docker-management

SKILL.md preview

---
name: docker-management
description: Manage Docker containers, images, volumes, networks, and Compose stacks — lifecycle ops, debugging, cleanup, and Dockerfile optimization.
version: 1.0.0
author: sprmn24
license: MIT
platforms: [linux, macos, windows]
metadata:
  hermes:
    tags: [docker, containers, devops, infrastructure, compose, images, volumes, networks, debugging]
    category: devops
    requires_toolsets: [terminal]
---

# Docker Management

Manage Docker containers, images, volumes, networks, and Compose stacks using standard Docker CLI commands. No additional dependencies beyond Docker itself.

## When to Use

- Run, stop, restart, remove, or inspect containers
- Build, pull, push, tag, or clean up Docker images
- Work with Docker Compose (multi-service stacks)
- Manage volumes or networks
- Debug a crashing container or analyze logs
- Check Docker disk usage or free up space
- Review or optimize a Dockerfile

## Prerequisites

- Docker Engine installed and running
- User added to the `docker` group (or use `sudo`)
- Docker Compose v2 (included with modern Docker installations)

Quick check:

```bash
docker --version && docker compose version
```

## Quick Reference

| Task | Command |
|------|---------|
| Run container (background) | `docker run -d --name NAME IMAGE` |
| Stop + remove | `docker stop NAME && docker rm NAME` |
| View logs (follow) | `docker logs --tail 50 -f NAME` |
| Shell into container | `docker exec -it NAME /bin/sh` |
| List all containers | `docker ps -a` |
| Build image | `docker build -t TAG .` |
| Compose up | `docker compose up -d` |
| Compose down | `docker compose down` |
| Disk usage | `docker system df` |
| Cleanup dangling | `docker image prune && docker container prune` |

## Procedure

### 1. Identify the domain

Figure out which area the request falls into:

- **Container lifecycle** → run, stop, start, restart, rm, pause/unpause
- **Container interaction** → exec, cp, logs, inspect, stats
- **Image management** → build, pull, push, tag, rmi, save/load
- **Docker Compose** → up, down, ps, logs, exec, build, config
- **Volumes & networks** → create, inspect, rm, prune, connect
- **Troubleshooting** → log analysis, exit codes, resource issues

### 2. Container operations

**Run a new container:**

```bash
# Detached service with port mapping
docker run -d --name web -p 8080:80 nginx

# With environment variables
docker run -d -e POSTGRES_PASSWORD=secret -e POSTGRES_DB=mydb --name db postgres:16

# With persistent data (named volume)
docker run -d -v pgdata:/var/lib/postgresql/data --name db postgres:16

# For development (bind mount source code)
docker run -d -v $(pwd)/src:/app/src -p 3000:3000 --name dev my-app

# Interactive debugging (auto-remove on exit)
docker run -it --rm ubuntu:22.04 /bin/bash

# With resource limits and restart policy
docker run -d --memory=512m --cpus=1.5 --restart=unless-stopped --name app my-app
```

Key flags: `-d` detached, `-it` interactive+tty, `--rm` auto-remove, `-p` port (host:container), `-e` env var, `-v` volume, `--name` name, `--restart` restart policy.

**Manage running containers:**

```bash
docker ps                        # running containers
docker ps -a                     # all (including stopped)
docker stop NAME                 # graceful stop
docker start NAME                # start stopped container
docker restart NAME              # stop + start
docker rm NAME                   # remove stopped container
docker rm -f NAME                # force remove running container
docker container prune           # remove ALL stopped containers
```

**Interact with containers:**

```bash
docker exec -it NAME /bin/sh          # shell access (use /bin/bash if available)
docker exec NAME env                   # view environment variables
docker exec -u root NAME apt update    # run as specific user
docker logs --tail 100 -f NAME         # follow last 100 lines
docker logs --since 2h NAME            # logs from last 2 hours
docker cp NAME:/path

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