Docker Management

Build, run, and manage Docker containers for application deployment and development.

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when:

• Creating and optimizing Dockerfiles
• Building and tagging Docker images
• Running and managing containers
• Debugging container issues
• Configuring Docker networking and volumes
• Implementing container security best practices

Execution Scope

Confirm the selected Docker context and project before any operation. Build instructions execute contributed commands; inspect the Dockerfile, build context, scripts and downloaded dependencies first. Image publication, shared-container stops and volume deletion need authorization for the exact target. Do not expose environment values, image history or logs containing credentials. These examples are independent fragments with project-specific assets, not a complete deployment.

Prerequisites

• Docker Engine installed (20.10+)
• Basic command line knowledge
• Understanding of application deployment

Dockerfile Best Practices

Multi-Stage Build

# Build stage
FROM node:20-alpine AS builder
WORKDIR /app
COPY package*.json ./
RUN npm ci
COPY . .
RUN npm run build && npm prune --omit=dev

# Production stage
FROM node:20-alpine AS production
WORKDIR /app
RUN addgroup -g 1001 -S nodejs && \
    adduser -S nodejs -u 1001 -G nodejs
COPY --from=builder --chown=nodejs:nodejs /app/dist ./dist
COPY --from=builder --chown=nodejs:nodejs /app/node_modules ./node_modules
USER nodejs
EXPOSE 3000
CMD ["node", "dist/index.js"]

Layer Optimization

FROM python:3.12-slim

# Install dependencies first (cached unless requirements change)
COPY requirements.txt .
RUN pip install --no-cache-dir -r requirements.txt

# Copy application code (changes frequently)
COPY . .

CMD ["python", "app.py"]

Security Hardening

FROM node:20-alpine

# Create non-root user
RUN addgroup -g 1001 appgroup && \
    adduser -u 1001 -G appgroup -D appuser

WORKDIR /app

# Copy with proper ownership
COPY --chown=appuser:appgroup . .

# Drop privileges
USER appuser

# Use exec form for proper signal handling
CMD ["node", "server.js"]

Building Images

Basic Build

# Build with tag
docker build -t myapp:1.0 .

# Build with build args
docker build --build-arg NODE_ENV=production -t myapp:prod .

# Build for specific platform
docker build --platform linux/amd64 -t myapp:amd64 .

# Build with no cache
docker build --no-cache -t myapp:fresh .

Multi-Platform Builds

# Create builder
docker buildx create --name multiplatform --use

# Build for multiple architectures
docker buildx build \
  --platform linux/amd64,linux/arm64 \
  -t myregistry/myapp:latest \
  --push .

Running Containers

Basic Operations

# Run container
docker run -d --name myapp -p 8080:3000 myapp:latest

# Run with environment variables
docker run -d \
  -e DATABASE_URL=postgres://localhost/db \
  -e NODE_ENV=production \
  myapp:latest

# Run with resource limits
docker run -d \
  --memory="512m" \
  --cpus="1.0" \
  myapp:latest

# Run with restart policy
docker run -d --restart=unless-stopped myapp:latest

Volume Management

# Named volume
docker volume create mydata
docker run -v mydata:/app/data myapp:latest

# Bind mount
docker run -v "$(pwd)/config:/app/config:ro" myapp:latest

# tmpfs mount (memory)
docker run --tmpfs /tmp:rw,noexec,nosuid myapp:latest

Networking

# Create network
docker network create mynetwork

# Run on network
docker run -d --network mynetwork --name api myapp:latest

# Connect existing container
docker network connect mynetwork existing-container

# Expose specific ports
docker run -d -p 127.0.0.1:8080:3000 myapp:latest

Container Lifecycle

Management Commands

# List containers
docker ps -a

# Stop container
docker stop myapp

# Remove container
docker rm myapp

# Force remove running container
docker rm -f myapp

# Prune stopped containers
docker container prune -f

Logs and Monitoring

# View logs
docker logs myapp

# Follow logs
docker logs -f --tail 100 myapp

# View resource usage
docker stats myapp

# Inspect container
docker inspect myapp

Debugging Containers

Interactive Access

# Execute command in running container
docker exec -it myapp /bin/sh

# Run container with shell
docker run -it --rm myapp:latest /bin/sh

# Debug failed container

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