Save and Load Images

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Table of Contents

1. Exporting and Transferring Docker Images
2. Exporting a Container Filesystem and Importing as an Image
3. Docker CLI Reference
4. Links and References

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1. Exporting and Transferring Docker Images

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Step-by-Step Guide

1. Pull the desired image on an internet-connected host:
   docker pull alpine:latest
   
2. Save the image into a tarball:
   docker image save alpine:latest -o alpine.tar
   
3. Transfer alpine.tar to the target system (USB drive, SCP, shared NFS, etc.).
4. Load the tarball on the restricted host:
   docker image load -i alpine.tar
   
   You should see output similar to:
   beee9f30bc1f: Loading layer [==================>]  5.862MB/5.862MB
   Loaded image: alpine:latest
   
5. Confirm the image is available locally:
   docker image ls
   
   Example output:
   REPOSITORY   TAG       IMAGE ID       CREATED        SIZE
   alpine       latest    a187dde48cd2   4 weeks ago    5.6MB
   

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2. Exporting a Container Filesystem and Importing as an Image

1. Export the container to a tar archive:
   docker export <container-name> > testcontainer.tar
   
2. Import the tarball as a fresh image:
   docker image import testcontainer.tar newimage:latest
   
   Docker returns a new image ID, e.g.:
   sha256:8909b7da236bb21aa2e52e6e04dff4b7103753e4046e15457a3daf6dfa723a12
   
3. List local images to confirm the import:
   docker image ls
   
   Example output:
   REPOSITORY    TAG       IMAGE ID       CREATED         SIZE
   newimage      latest    8090b7da236b   2 minutes ago   5.6MB
   alpine        latest    a187dde48cd2   4 weeks ago     5.6MB
   

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Docker CLI Reference

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Links and References

• Docker Save Command
• Docker Load Command
• Docker Export and Import
• Docker CLI Overview