Docker Cheatsheet

A practical Docker cheatsheet: run and inspect containers, build and manage images, drive docker compose, and clean up — copy-ready with editable placeholders. Destructive cleanup commands are flagged.

Explain a command

Run & manage containers

Run a container (detached, published port)
docker run -d --name -p :
· host = host port · container = container port
Run an interactive shell, remove on exit
docker run --rm -it
Run with an env var and a volume
docker run -d -e = -v :
List running containers
docker ps
List all containers (incl. stopped)
docker ps -a
Open a shell in a running container
docker exec -it
Follow a container’s logs
docker logs -f
Stop a container
docker stop
Force-remove a containerdestructive
docker rm -f
Get a container’s IP address
docker inspect -f '{{range.NetworkSettings.Networks}}{{.IPAddress}}{{end}}'
Live resource usage
docker stats
Copy a file out of a container
docker cp :

Images

Build an image from the current dir
docker build -t .
List images
docker images
Pull an image
docker pull
Tag an image for a registry
docker tag /
Push an image
docker push
Remove an imagedestructive
docker rmi

Compose

Start the stack (detached)
docker compose up -d
Stop and remove the stack
docker compose down
Stop the stack and delete its volumesdestructive
docker compose down -v
Also removes named volumes — data is lost.
Follow logs for a service
docker compose logs -f
List compose services
docker compose ps
Run a command in a service
docker compose exec
Convert env vars →
Rebuild service images
docker compose build --no-cache

Cleanup

Show disk usage
docker system df
Remove dangling datadestructive
docker system prune
Removes stopped containers, unused networks, and dangling images.
Aggressively reclaim everything unuseddestructive
docker system prune -a --volumes
Also removes all unused images AND volumes — can delete a lot. Be sure.

28 commands. Copy-ready with editable placeholders — everything runs in your browser, nothing is sent to a server.