Core Concepts

Understanding Docker's core concepts is essential for working effectively with containerized applications. This guide covers the fundamental building blocks: Images, Containers, Registries, and Dockerfiles.

Images

A Docker image is a read-only template that contains a set of instructions for creating a container. An image typically includes an operating system, application code, runtime, libraries, environment variables, and configuration files.

Image Layers

Docker images are built in layers. Each instruction in a Dockerfile creates a new layer:

┌─────────────────────────────┐
│    Application Code         │  ← Layer 4 (COPY)
├─────────────────────────────┤
│    Dependencies (npm, pip)  │  ← Layer 3 (RUN)
├─────────────────────────────┤
│    Runtime (Node, Python)   │  ← Layer 2 (RUN)
├─────────────────────────────┤
│    Base OS (Alpine, Ubuntu) │  ← Layer 1 (FROM)
└─────────────────────────────┘

Each layer is cached independently. When you rebuild an image, only the layers that have changed (and subsequent layers) are rebuilt.

Image Tags

Images are referenced using a tag system:

# Format: registry/repository:tag
docker.io/library/nginx:1.25
docker.io/myuser/myapp:latest
docker.io/myuser/myapp:v2.1.0

# Short forms
nginx:1.25          # defaults to docker.io/library/
myapp:latest        # defaults to docker.io/library/
myapp               # defaults to :latest tag

Listing and Managing Images

# List all local images
docker images
docker image ls

# Pull an image from a registry
docker pull nginx:1.25

# Remove an image
docker rmi nginx:1.25
docker image rm nginx:1.25

# Remove unused images
docker image prune

# Inspect image details
docker image inspect nginx:1.25

# View image history (layers)
docker image history nginx:1.25

Image Tag Table

Tag Pattern	Example	Use Case
latest	nginx:latest	Default tag, mutable
Semantic version	nginx:1.25.3	Specific immutable version
Major version	nginx:1	Latest patch of major version
SHA digest	nginx@sha256:abc123...	Guaranteed immutability
Custom label	myapp:staging	Environment-specific build

Containers

A container is a runnable instance of an image. You can create, start, stop, move, or delete a container using the Docker API or CLI. A container is defined by its image as well as any configuration options you provide when you create or start it.

Container Lifecycle

     create       start        (running)      stop        remove
 ─────────▶ ┌──────────▶ ┌─────────────┐ ──────────▶ ┌──────────▶
             │ Created   │   Running    │   Stopped   │  Removed
             └───────────┘              └─────────────┘
                              │    ▲
                         pause│    │unpause
                              ▼    │
                          ┌─────────────┐
                          │   Paused     │
                          └─────────────┘

Basic Container Operations

# Run a container (create + start)
docker run nginx:1.25

# Run in detached mode (background)
docker run -d --name my-nginx nginx:1.25

# Run with port mapping
docker run -d -p 8080:80 nginx:1.25

# Run with environment variables
docker run -d -e MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD=secret mysql:8

# Run interactively with a shell
docker run -it ubuntu:22.04 /bin/bash

# List running containers
docker ps

# List all containers (including stopped)
docker ps -a

# Stop a container
docker stop my-nginx

# Start a stopped container
docker start my-nginx

# Remove a container
docker rm my-nginx

# Force remove a running container
docker rm -f my-nginx

# View container logs
docker logs my-nginx
docker logs -f my-nginx  # follow log output

# Execute a command in a running container
docker exec -it my-nginx /bin/bash

# Inspect container details
docker inspect my-nginx

# View container resource usage
docker stats

Container Resource Limits

# Limit memory
docker run -d --memory="512m" nginx

# Limit CPU
docker run -d --cpus="1.5" nginx

# Limit both
docker run -d --memory="512m" --cpus="1.5" nginx

# Set restart policy
docker run -d --restart=unless-stopped nginx

Restart Policies

Policy	Description
no	Do not automatically restart (default)
on-failure	Restart only if container exits with non-zero code
on-failure:N	Restart up to N times on failure
always	Always restart regardless of exit code
unless-stopped	Always restart unless explicitly stopped

Registries

A Docker registry is a storage and distribution system for Docker images. The most commonly used registry is Docker Hub, but you can also run your own private registry.

