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Master the essentials of Docker CLI to create, manage, and troubleshoot containers efficiently. This guide covers key commands, options, and best practices for container operations.

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Table of Contents

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Quick Syntax Reference

Use this general pattern for Docker commands: 
docker [object] [command] [options] [arguments]
Examples: 
docker image ls
docker container run -it ubuntu
docker image build .
docker container attach <container>
docker container kill <container>

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Command Syntax Styles

Docker supports both legacy and grouped syntax. We’ll use the grouped style throughout this guide.
Syntax TypeExample
Grouped (new)docker container run -it ubuntu
Legacy (old)docker run -it ubuntu

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Creating a Container

To create (but not start) a container: 
docker container create httpd
Sample output: 
Unable to find image 'httpd:latest' locally
latest: Pulling from library/httpd
…
Status: Downloaded newer image for httpd:latest
36a391532e10d45f772f2c9430c2cc38dad4b441aa7a1c444d59f6fa3d78c6b6
On Linux, Docker stores images and container metadata under /var/lib/docker/: 
ls /var/lib/docker/
# builder  buildkit  containers  image  network  overlay2  plugins  runtimes  swarm  tmp  trust  volumes
Each container’s data lives in containers/<container-ID>/.

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Listing Containers

Use docker container ls with options to filter the output:
CommandDescription
docker container lsShow running containers
docker container ls -aShow all containers (running & stopped)
docker container ls -lShow the most recently created container
docker container ls -qDisplay only container IDs (running)
docker container ls -aqDisplay all container IDs
docker container ls -a
Sample output: 
CONTAINER ID   IMAGE     COMMAND              CREATED         STATUS                     NAMES
36a391532e10   httpd     "httpd-foreground"   2 minutes ago   Created                    charming_wiles
Docker assigns a random human-readable name if you don’t provide one.

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Starting a Container

Start an existing container by its ID or name: 
docker container start 36a391532e10
docker container ls

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Create & Start in One Step

Pull the image, create, and start the container: 
docker container run httpd

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Ephemeral Containers

Some images (like ubuntu) don’t run a persistent process: 
docker container run ubuntu
docker container ls -a
Output: 
CONTAINER ID   IMAGE    COMMAND     CREATED         STATUS                     NAMES
d969ecdb44ea   ubuntu   "/bin/bash" 2 minutes ago   Exited (0) 2 minutes ago   intelligent_almeida
Once the primary process exits, the container stops.

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Interactive Shells

Keep STDIN open and allocate a pseudo-TTY with -it: 
docker container run -it ubuntu
Inside the container: 
root@6caba272c8f5:/# hostname
6caba272c8f5
On the host: 
docker container ls
Shows: 
CONTAINER ID   IMAGE    COMMAND      CREATED          STATUS              NAMES
6caba272c8f5   ubuntu   "/bin/bash"  About a minute   Up About a minute   quizzical_austin
Always place options (-i, -t, -d, --name) before the image name. Anything after the image name is interpreted as the container’s command.

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Exiting Containers

Running exit inside an interactive shell stops the container: 
docker container run -it ubuntu
root@6caba272c8f5:/# exit
exit
docker container ls -a

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Naming Containers

Assign a custom name at creation: 
docker container run -itd --name webapp ubuntu
docker container ls -l
Output: 
CONTAINER ID   IMAGE    COMMAND      CREATED          STATUS             NAMES
59aa5eacd88c   ubuntu   "/bin/bash"  20 seconds ago   Up 19 seconds      webapp
Rename an existing container: 
docker container rename intelligent_almeida webapp2

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Detached Mode

Run containers in the background with -d: 
docker container run -d httpd
Sample output: 
11cbd7fe7e65a9da453e159ed0fe163592dcc8a7845abc91b8305c78f50ac70
To reattach: 
docker container attach 11cbd7fe7e65
A unique ID prefix is sufficient if it’s unambiguous.

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