What is the difference between an image and a container?

An image is a read-only template; a container is a running or stopped instance of an image. You can run many containers from one image.

How do I remove stopped containers and unused data?

docker container prune removes stopped containers; docker system prune -a removes unused images, containers, networks, and build cache.

A tool to define and run multi-container apps from a docker-compose.yml file. Use docker compose up to start and docker compose down to stop.

docker logs shows logs; add -f to follow them in real time.

docker exec -it sh (or bash) opens an interactive shell in a running container.

Reference

Essential Docker commands for everyday container workflows. Click any card to copy.