Docker’s purpose is to build and manage compute images and to launch them in a container. So, the most useful commands do and expose this information.

Here’s a cheat sheet on the top Docker commands to know and use.

(This is part of our Docker Guide. Use the right-hand menu to navigate.)

Images and containers

The docker command line interface follows this pattern:
docker <COMMAND>

docker images
docker container

The docker images and container commands grant access to the images and containers. From here, you are permitted to do something with them, hence:

docker images <COMMAND>
Docker container <COMMAND>

There are:

• is lists the resources.
• cp copies files/folders between the container and the local file system.
• create creates new container.
• diff inspects changes to files or directories in a running container.
• logs fetches the logs of a container.
• pause pauses all processes within one or more containers.
• rename renames a container.
• run runs a new command in a container.
• start starts one or more stopped containers.
• stop stops one or more running containers.
• stats displays a livestream of containers resource usage statistics.
• top displays the running processes of a container.

View resources with ls

docker images ls
docker container ls

From the container ls command, the container id can be accessed (first column).