# Docker CLI Commands Cheat Sheet: The Commands You Use Every Day

> A practical Docker CLI cheat sheet: run, ps, logs, exec, build, images, volumes, networks, inspect and cleanup commands with examples that also work with nerdctl.

- Source: https://www.itwonderlab.com/docker-cli-commands-cheat-sheet/
- Published: 2026-10-06
- Updated: 2026-10-06
- Author: Javier Ruiz Jiménez (https://www.javierruizjimenez.com/)
- Site: IT Wonder Lab (https://www.itwonderlab.com/)

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## How the Docker CLI is organized

Modern Docker commands follow the pattern `docker <object> <action>`: `docker container ls`, `docker image rm`, `docker volume create`. Many have older short forms (`docker ps`, `docker rm`, `docker images`) that still work. Every command accepts `--help`.

If you use [Rancher Desktop with containerd](https://www.itwonderlab.com/rancher-desktop-containerd-vs-dockerd/), replace `docker` with `nerdctl`: almost all the commands in this page are identical.

## Run containers

| Task | Command |
|---|---|
| Run in the foreground and remove at exit | `docker run --rm alpine:3.21 echo hello` |
| Run in the background with a name | `docker run -d --name web nginx:1.27` |
| Publish a port (host:container) | `docker run -d -p 8080:80 nginx:1.27` |
| Interactive shell | `docker run -it --rm ubuntu:24.04 bash` |
| Set an environment variable | `docker run -e POSTGRES_PASSWORD=secret postgres:17` |
| Limit memory and CPU | `docker run -m 256m --cpus 0.5 nginx:1.27` |
| Restart automatically | `docker run -d --restart unless-stopped nginx:1.27` |
| Mount a host directory | `docker run -v "$PWD":/work -w /work node:22 npm test` |

## Inspect what is running

| Task | Command |
|---|---|
| Running containers | `docker ps` |
| All containers, also stopped | `docker ps -a` |
| Logs, last 100 lines, follow | `docker logs -f --tail 100 web` |
| Run a command in a running container | `docker exec -it web sh` |
| Details in JSON | `docker inspect web` |
| One field of the details | `docker inspect -f '{{.State.Status}}' web` |
| Live CPU and memory | `docker stats` |
| Processes in a container | `docker top web` |
| Copy a file out | `docker cp web:/etc/nginx/nginx.conf .` |
| Copy a file in | `docker cp ./index.html web:/usr/share/nginx/html/` |

## Start, stop and remove

```shell
$ docker stop web         # sends SIGTERM, then SIGKILL after 10 seconds
$ docker start web
$ docker restart web
$ docker rm web           # remove a stopped container
$ docker rm -f web        # stop and remove
$ docker rm -f $(docker ps -aq)   # remove all containers
```

## Images

| Task | Command |
|---|---|
| Download an image | `docker pull nginx:1.27` |
| List local images | `docker image ls` |
| Build from the current directory | `docker build -t myapp:1.0 .` |
| Build a specific Dockerfile and stage | `docker build -f Dockerfile.prod --target runtime -t myapp:prod .` |
| Add another name (tag) | `docker tag myapp:1.0 registry.example.com/team/myapp:1.0` |
| Upload to a registry | `docker push registry.example.com/team/myapp:1.0` |
| See the layers and their size | `docker history myapp:1.0` |
| Remove an image | `docker image rm myapp:1.0` |
| Save and load as a tar file | `docker save myapp:1.0 -o myapp.tar` and `docker load -i myapp.tar` |
| Log in to a registry | `docker login registry.example.com` |

## Volumes and networks

```shell
$ docker volume create db-data
$ docker volume ls
$ docker volume inspect db-data
$ docker volume rm db-data

$ docker network create app-net
$ docker network ls
$ docker network inspect app-net
$ docker network connect app-net web
```

Both topics have their own tutorial: [volumes and bind mounts](https://www.itwonderlab.com/docker-volumes-bind-mounts/) and [networking](https://www.itwonderlab.com/docker-networking/).

## Docker Compose

```shell
$ docker compose up -d          # create and start in the background
$ docker compose ps
$ docker compose logs -f app
$ docker compose exec app sh
$ docker compose down           # stop and remove containers and networks
$ docker compose down -v        # ...and the named volumes
```

See [Docker Compose](https://www.itwonderlab.com/docker-compose-tutorial/).

## Clean up disk space

```shell
$ docker system df                # how much space images, containers and volumes use
$ docker container prune          # remove stopped containers
$ docker image prune              # remove dangling images
$ docker image prune -a           # remove all images not used by a container
$ docker builder prune            # remove the build cache
$ docker system prune --volumes   # everything unused, including volumes
```

> [!WARNING]
> `docker system prune --volumes` deletes named volumes that no container uses, including a database you stopped. List first with `docker volume ls` and `docker system df -v`.

## Contexts: talk to another engine

A **context** tells the CLI which daemon to use. Rancher Desktop with dockerd creates its own context.

```shell
$ docker context ls
$ docker context use rancher-desktop
$ docker --context default ps      # a single command against another context
```

## Output formatting

```shell
$ docker ps --format 'table {{.Names}}\t{{.Image}}\t{{.Status}}\t{{.Ports}}'
$ docker image ls --format '{{.Repository}}:{{.Tag}}  {{.Size}}'
```

## Next steps

Put the commands to use by writing a [Dockerfile](https://www.itwonderlab.com/dockerfile-tutorial/).