Working with Registries

# Log in to Docker Hub
docker login

# Log in to a private registry
docker login registry.example.com

# Push an image to a registry
docker tag myapp:latest myuser/myapp:v1.0
docker push myuser/myapp:v1.0

# Pull an image from a registry
docker pull myuser/myapp:v1.0

# Search for images
docker search nginx

Popular Container Registries

Registry	URL	Description
Docker Hub	hub.docker.com	Default public registry
GitHub Container Registry	ghcr.io	GitHub's container registry
Amazon ECR	*.dkr.ecr.*.amazonaws.com	AWS container registry
Google Artifact Registry	*.pkg.dev	GCP container registry
Azure Container Registry	*.azurecr.io	Azure container registry
Harbor	Self-hosted	Open-source private registry

Dockerfile

A Dockerfile is a text document that contains all the commands a user could call on the command line to assemble an image. Using docker build, users can create an automated build that executes several command-line instructions in succession.

Basic Dockerfile Example

# Use an official Node.js runtime as the base image
FROM node:20-alpine

# Set the working directory inside the container
WORKDIR /app

# Copy package files first (for better layer caching)
COPY package.json package-lock.json ./

# Install dependencies
RUN npm ci --only=production

# Copy the rest of the application code
COPY . .

# Expose the application port
EXPOSE 3000

# Define the command to run the application
CMD ["node", "server.js"]

Common Dockerfile Instructions

Instruction	Description	Example
FROM	Sets the base image	FROM node:20-alpine
WORKDIR	Sets the working directory	WORKDIR /app
COPY	Copies files from host to image	COPY . .
ADD	Copies files with extra features (tar extraction, URLs)	ADD archive.tar.gz /app
RUN	Executes a command during build	RUN npm install
CMD	Default command when container starts	CMD ["node", "app.js"]
ENTRYPOINT	Configures the container as an executable	ENTRYPOINT ["python"]
ENV	Sets environment variables	ENV NODE_ENV=production
EXPOSE	Documents the port the container listens on	EXPOSE 8080
VOLUME	Creates a mount point	VOLUME /data
ARG	Defines a build-time variable	ARG VERSION=1.0
LABEL	Adds metadata to the image	LABEL maintainer="[email protected]"
USER	Sets the user for subsequent instructions	USER appuser
HEALTHCHECK	Defines a health check command	HEALTHCHECK CMD curl -f http://localhost/

Building an Image from a Dockerfile

# Build an image from the current directory
docker build -t myapp:1.0 .

# Build with a specific Dockerfile
docker build -f Dockerfile.prod -t myapp:prod .

# Build with build arguments
docker build --build-arg VERSION=2.0 -t myapp:2.0 .

# Build with no cache
docker build --no-cache -t myapp:1.0 .

# Build for a specific platform
docker build --platform linux/amd64 -t myapp:1.0 .

Putting It All Together

Here is a complete workflow that uses all the core concepts:

# 1. Write a Dockerfile (defines the image)
# 2. Build the image
docker build -t myuser/myapp:1.0 .

# 3. Test locally by running a container
docker run -d -p 8080:3000 --name test-app myuser/myapp:1.0

# 4. Verify it works
curl http://localhost:8080

# 5. Push the image to a registry
docker login
docker push myuser/myapp:1.0

# 6. On another machine, pull and run
docker pull myuser/myapp:1.0
docker run -d -p 80:3000 myuser/myapp:1.0

Next Steps

• Installation Guide — Install Docker on your platform
• Quick Start Tutorial — Build and run your first container
• Image Building Best Practices — Learn advanced image building techniques
• Dockerfile Reference — Complete Dockerfile instruction reference
• Docker Networking Guide — Understand container networking