docker flags & options

-d, --detach

Run container in the background and print the container ID.

docker run -d nginx

docker compose up -d

-p, --publish

Map a host port to a container port. Format: host:container.

docker run -p 8080:80 nginx

docker run -p 127.0.0.1:3000:3000 myapp

-v, --volume

Mount a host directory or named volume into the container.

docker run -v /host/path:/container/path myapp

docker run -v mydata:/var/lib/data postgres

-e, --env

Set an environment variable inside the container.

docker run -e NODE_ENV=production myapp

docker run -e DB_HOST=localhost -e DB_PORT=5432 myapp

--rm

Automatically remove the container when it exits. Useful for one-off commands.

docker run --rm ubuntu echo "hello"

docker run --rm -it python:3 python

-it

Combines -i (interactive, keep stdin open) and -t (allocate a TTY). Used for interactive shells.

docker run -it ubuntu bash

docker exec -it mycontainer sh

--name

Assign a name to the container instead of a random one.

docker run --name myapp -d nginx

--network

Connect the container to a specific Docker network.

docker run --network mynet myapp

docker run --network host myapp

-f, --file

Specify an alternate Dockerfile or Compose file.

docker build -f Dockerfile.prod -t myapp .

docker compose -f docker-compose.prod.yml up

--build-arg

Pass build-time variables to a Dockerfile ARG instruction.

docker build --build-arg VERSION=1.2.3 -t myapp .

-t, --tag

Name and optionally tag an image during build.

docker build -t myapp:latest .

docker build -t myapp:1.0 -t myapp:latest .

--restart

Set the container restart policy.

docker run --restart unless-stopped -d myapp

docker run --restart on-failure:3 -d myapp