# list by pattern
docker ps -a | grep "pattern"
Start, stop, and restart containers:
docker start [container]
# more 'start' options:
docker start [options] [container]
-a, --attach # attach stdout/stderr
-i, --interactive # attach stdin
docker stop [container]
docker stop -t5 [container] # stop with a timeout
docker restart [container]
docker pause [container] # pause processes in a running container
docker unpause [container]
docker attach [container] # attach STDIN, STDOUT, STDERR to a running container
docker wait [container] # block a container until (TODO)
docker kill [container] # send SIGKILL to a container
# kill all running containers:
docker kill $(docker ps -q)
Other container commands:
docker events [container] # list the events from a running container
docker logs [container] # list the logs from a container
docker logs -f [container]
docker top [container] # show running processes in a container
docker diff [container]
docker port [container]
docker stats [container]
docker export ... # export container’s filesystem as a tar archive
docker exec ... # run a command in a running container
docker pause ... # pause all processes in a running container
Information commands:
diff
events
inspect
logs
port
ps
stats
top
Remove a container:
$ docker container rm 3fd5b267
3fd5b267
Remove multiple/all containers:
# remove all stopped containers:
docker rm $(docker ps -aq)
docker rm $(docker ps --filter status=exited -q)
docker ps --filter status=exited -q | xargs docker rm
Stop all running containers:
# stop
docker stop $(docker ps -a -q)
docker stop $(docker ps -aq)
# remove
docker rm $(docker ps -a -q)
docker rm $(docker ps -a -f status=exited -q)
docker rm $(docker ps -a -f status=exited -f status=created -q)
# remove by pattern
docker ps -a | grep "pattern" | awk '{print $1}' | xargs docker rm
Docker Networks
List networks:
docker network ls
docker network inspect [network]
# connect a container to a network
docker network connect [network] [container]
“Dangling” resources
This section needs more work, but here are some initial examples:
docker system df # show space used by docker objects
# remove all "dangling" resources (images, containers, volumes, networks)
docker system prune # not tagged or associated with a container
docker system prune -a # stopped containers and unused images
TODO: “Dangling” may mean “not associated with a container,” but I need to research that for a more precise definition.
Docker pruning commands:
docker image prune # remove unused, dangling images
docker image prune -a # remove images not used in containers
docker system prune # prune everything (the entire system)
docker container prune
docker image prune
docker network prune
docker system prune
docker volume prune
Dockerfile examples
From https://hub.docker.com/r/adoptopenjdk/openjdk11:
# Dockerfile:
FROM adoptopenjdk/openjdk11:ubi
RUN mkdir /opt/app
COPY japp.jar /opt/app
CMD ["java", "-jar", "/opt/app/japp.jar"]
# You can build and run the Docker image as shown in the following example:
$ docker build -t japp .
$ docker run -it --rm japp
From https://hub.docker.com/_/openjdk:
# Dockerfile:
FROM openjdk:11
COPY . /usr/src/myapp
WORKDIR /usr/src/myapp
RUN javac Main.java
CMD ["java", "Main"]
# build and run the Docker image:
$ docker build -t my-java-app .
$ docker run -it --rm --name my-running-app my-java-app
This snyk.io page has a good Dockerfile example, including best practices, including this:
FROM adoptopenjdk/openjdk11:jre-11.0.9.1_1-alpine@sha256:b6ab0.....
