# What is a Docker Container ?

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Published 2022-12-03

This tutorial explains to you what a Docker Container is. At the end of this article you will understand what a Docker container is.

If you want to create a Docker container on which you want to deploy something, you need to have a Docker image. A Docker image is a template used to create and launch a Docker container. A Docker image can contain a simple Linux installation or fully-configured enterprise software install, ready to run. In order to understand better how Docker is working, you can take a look at the article named What is Docker.

Containers are instances of Docker images that can be run using the docker run command:

In this case, I create a new instance of "centos" image which run in an interactive mode (the "-i" option).

From this picture you can see that:

a Docker container has a hostname and an IP
a Docker container could be a network element
a Docker container has an unique ID

Another things good to know about Docker containers:

you can define networks and attach containers to these networks
you can deploy applications on these containers
the containers can communicate with the host
these containers can communicate between them
you can set hardware consumption for each container

Here are some of the most used commands related to the Docker containers:

docker container attach : Attach local standard input, output, and error streams to a running container
docker container commit : Create a new image from a container’s changes
docker container cp : Copy files/folders between a container and the local filesystem
docker container create : Create a new container
docker container diff : Inspect changes to files or directories on a container’s filesystem
docker container exec : Run a command in a running container
docker container export : Export a container’s filesystem as a tar archive
docker container inspect : Display detailed information on one or more containers
docker container kill : Kill one or more running containers
docker container logs : Fetch the logs of a container
docker container ls : List containers
docker container pause : Pause all processes within one or more containers
docker container port : List port mappings or a specific mapping for the container
docker container prune : Remove all stopped containers
docker container rename : Rename a container
docker container restart : Restart one or more containers
docker container rm : Remove one or more containers
docker container run : Run a command in a new container
docker container start : Start one or more stopped containers
docker container stats : Display a live stream of container(s) resource usage statistics
docker container stop : Stop one or more running containers
docker container top : Display the running processes of a container
docker container unpause : Unpause all processes within one or more containers
docker container update : Update configuration of one or more containers
docker container wait : Block until one or more containers stop, then print their exit codes
docker container attach : Attach local standard input, output, and error streams to a running container
docker container commit : Create a new image from a container’s changes
docker container cp : Copy files/folders between a container and the local filesystem
docker container create : Create a new container
docker container diff : Inspect changes to files or directories on a container’s filesystem
docker container exec : Run a command in a running container
docker container export : Export a container’s filesystem as a tar archive
docker container inspect : Display detailed information on one or more containers
docker container kill : Kill one or more running containers
docker container logs : Fetch the logs of a container
docker container ls : List containers
docker container pause : Pause all processes within one or more containers
docker container port : List port mappings or a specific mapping for the container
docker container prune : Remove all stopped containers
docker container rename : Rename a container
docker container restart : Restart one or more containers
docker container rm : Remove one or more containers
docker container run : Run a command in a new container
docker container start : Start one or more stopped containers
docker container stats : Display a live stream of container(s) resource usage statistics
docker container stop : Stop one or more running containers
docker container top : Display the running processes of a container
docker container unpause : Unpause all processes within one or more containers
docker container update : Update configuration of one or more containers
docker container wait : Block until one or more containers stop, then print their exit codes

More information you can get from here.

Enjoy working with Docker images and Docker containers !