Supported Docker Commands

vSphere Integrated Containers Engine 1.3 supports Docker client 1.13.0. The supported version of the Docker API is 1.25.

Docker Management Commands

Command Docker Reference Supported
dockerd Launch the Docker daemon Not applicable. This construct does not exist in vSphere Integrated Containers
info Docker system information Yes, since 1.0. Provides Docker-specific data, basic capacity information, lists configured volume stores, and virtual container host information. Does not reveal vSphere datastore paths that might contain sensitive vSphere information.
inspect Inspect a container or image Yes, since 1.0. Includes information about the container network.
version Docker version information Yes, since 1.0

Image Commands

Command Docker Reference Supported
build Build an image from a Dockerfile No
commit Create a new image from a container’s changes Yes, since 1.2. You can only run docker commit on stopped containers.
history Show the history of an image No
images Images Yes, since 1.0. Supports --filter, --no-trunc, and --quiet
import Import the contents from a tarball to create a filesystem image No
load Load an image from a tar archive or STDIN No
rmi Remove a Docker image Yes, since 1.0
save Save images No
tag Tag an image into a repository Yes, since 1.0

Container Commands

Command Docker Reference Supported
attach Attach to a container Yes, since 1.0
container list List Containers Yes, since 1.0
container resize Resize a container Yes, since 1.0
cp Copy files or folders between a container and the local filesystem Yes, since 1.2. You cannot copy to or from an NFS volume. You cannot copy from an unstarted container.
create Create a container Yes, since 1.0.
--cpuset-cpus in Docker specifies CPUs the container is allowed to use during execution (0-3, 0,1). In vSphere Integrated Containers Engine, this parameter specifies the number of virtual CPUs to allocate to the container VM. Minimum CPU count is 1, maximum is unlimited. Default is 2.
--ip allows you to set a static IP on the container. By default, the virtual container host manages the container IP.
Minimum value for --memory is 512MB, maximum unlimited. If unspecified, the default is 2GB. Supports the --attach, --cidfile, --cpuset-cpus, --entrypoint, --env, --env-file, --help, --interactive, --ip, --link, --memory, --name, --net, --net-alias, --publish, --rm, --stop-signal, --stop-timeout, --tty, --user, --volume, and --workdir options.
diff Inspect changes on a container's filesystem Yes, since 1.2
events Get real time events from the server Yes, since 1.0. Supports passive Docker events for containers and images. Does not yet support events for volumes or networks.
exec Run a command in a running container Yes, since 1.2
export Export a container No
kill Kill a running container Yes, since 1.0. Docker must wait for the container to shut down.
logs Get container logs Yes, since 1.0. Supports --since and --timestamps since 1.2.
pause Pause processes in a container No
port Obtain port data Yes, since 1.0. Displays port mapping data.
Supports mapping a random host port to the container when the host port is not specified.
ps Show running containers Yes, since 1.0. Supports the -a/--all, -f/--filter, --no-trunc, and -q/--quiet options. Filtering by network name is supported, but filtering by network ID is not supported.
rename Rename a container Yes, since 1.1. Name resolution for renamed running containers is not supported, but if you restart the container the new name is resolved.
restart Restart a container Yes, since 1.0
rm Remove a container Yes, since 1.0. Supports the --force option and the name parameter. To view volumes attached to a container that is removed, use docker volume ls and docker volume inspect <id>. If you continually invoke docker create to make more anonymous volumes, those volumes are left behind after each subsequent removal of that container.
Supports docker rm -v since 1.3. Running the command removes the container and any anonymous volumes joined to that container. If an anonymous volume is in use by another container, it is not removed. Named volumes that you specify by name in the create/run command are not deleted.
run Run a command in a new container Yes, since 1.0. Supports mapping a random host port to the container when the host port is not specified.
Supports running images from private and custom registries.
docker run -h is supported since 1.3.0. You can specify a container network by using the --container-network option when you deploy a virtual container host. Supports the --attach, --cidfile, --cpuset-cpus, --detach, --detach-keys, --entrypoint, --env, --env-file, --help, --interactive, --ip, --link, --memory, --name, --net, --net-alias, --publish, --rm, --stop-signal, --stop-timeout, --tty, --user, --volume, and --workdir options.
IMPORTANT: Do not use docker run --rm with vSphere Integrated Containers 1.3.0. Using docker run --rm with vSphere Integrated Containers 1.3.0 removes named volumes, resulting in data loss. In vSphere Integrated Containers 1.3.1 only anonymous volumes are removed.
start Start a container Yes, since 1.0. Supports the --attach and --interactive options.
stats Get container stats based on resource usage Yes. Provides statistics about CPU and memory usage since 1.1. Provides statistics about network or disk usage since 1.2.
stop Stop a container Yes, since 1.0. Attempts to politely stop the container. If that fails, powers down the VM.
top Display the running processes of a container No
unpause Unpause processes within a container No
update Update a container No
wait Wait for a container Yes, since 1.0

