Run a Docker image as a container

Question

After building a Docker image from a dockerfile, I see the image was built successfully, but what do I do with it? Shouldn\'t i be able to run it as a container

Answer 1

The specific way to run it depends on whether you gave the image a tag/name or not.

$ docker images
REPOSITORY          TAG                 ID                  CREATED             SIZE
ubuntu              12.04               8dbd9e392a96        4 months ago        131.5 MB (virtual 131.5 MB)

With a name (let's use Ubuntu):

$ docker run -i -t ubuntu:12.04 /bin/bash

Without a name, just using the ID:

$ docker run -i -t 8dbd9e392a96 /bin/bash

Please see Docker run reference for more information.

Answer 2

Since you have created an image from the Dockerfile, the image currently is not in active state. In order to work you need to run this image inside a container.

The $ docker images command describes how many images are currently available in the local repository. and

docker ps -a

shows how many containers are currently available, i.e. the list of active and exited containers.

There are two ways to run the image in the container:

$ docker run [OPTIONS] IMAGE[:TAG|@DIGEST] [COMMAND] [ARG...]

In detached mode:

-d=false: Detached mode: Run container in the background, print new container id

In interactive mode:

-i :Keep STDIN open even if not attached

Here is the Docker run command

$ docker run image_name:tag_name

For more clarification on Docker run, you can visit Docker run reference.

It's the best material to understand Docker.

Answer 3

To view a list of all images on your Docker host, run:

  $ docker images
   REPOSITORY          TAG           IMAGE ID            CREATED             SIZE
   apache_snapshot     latest        13037686eac3        22 seconds ago      249MB
   ubuntu              latest        00fd29ccc6f1        3 weeks ago         111MB

Now you can run the Docker image as a container in interactive mode:

   $ docker run -it apache_snapshot /bin/bash

OR if you don't have any images locally,Search Docker Hub for an image to download:

    $ docker search ubuntu
    NAME                            DESCRIPTION             STARS  OFFICIAL  AUTOMATED
    ubuntu                          Ubuntu is a Debian...   6759   [OK]       
    dorowu/ubuntu-desktop-lxde-vnc  Ubuntu with openss...   141              [OK]
    rastasheep/ubuntu-sshd          Dockerized SSH ser...   114              [OK]
    ansible/ubuntu14.04-ansible     Ubuntu 14.04 LTS w...   88               [OK]
    ubuntu-upstart                  Upstart is an even...   80     [OK]

Pull the Docker image from a repository with the docker pull command:

     $ docker pull ubuntu

Run the Docker image as a container:

     $ docker run -it ubuntu /bin/bash

Answer 4

For those who had the same problem as well, but encountered an error like

rpc error: code = 2 desc = oci runtime error: exec failed: container_linux.go:247: starting container process caused "exec: \"bash\": executable file not found in $PATH"

I added an entry point that was worked for me:

docker run -it --entrypoint /bin/sh for the images without Bash.

Example (from the approved example):

run -it --entrypoint /bin/sh ubuntu:12.04

Reference: https://gist.github.com/mitchwongho/11266726

Answer 5

• To list the Docker images

  $ docker images
  

• If your application wants to run in with port 80, and you can expose a different port to bind locally, say 8080:

  $ docker run -d --restart=always -p 8080:80 image_name:version
  

Answer 6

$ docker images
REPOSITORY                TAG                 IMAGE ID            CREATED            
jamesmedice/marketplace   latest              e78c49b5f380        2 days ago          
jamesmedice/marketplace   v1.0.0              *e78c49b5f380*        2 days ago          


$ docker run -p 6001:8585 *e78c49b5f380*