RUN apk add dumb-init
RUN mkdir /app
RUN addgroup --system javauser && adduser -S -s /bin/false -G javauser javauser
COPY --from=build /project/target/java-code-workshop-0.0.1-SNAPSHOT.jar /app/java-application.jar
WORKDIR /app
RUN chown -R javauser:javauser /app
USER javauser
CMD "dumb-init" "java" "-jar" "java-application.jar"
Docker Volumes
TODO: I haven’t worked with these much yet, but this is what I know:
- high level:
- create a volume
- create a container
- mount the volume into the container
docker volume prune # delete all volumes
Create a new volume named vol01
:
docker volume create vol01
See your volumes:
docker volume ls
Inspect them:
docker volume inspect vol01
# shows json output
# `mountpoint` tells you where on the host the volume is surfaced
# volumes with the `local` driver get their own directory under /var/lib/docker/volumes
Delete them:
# [1]
docker volume rm <volume-name>
# [2]
docker volume prune
# delete all volumens that are not mounted into a container (or service)
# neither command will delete a volume that’s in use
Example
Goal: create a new standalone container and mount a volume called als_vol
Linux:
docker container run -dit --name container_and_vol \
--mount source=als_vol,target=/vol \
alpine
Note: Docker can use an existing volume, and will also create one if you specify a volume that doesn’t exist. In this case, als_vol
doesn’t exist, so Docker creates it and mounts it into the new container:
$ docker volume ls
DRIVER VOLUME NAME
local als_vol
Now use it:
docker container exec -it container_and_vol sh
echo "Hello" > /vol/file1
ls -l /vol
cat /vol/file1
Delete the container:
docker container rm container_and_vol -f
The volume still exists:
$ docker volume ls
DRIVER VOLUME NAME
local als_vol
On a Linux system you can see the Docker volume like this:
$ ls -l /var/lib/docker/volumes/als_vol/_data
TODO: On macOS you need to do something like this, but in January, 2022 this doesn’t work as-is:
screen ~/Library/Containers/com.docker.docker/Data/vms/0/tty
ls -l /var/lib/docker
NOTE: For this section I followed the example in the excellent book, Docker Deep Dive.
Dockerfile commands/arguments
This is a list of commands you can use in a Docker Dockerfile
:
# Comments begin with '#'
ADD Copy new files, directories, or remote file URLs from into the filesystem of the container
CMD Allowed only once; if given multiple times, only the last one takes effect.
The intended command for the image.
Doesn’t do anything during 'build' time.
COPY Copy files or directories from a source into the filesystem of the container
COPY readme.txt /home/al
ENTRYPOINT TODO: A container that will run as an executable? Or, the primary command of your Docker image?
ENV Set environment variables.
ENV CONF_FILE=application.conf HEAP_SIZE=2G
EXPOSE Tells the container runtime that the container listens on these network ports at runtime
EXPOSE 5150
EXPOSE 5150 5151
FROM Sets the base image (ubuntu, openjdk:11, alpine, etc.)
LABEL Adds metadata (a non-executable instruction)
MAINTAINER Sets the author field of the generated images
RUN Execute commands in a new layer on top of the current image and commit the results.
Runs during 'build' time.
Strongly consider using '&&': RUN apt-get update && update apt-get install –y php
USER Sets the username or UID to use when running the image and commands
USER alvin
VOLUME Creates a mount point (path) to external volumes (on the native host or other containers)
WORKDIR Sets the working directory for any subsequent RUN, CMD, ENTRYPOINT, COPY, and ADD commands.
If it’s a relative path, it’s relative to the previous WORKDIR.
WORKDIR /home/alvin
WORKDIR foo # results in "/home/alvin/foo"
# NOTE: I haven’t used these yet:
ARG Defines a variable that users can pass at build-time to the builder using --build-arg
ONBUILD Adds an instruction to be executed later, when the image is used as the base for another build
STOPSIGNAL Sets the system call signal that will be sent to the container to exit
Here’s an interesting Dockerfile
example from Accelerating Development Velocity with Docker:
CMD "Hello, world!"
ENTRYPOINT echo
The initial definitions in that list came from this PDF: https://design.jboss.org/redhatdeveloper/marketing/docker_cheatsheet/cheatsheet/images/docker_cheatsheet_r3v2.pdf
I also added to them based on my own knowledge, and these books:
Docker on macOS
This section is TODO/TBD.
Where are Docker images on macOS?
- used to be here: /Users/al/Library/Containers/com.docker.docker/Data/vms/0/data/Docker.raw
Reporting live from Boulder and Longmont, Colorado today,
Alvin Alexander
Recent blog posts
- Free: Introduction To Functional Programming video training course
- The #1 functional programming (and computer programming) book
- The User Story Mapping Workshop process
- Alvin Alexander, Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO)
- Alvin Alexander is now a Certified ScrumMaster (CSM)
- Our “Back To Then” app (for iOS and Android)
- A Docker cheat sheet
- Pushing a Scala 3 JAR/Docker file to Google Cloud Run
- Reading a CSV File Into a Spark RDD (Scala Cookbook recipe)
- Reading a File Into a Spark RDD (Scala Cookbook recipe)