How to list containers in Docker?
In Docker, we can use docker ps
to show all running containers, docker ps -a
to show all running and stopped containers.
Here are some of the commonly used examples:
Terminal
# common
$ docker ps // show only running containers
$ docker ps -a // show all containers (running and stopped or exited)
# recent containers
$ docker ps -l // To show the latest created container (all states)
$ docker ps -n=5 // show 5 last created containers (all states)
# file size
$ docker ps -s // show the file size of all running containers
$ docker ps -as // show the file size of all containers (all states)
# filter examples
$ docker ps -f "status=created" // show containers which status is `created`
$ docker ps -f "status=exited" // show containers which status is `exited`, stopped containers.
$ docker ps -af "name=trusting_murdock" // show container which name is 'trusting_murdock'
$ docker ps -af "exited=1" // show containers which status is ` Exited (1)`, find errors.
# formatting output
$ docker ps -a --format "{{.ID}}: {{.Command}}: {{.Status}}"
# misc
$ docker ps --no-trunc // prevent truncating output
What is ps
The ps
stands for process status
. On Docker, it shows the status of containers along with their IDs.
1. Samples
Here are all the containers.
Terminal
$ docker ps -a
CONTAINER ID IMAGE COMMAND CREATED STATUS PORTS NAMES
80a9db188a21 busybox "sh" 18 seconds ago Up 17 seconds happy_villani
e90b8831a4b8 nginx "/bin/bash -c ls" 11 weeks ago Up 4 hours my_nginx
d362659da5fc app:1.1 "java -jar app.jar" 9 days ago Exited (255) 8 days ago 0.0.0.0:80->8080/tcp xenodochial_volhard
93c591f6b764 eb7e5d08c776 "java -XX:+UnlockCom…" 9 days ago Exited (1) 9 days ago nervous_booth
1.1 Show running containers, Status == Up
Terminal
$ docker ps
CONTAINER ID IMAGE COMMAND CREATED STATUS PORTS NAMES
80a9db188a21 busybox "sh" 18 seconds ago Up 17 seconds happy_villani
e90b8831a4b8 nginx "/bin/bash -c ls" 11 weeks ago Up 4 hours my_nginx
1.2 Show 3 last created containers (any status)
Terminal
$ docker ps -n=3
CONTAINER ID IMAGE COMMAND CREATED STATUS PORTS NAMES
80a9db188a21 busybox "sh" 18 seconds ago Up 17 seconds happy_villani
e90b8831a4b8 nginx "/bin/bash -c ls" 11 weeks ago Up 4 hours my_nginx
d362659da5fc app:1.1 "java -jar app.jar" 9 days ago Exited (255) 8 days ago 0.0.0.0:80->8080/tcp xenodochial_volhard
1.3 Show file size of running containers.
Terminal
$ docker ps -s
CONTAINER ID IMAGE COMMAND CREATED STATUS PORTS NAMES SIZE
80a9db188a21 busybox "sh" 18 seconds ago Up 17 seconds happy_villani 0B (virtual 1.22MB)
e90b8831a4b8 nginx "/bin/bash -c ls" 11 weeks ago Up 4 hours my_nginx 58.48 kB (virtual 99.2 MB)
1.4 Filter by status.
Terminal
$ docker ps -f "status=exited"
CONTAINER ID IMAGE COMMAND CREATED STATUS PORTS NAMES
d362659da5fc app:1.1 "java -jar app.jar" 9 days ago Exited (255) 8 days ago 0.0.0.0:80->8080/tcp xenodochial_volhard
93c591f6b764 eb7e5d08c776 "java -XX:+UnlockCom…" 9 days ago Exited (1) 9 days ago nervous_booth
$ docker ps -af "exited=1"
93c591f6b764 eb7e5d08c776 "java -XX:+UnlockCom…" 9 days ago Exited (1) 9 days ago nervous_booth
1.5 Filter by container id
Terminal
$ docker ps -af id=d362659da5fc
CONTAINER ID IMAGE COMMAND CREATED STATUS PORTS NAMES
d362659da5fc app:1.1 "java -jar app.jar" 9 days ago Exited (255) 8 days ago 0.0.0.0:80->8080/tcp xenodochial_volhard
Further Reading
Please refer to this official Docker ps guide for more supported filters.
1.6 Formatting output
Terminal
$ docker ps -a --format "{{.ID}}: {{.Command}}: {{.Status}}"
80a9db188a21: "sh": Up 17 seconds
e90b8831a4b8: "/bin/bash -c ls": Up 4 hours
d362659da5fc: "java -jar app.jar": Exited (255) 8 days ago
93c591f6b764: "java -XX:+UnlockCom…": Exited (1) 9 days ago
2. docker ps –help
This is the most powerful command.
$ docker ps --help
Usage: docker ps [OPTIONS]
List containers
Options:
-a, --all Show all containers (default shows just running)
-f, --filter filter Filter output based on conditions provided
--format string Pretty-print containers using a Go template
-n, --last int Show n last created containers (includes all
states) (default -1)
-l, --latest Show the latest created container (includes all
states)
--no-trunc Dont truncate output
-q, --quiet Only display numeric IDs
-s, --size Display total file sizes
References
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