docker-management

name	docker-management
description	Manage Docker containers, images, volumes, and networks via the Docker CLI and Dockerode API
category	developer
version	1.0.0
origin	aiden
license	Apache-2.0
tags	docker, containers, images, volumes, networks, compose, dockerode, devops, deployment

Docker Container Management

Manage Docker containers, images, volumes, and networks using the Docker CLI or Dockerode (Node.js Docker API client already in DevOS).

When to Use

• User wants to list running or stopped containers
• User wants to start, stop, or restart a container
• User wants to pull, build, or remove Docker images
• User wants to view container logs
• User wants to inspect container resource usage

How to Use

1. List containers

# Running containers
docker ps

# All containers including stopped
docker ps -a --format "table {{.Names}}\t{{.Status}}\t{{.Image}}\t{{.Ports}}"

2. Start, stop, and restart containers

docker start  my-container
docker stop   my-container
docker restart my-container

# Stop all running containers
docker stop $(docker ps -q)

3. View container logs

# Last 100 lines
docker logs my-container --tail 100

# Follow live output
docker logs my-container --follow --tail 50

4. Manage images

# List images
docker images

# Pull latest image
docker pull nginx:latest

# Remove image
docker rmi nginx:latest

# Build from Dockerfile in current directory
docker build -t my-app:v1 .

5. Container resource usage

# Live resource stats (CPU, memory, network)
docker stats --no-stream

# Inspect a specific container
docker inspect my-container | python -m json.tool

6. Manage volumes and networks

# List volumes
docker volume ls

# List networks
docker network ls

# Remove unused volumes (reclaim disk)
docker volume prune -f

# Remove stopped containers, unused images, and networks
docker system prune -f

7. Execute commands inside a container

# Interactive shell
docker exec -it my-container /bin/bash

# Run a single command
docker exec my-container cat /etc/nginx/nginx.conf

8. Docker Compose operations

# Start all services defined in docker-compose.yml
docker compose up -d

# View logs for all services
docker compose logs -f

# Stop and remove containers
docker compose down

# Rebuild and restart a specific service
docker compose up -d --build api

9. Use Dockerode API (Node.js)

// Already available in DevOS dependencies
const Dockerode = require('dockerode')
const docker    = new Dockerode()

const containers = await docker.listContainers({ all: true })
containers.forEach(c => console.log(c.Names[0], c.State, c.Image))

const container = docker.getContainer('my-container')
await container.restart()
console.log('Restarted')

Examples

"Show me all running containers and their ports" → Use step 1 with docker ps and the format string.

"The nginx container seems slow — show me its CPU and memory usage" → Use step 5 with docker stats --no-stream filtered to the nginx container.

"Rebuild and restart the API service after my code change" → Use step 8: docker compose up -d --build api.

Cautions

• docker system prune removes ALL stopped containers, unused images, and networks — confirm with the user first
• docker stop $(docker ps -q) stops ALL running containers — confirm which containers to stop
• Bind mounts expose host filesystem paths to containers — check paths before mounting
• For production deployments, prefer docker compose or Kubernetes over direct docker run commands
• Container logs can grow very large — use --tail to limit output for inspection