Docker 1.13 was released yesterday, congratulations!

A quick summary of the key features:

  • Compose file to deploy Swarm mode services
  • Improved CLI backwards compatibility
  • Clean-up commands
  • CLI restructured
  • Monitoring and Build improvements

Learn more details about these features in this video by @manomarks:

Getting Started with Docker 1.13

Use Docker for Mac or Windows to get started. Once installed, the version information looks like:

Problems with Docker CLI

Docker 1.12 CLI has about ~40 top-level solo commands. While these commands wokred very well but they had a few issues:

  1. The commands are listed in one list without any organization. That makes it difficult for newbies to get started and learn the commands. (#8756)
  2. The command, such as docker inspect, also does not provide enough context whether they are operating on image or container. This mixing of image and container commands can cause confusion. (#13509)
  3. There is no consistency of command names. For example docker images is a plural and gives the list of images where as docker ps is singular and gives the list of containers. And they of course have the naming inconsistency issue. (#8829)
  4. Some of the commands like build and run are used heavily and then some arcane ones like pause and wait not so often. It does not seem fair to keep all the commands at the same level.

Docker 1.13 fixes this problem!

Docker Management Commands

Docker 1.13 groups the commands logically into management commands. Here are the top-level solo commands now:

Now a list of images is obtained using docker image ls command instead of docker images command. Similar docker container ls shows the list of containers instead of docker ls. This brings a lot of consistency across the commands and that would make it intuitive and easier for newbie and pros to remember the commands. Each management command has some similar set of sub-commands where they perform the operation on the command category:

Sub-command Purpose
ls List (image, container, volume, secret, etc)
rm Remove
inspect Inspect

And there are other sub-commands based upon the management category. Some of the heavily used commands are still at the top level. By default, all the top-level commands are also shown. But you can set the DOCKER_HIDE_LEGACY_COMMANDS environment variable to show only the management commands. So even though docker --help will show all the solo and management commands. But the following commands will only show the new management commands:

The old syntax is still supported but it recommended to start moving to new commands. A new Couchbase container can be started as:

The list of images can be seen as:

Mapping Docker Solo to Management Commands

Let’s look at how the existing top-level commands match to the management commands:

1.12 1.13 Purpose
attach container attach Attach to a running container
build image build Build an image from a Dockerfile
commit container commit Create a new image from a container’s changes
cp container cp Copy files/folders between a container and the local filesystem
create container create Create a new container
diff container diff Inspect changes on a container’s filesystem
events system events Get real time events from the server
exec container exec Run a command in a running container
export container export Export a container’s filesystem as a tar archive
history image history Show the history of an image
images image ls List images
import image import Import the contents from a tarball to create a filesystem image
info system info Display system-wide information
inspect container inspect Return low-level information on a container, image or task
kill container kill Kill one or more running containers
load image load Load an image from a tar archive or STDIN
login login Log in to a Docker registry.
logout logout Log out from a Docker registry.
logs container logs Fetch the logs of a container
network network Manage Docker networks
node node Manage Docker Swarm nodes
pause container pause Pause all processes within one or more containers
port container port List port mappings or a specific mapping for the container
ps container ls List containers
pull image pull Pull an image or a repository from a registry
push image push Push an image or a repository to a registry
rename container rename Rename a container
restart container restart Restart a container
rm container rm Remove one or more containers
rmi image rm Remove one or more images
run container run Run a command in a new container
save image save Save one or more images to a tar archive (streamed to STDOUT by default)
search search Search the Docker Hub for images
service service Manage Docker services
start container start Start one or more stopped containers
stats container stats Display a live stream of container(s) resource usage statistics
stop container stop Stop one or more running containers
swarm swarm Manage Docker Swarm
tag image tag Tag an image into a repository
top container top Display the running processes of a container
unpause container unpause Unpause all processes within one or more containers
update container update Update configuration of one or more containers
version version Show the Docker version information
volume volume Manage Docker volumes
wait container wait Block until a container stops, then print its exit code

Sign up for Docker Online Meetup on 1/25 at 10am PST for more details on Docker 1.13.

Use Docker for Mac or Windows to get started with Docker 1.13.

And of course, you can learn more about how to run Couchbase on Containers.

Author

Posted by Arun Gupta, VP, Developer Advocacy, Couchbase

Arun Gupta is the vice president of developer advocacy at Couchbase. He has built and led developer communities for 10+ years at Sun, Oracle, and Red Hat. He has deep expertise in leading cross-functional teams to develop and execute strategy, planning and execution of content, marketing campaigns, and programs. Prior to that he led engineering teams at Sun and is a founding member of the Java EE team. Gupta has authored more than 2,000 blog posts on technology. He has extensive speaking experience in more than 40 countries on myriad topics and is a JavaOne Rock Star for three years in a row. Gupta also founded the Devoxx4Kids chapter in the US and continues to promote technology education among children. An author of several books on technology, an avid runner, a globe trotter, a Java Champion, a JUG leader, NetBeans Dream Team member, and a Docker Captain, he is easily accessible at @arungupta.

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