Docker Basic Maintenance Commands

Background:

When using Docker, various issues may arise, such as containers failing to start, services crashing, or excessive resource usage. These problems are often related to container life cycle, resource management, network configuration, or storage drivers. To effectively troubleshoot and resolve these issues, it is essential to master some basic Docker maintenance commands. These commands can help administrators monitor container status, view system information, debug problems, and optimise resource usage.

For viewing the status of all containers, quickly identify which containers are running, which have stopped, or which have crashed, use this command:

docker ps -a

To gain insights into the overall health of the Docker environment, check if storage drivers are correctly configured, or identify potential resource limitations, use this command:

docker info

If a container has stopped running for some reason, use this command:

docker start <container_id>

to restart it without needing to recreate the container. This is useful for recovering services or debugging container startup issues.

Different versions of Docker may have different features or behaviors, so understanding the current Docker version is crucial when troubleshooting issues. Use this command:

docker version

To check whether there is any issue of compatibility between the client and server versions.

To confirm whether the required images have been properly downloaded or if there are unused images taking up disk space, use this command:

docker images -a

For managing image storage and check whether there is any unnecessary images to be cleaned up.

To gain a deeper acquirement of the container's configuration and status, helping to troubleshoot network issues, storage problems, or container startup failures, use this command:

docker inspect <container_id>

To identify which containers are consuming excessive resources or if there are any resource bottlenecks, use this command:

docker stats

Which provides real-time resource usage statistics for all containers, including CPU, memory, and network I/O. By monitoring resource usage

To display real-time events from the Docker daemon, such as container creation, start, stop, and more, use this command:

docker events

Which helps identify abnormal behaviors (e.g., frequent restarts), or monitor overall system activity.