Docker List Containers

Docker List Containers

For listing the containers the following Docker command will be used:

docker container ls [options]

Older Docker versions before 1.13 are using a different command to list the containers:

docker ps [options]

Enter the following command to list all running Docker containers:

$ docker ps

IMAGE

To list all containers, both running and stopped, add –a :

$ docker ps –a

IMAGE

To list containers by their ID use –aq (quiet):

$ docker ps –aq

IMAGE

To list the total file size of each container, use –s (size):

$ docker ps –s

To list the latest created containers, use –l (latest):

$ docker ps –l

IMAGE

The command above is still supported in newer Docker versions where the ps command is an alias to container ls.

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To list the running containers, execute the docker container ls command without providing any option:

docker container ls

The output will appear similar to this:

CONTAINER ID IMAGE     COMMAND               CREATED      

C8bded53da86 postgres "docker-entrypoint.s…" 2 hours ago 

571c3a115fcf   redis     "docker-entrypoint.s…"   4 hours ago

05ef6d8680ba   nginx     "nginx -g 'daemon of…"   2 hours ago

STATUS        PORTS       NAMES

Up 2 hours    5432/tcp    pg

Up 4 hours    6379/tcp    cache

Up 2 hours    80/tcp      web

Each line of the output comprises the following columns:

• Container ID – An ID that identifies each container with its unique alphanumeric string.
• Image – This is a Docker image used for creating a container.
• Command – The command that is executed when starting the container.
• Created – This notifies about the container at which time it is created.
• Status – This notifies about the status of the container.
• Ports – This notifies about the published ports of the container.
• Name – This specifies the name of the container.

If there are no running containers, only the header line is displayed.

The options “-a”, “--all” conveys the docker container ls to print a list of all containers:

$ docker container ls -a

Output:

CONTAINER ID  IMAGE     COMMAND                  CREATED

b28cbaa91f15  couchbase "/entrypoint.sh couc…"   5 hours ago

c8bded53da86  postgres  "docker-entrypoint.s…"   2 hours ago

571c3a115fcf  redis     "docker-entrypoint.s…"   4 hours ago

05ef6d8680ba  nginx     "nginx -g 'daemon of…"   2 hours ago

STATUS                    PORTS       NAMES

Exited (0) 3 hours ago                db

Up 2 hours                5432/tcp    pg

Up 4 hours                6379/tcp    cache

Up 2 hours                80/tcp      web

By default, columns with a length exceeding a specified limit are truncated. Use the option “--no-trunc” to disable truncation:

$ docker container ls --no-trunc

To display only IDs of containers, you need to pass the option  “-q, --quiet”:

$ docker container ls -q

Output:

c8bded53da86

571c3a115fcf

05ef6d8680ba

The output is formatted using the option “--format” by using a Go template. For instance, to print only the names and status of containers', including the header, you should run the following command:

$ docker container ls --format 'table {{.Names}}\t{{.Status}}'

Output:

NAMES    STATUS

pg       Up 2 hours

cache    Up 4 hours

web      Up 2 hours

The size of containers is viewed using the options “-s, --size”.

docker container ls -s

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The name SIZE will be included in each line that displays the container size:

Output:

CONTAINER ID  IMAGE     COMMAND                  CREATED

c8bded53da86  postgres  "docker-entrypoint.s…"   2 hours ago

571c3a115fcf  redis     "docker-entrypoint.s…"   4 hours ago

05ef6d8680ba  nginx     "nginx -g 'daemon of…"   2 hours ago

STATUS        PORTS       NAMES    SIZE

Up 2 hours    5432/tcp    pg       63B (virtual 394MB)

Up 4 hours    6379/tcp    cache    0B (virtual 98.2MB)

Up 2 hours    80/tcp      web      2B (virtual 126MB)

The options “--last, -n” conveys the command to display “n” last created containers, including all states. For instance, to view the latest two created containers, you would run the following command:

$ docker container ls -n 2

Output:

CONTAINER ID  IMAGE     COMMAND                  CREATED

b28cbaa91f15  couchbase "/entrypoint.sh couc…"   5 hours ago

c8bded53da86  postgres  "docker-entrypoint.s…"   2 hours ago

STATUS                    PORTS       NAMES

Exited (0) 3 hours ago                db

Up 2 hours                5432/tcp    pg

There is also an option to list only the latest created container --latest, -l which is the same as -n 1:

$ docker container ls -l

The --filter, -f option allows you to filter the output based on certain criteria.

For instance, to view only the containers with status exited, you would run:

$ docker container ls -f "status=exited"

Output:

CONTAINER ID  IMAGE     COMMAND                  CREATED

b28cbaa91f15  couchbase "/entrypoint.sh couc…"   5 hours ago

STATUS                    PORTS       NAMES

Exited (0) 3 hours ago                db

Start Docker Container

The containers are launched by using the docker commands. The main command which is used to launch or start a single or multiple stopped Docker containers is docker start:

$ docker start [options] container_id

IMAGE

You can specify the container by using its name or ID. To create a new container from an image and start it, use docker run:

$ docker run [options] image [command] [argument]

If a name is not defined for your newly created container, the daemon will automatically generate a random string name. To define the container name, use the ––name option:

docker run ––name=Ubuntu_Test ubuntu:14.04

The command which is specified above will create the “Ubuntu_test” container based on the “ubuntu:14.04” image and start it.

A container may be running, but you may not be able to interact with it. To start the container in interactive mode, use the –i and –t options:

$ docker run –it ––name=Ubuntu_Test ubuntu:14.04

IMAGE

In the above example, the system creates the “Test_2” container from the “ubuntu” image and connects to it enabling you to run commands directly on the container.

Use the attach command instead of using -i or -t options to connect to a running container:

docker attach container_id

Stop Docker Container

You can stop the container by passing the docker stop command as follows:

$ docker stop [option] container_id

Replace “container_id” with the container’s name or ID.

By default, you will get a  grace period of 10 seconds. The “stop” command instructs the container to stop services after that period. Use the “--time” option to define a different grace period expressed in seconds:

$ docker stop --time=20 container_id

IMAGE

To kill a docker container immediately without waiting for the grace period to end-use, you can use the following command:

$ docker kill [option] container_id

To stop all running containers, enter the following command:

$ docker stop $(docker ps –a –q)

The same command could be used with the kill. This would stop all containers without giving them a chance to exit.

Conclusion Docker List Containers:
A Docker container is a standalone runtime instance of an image. To list Docker containers, use the “docker container ls” command or its alias “docker ps”. In this blog, we have explained various options to list, start, and stop, Docker containers. The development teams use Docker to ensure consistency across different machines.