Docker Cheatsheet

Docker is the standard for containerized development. This cheatsheet covers essential commands from running containers to multi-service Compose setups, each with practical examples.

Updated: 2026-07-15·30 commands

Quick Reference by Task

What you want to do

Command

Start a container	`docker run` / `docker compose up`
Stop containers	`docker stop` / `docker compose down`
Check status	`docker ps` / `docker compose ps`
View logs	`docker logs -f`
Enter a container	`docker exec -it bash`
Build an image	`docker build -t .`
Pull / Push images	`docker pull` / `docker push`
Clean up disk	`docker system prune -a`

Container(10)

Command	Level	Example
`docker ps` List running containers	Basic	`docker ps`
`docker ps -a` List all containers (including stopped)	Basic	`docker ps -a`
`docker run` Create and start a new container	Basic	`docker run -d -p 8080:80 --name my-app nginx`
`docker start` Start a stopped container	Basic	`docker start my-app`
`docker stop` Stop a running container	Basic	`docker stop my-app`
`docker restart` Restart a container	Basic	`docker restart my-app`
`docker rm` Remove a stopped container Ensure container is stopped and data is backed up before removal	Basic	`docker rm my-app`
`docker exec -it` Execute a command in a running container	Intermediate	`docker exec -it my-app bash`
`docker logs` View container logs	Basic	`docker logs -f my-app`
`docker container prune` Remove all stopped containers Data in stopped containers will be permanently lost, proceed with caution	Intermediate	`docker container prune -f`

Image(8)

Command	Level	Example
`docker images` List local images	Basic	`docker images`
`docker pull` Pull an image from a registry	Basic	`docker pull node:20-alpine`
`docker build` Build an image from a Dockerfile	Intermediate	`docker build -t my-app:latest .`
`docker rmi` Remove a local image	Basic	`docker rmi my-app:latest`
`docker push` Push an image to a remote registry	Intermediate	`docker push username/my-app:latest`
`docker buildx build` Build images with BuildKit (multi-arch, advanced cache)	Expert	`docker buildx build --platform linux/amd64,linux/arm64 -t my-app:latest --push .`
`docker save` Save one or more images to a tar archive	Intermediate	`docker save -o my-image.tar my-app:latest`
`docker load` Load an image from a tar archive	Intermediate	`docker load -i my-image.tar`

Network(2)

Command	Level	Example
`docker network ls` List Docker networks	Intermediate	`docker network ls`
`docker network create` Create a custom network	Intermediate	`docker network create my-network`

Volume(2)

Command	Level	Example
`docker volume ls` List Docker volumes	Intermediate	`docker volume ls`
`docker volume create` Create a Docker volume	Intermediate	`docker volume create my-data`

Compose(4)

Command	Level	Example
`docker compose up` Start all services defined in Compose	Intermediate	`docker compose up -d`
`docker compose down` Stop and remove all Compose containers and networks	Intermediate	`docker compose down`
`docker compose logs` View logs for Compose services	Intermediate	`docker compose logs -f web`
`docker compose ps` List container status for Compose project	Intermediate	`docker compose ps`

System(4)

Command	Level	Example
`docker system prune` Remove unused containers, images, networks, build cache Use -a flag with caution — removes all unused images	Intermediate	`docker system prune -a`
`docker stats` Show live container resource usage (CPU/memory/network)	Intermediate	`docker stats`
`docker system df` Show Docker disk usage	Intermediate	`docker system df -v`
`docker events` Stream real-time events from the Docker daemon	Intermediate	`docker events --filter 'type=container' --filter 'event=stop'`

This cheatsheet is compiled from official tool documentation. Last updated: 2026-07-15.