Docker & Dockerfile Cheat Sheet — Essential CLI Reference
High-frequency Docker commands for building container images, managing networks, volumes, debugging logs, and cleaning disk space.
Container Management
docker ps
List all running containers with IDs, image names, and port mappings
docker ps -a
List all containers including stopped and exited ones
docker run -d -p 8080:80 --name myapp nginx
Run container in background (-d) forwarding host 8080 to container 80
docker stop <container_id>
Gracefully stop a running container (SIGTERM followed by SIGKILL)
docker restart <container_id>
Restart a container immediately
docker rm -f <container_id>
Force remove a running or stopped container
docker exec -it <container_id> sh
Open an interactive shell inside a running container
Image Building & Registry
docker build -t myapp:1.0 .
Build an image from Dockerfile in current directory with tag myapp:1.0
docker images
List all local container images and their sizes
docker rmi <image_id>
Delete a local Docker image from disk
docker pull <image_name>
Download latest image from Docker Hub or registry
Logs & Debugging
docker logs -f --tail 100 <container_id>
Stream live logs (-f) showing last 100 lines
docker inspect <container_id>
Show detailed JSON low-level configuration of container or image
docker stats
Display live CPU, memory, and network I/O usage per container
Disk Cleanup & System Pruning
docker system prune -a --volumes
Reclaim gigabytes by removing stopped containers, unused networks, dangling images, and volumes
docker image prune
Remove all untagged/dangling images
docker volume prune
Remove all anonymous volumes not in use by any container