Docker Cheatsheet

Images

docker build -t name:tag .
docker build -t name:tag -f Dockerfile.prod .
docker pull image:tag
docker push image:tag
docker images
docker rmi image:tag
docker image prune -a                         # remove all unused images

Containers

docker run -d --name app -p 3000:3000 image:tag
docker run -it --rm image:tag sh              # ephemeral interactive shell
docker ps                                     # running containers
docker ps -a                                  # all containers
docker stop app && docker rm app
docker logs app -f                            # follow logs
docker exec -it app sh                        # shell into running container
docker inspect app

Volumes

docker volume create mydata
docker run -v mydata:/data image
docker run -v $(pwd):/app image               # bind mount current dir
docker volume ls
docker volume rm mydata
docker volume prune

Docker Compose

docker compose up -d
docker compose up -d --build                  # rebuild images
docker compose down
docker compose down -v                        # also remove volumes
docker compose logs -f service
docker compose exec service sh
docker compose ps
docker compose pull                           # pull latest images

Networks

docker network ls
docker network create mynet
docker run --network mynet image
docker network inspect mynet

Cleanup

docker system prune                           # remove stopped containers, dangling images
docker system prune -a --volumes              # nuclear option: everything unused
docker container prune
docker image prune
docker volume prune

Useful Patterns

Multi-stage build skeleton

FROM node:24-alpine AS builder
WORKDIR /app
COPY package*.json ./
RUN npm ci
COPY . .
RUN npm run build

FROM node:24-alpine AS runner
WORKDIR /app
COPY --from=builder /app/dist ./dist
COPY --from=builder /app/node_modules ./node_modules
EXPOSE 3000
CMD ["node", "dist/index.js"]

Compose with env file

services:
  app:
    build: .
    env_file: .env
    ports:
      - "3000:3000"
    volumes:
      - .:/app
      - /app/node_modules        # anonymous volume to prevent host override
    depends_on:
      - db
  db:
    image: postgres:16-alpine
    environment:
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: secret
    volumes:
      - pgdata:/var/lib/postgresql/data

volumes:
  pgdata: