Here’s a curated list of the most important Docker commands, grouped by what you actually do — not alphabetically.

1. Build & Tag Images

docker build -t name:tag .

Builds an image from a Dockerfile in the current directory.

docker build -t my_app:latest .

Most common flags:

  • -f — specify a different Dockerfile path
  • . — the build context (current directory); omit -f when the Dockerfile is in the same directory
  • --no-cache — force a full rebuild, skipping the layer cache
  • -t / --tag — give the image a name and optional version tag; defaults to latest if omitted

Pro tip: Add a .dockerignore file to exclude unnecessary files (__pycache__, .git, data dumps) from the build context — it can dramatically speed up builds.

2. Run Containers

docker run [OPTIONS] IMAGE [COMMAND]

Starts a container from an image.

docker run -it ubuntu bash                       # interactive shell
docker run -d --name web -p 8080:80 nginx        # background, named, with port binding
docker run --rm -v $(PWD):/app python:3.9 python script.py  # ephemeral, with bind mount

Key flags:

  • -d — detached (background)
  • -it — interactive + pseudo-TTY (for debugging sessions)
  • --rm — auto-remove the container after it exits; without this, Docker leaves behind stopped containers
  • -v — volume or bind mount
  • -p — publish port: -p <host_port>:<container_port>
  • --name — assign a name to the container

Practical Example: Apache Container

docker pull httpd
docker run -d --name my-apache -p 8080:80 httpd
docker ps  # verify it's running

Open http://localhost:8080 in a browser to see the default page. To modify it:

docker exec -it my-apache bash
echo "<h1>Hello from Docker</h1>" > /usr/local/apache2/htdocs/index.html

3. List, Stop & Remove Containers

docker ps          # show running containers
docker ps -a       # all containers, including stopped ones

docker start <container_id>
docker restart <container_id>
docker stop <container_id>
docker rm <container_id>        # remove a stopped container
docker rm -f <container_id>     # force-remove a running container

Batch cleanup:

docker stop $(docker ps -aq)              # stop all containers
docker rm $(docker ps -aq)               # remove all stopped containers
docker rm -f $(docker ps -aq)            # force-remove everything
docker rmi $(docker images -q)           # remove all images

4. List & Remove Images

docker images                 # list all local images
docker rmi <image_id>         # remove a specific image
docker image prune            # remove only dangling (untagged, unused) images
docker image prune -a         # remove all unused images, even tagged ones

The distinction matters: prune removes only dangling images; prune -a removes everything not currently used by a container. Use -f to force-remove images that are still in use.

5. Volumes

Volumes are the preferred way to persist data between container restarts and share data between containers.

docker volume create volume007
docker volume ls
docker volume inspect volume007
docker volume rm volume007
docker run -v my_volume:/data ubuntu ls /data   # check volume contents

6. Inspect & Debug

docker inspect <container_or_image>   # full JSON metadata (network, mounts, env)
docker logs <container>               # stdout/stderr from container
docker logs -f <container>            # follow logs in real time
docker exec -it <container> bash      # open shell inside running container

exec requires the container to be running. Start it first if it’s stopped, then exec in.

7. Clean Up Resources

docker system prune -af   # remove all unused containers, images, networks, build cache
docker volume prune       # remove unused volumes

Useful when disk space fills up. Use carefully — this is not easily reversible.

8. Save / Load / Push / Pull

Save and load images locally (useful for air-gapped environments):

docker save -o my_app.tar my_app:latest
docker load -i my_app.tar

Push and pull from a registry (ECR example):

docker tag my_app:latest 993750298572.dkr.ecr.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/my_app:v1
docker push 993750298572.dkr.ecr.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/my_app:v1
docker pull 993750298572.dkr.ecr.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/my_app:v1

9. Docker Compose

For multi-container setups (API + database + cache, etc.), Compose handles them together:

docker compose up -d    # start all services defined in docker-compose.yml
docker compose down     # stop and remove containers + default network
docker compose ps       # list running services

10. Check What’s Running and Using Space

docker ps                 # running containers
docker stats              # live CPU / memory per container
docker system df          # breakdown of disk usage by images, containers, volumes

Summary Cheat Sheet

Category Command Purpose
Build docker build -t my_app . Build image from Dockerfile
Run docker run -d -p 8080:80 my_app Start container
List docker ps -a See all containers
Logs docker logs -f my_app Stream output
Inspect docker inspect my_app Full metadata
Exec docker exec -it my_app bash Shell inside container
Stop/Remove docker stop my_app && docker rm my_app Clean up
Volumes docker volume ls Manage volumes
Clean docker system prune -af Remove all unused resources
Push/Pull docker push / docker pull Share via registry