Hub and Registry Commands

Command Docker Reference Supported
login Log into a registry Yes, since 1.0
logout Log out from a registry Yes, since 1.0
pull Pull an image or repository from a registry Yes, since 1.0. Supports pulling from secure or insecure public and private registries.
push Push an image or a repository to a registry No
search Search the Docker hub for images No

Network and Connectivity Commands

For more information about network operations with vSphere Integrated Containers Engine, see Container Networking with vSphere Integrated Containers Engine.

Command Docker Reference Supported
network connect Connect to a network Yes, since 1.0. Not supported for running containers.

You can specify the --ip option to assign a static IP address to a container. If you do not specify --ip, the VCH assigns an IP address from the provided range of addresses for the container network. Using the --ip option on container networks with DHCP enabled is not supported.
network create Create a network Yes, since 1.1. See the use case to connect a container to an external network in Container Networking with vSphere Integrated Containers Engine. Bridge is also supported.
network disconnect Disconnect a network No
network inspect Inspect a network Yes, since 1.0
network ls List networks/ Yes, since 1.0
network rm Remove a network Yes, since 1.0. Network name and network ID are supported.

Shared Data Volume Commands

For more information about volume operations with vSphere Integrated Containers Engine, see Using Volumes with vSphere Integrated Containers Engine.

Command Docker Reference Supported
volume create Create a volume Yes, since 1.0. Supports the --opt Capacity and --opt VolumeStore options, and ignores any other options that you might specify. Currently only supports ext4 file systems for volume stores.
volume inspect Information about a volume Yes, since 1.0
volume ls List volumes Yes, since 1.0
volume rm Remove or delete a volume Yes, since 1.0

Docker Compose Commands

vSphere Integrated Containers Engine 1.3 supports Docker Compose version 1.11.2.

For more information about using Docker Compose with vSphere Integrated Containers Engine, see Creating a Containerized Application with vSphere Integrated Containers Engine.

For information about Docker Compose file support, see Supported Docker Compose File Options.

Command Docker Reference Supported
build Build or rebuild service No. Depends on docker build.
bundle Generate a Distributed Application Bundle (DAB) from the Compose file Yes, since 1.1
config Validate and view the compose file Yes, since 1.0
create Create services Yes, since 1.0
down Stop and remove containers, networks, images, and volumes Yes, since 1.0
events Receive real time events from containers Yes, since 1.0. Supports passive Docker events for containers and images. Does not yet support events for volumes or networks.
exec Run commands in services No. Depends on docker exec.
help Get help on a command Yes, since 1.0
kill Kill containers No, but docker kill works.
logs View output from containers Yes, since 1.0
pause Pause services No. Depends on docker pause.
port Print the public port for a port binding Yes, since 1.0
ps List containers Yes, since 1.0
pull Pulls service images Yes, since 1.0
push Pushes images for service No. Depends on docker push
restart Restart services Yes, since 1.0
rm Remove stopped containers Yes, since 1.0
run Run a one-off command Yes, since 1.0
scale Set number of containers for a service Yes, since 1.0
start Start services Yes, since 1.0
stop Stop services Yes, since 1.0
unpause Unpause services No. Depends on docker unpause.
up Create and start containers Yes, since 1.1
version Show Docker Compose version information Yes, since 1.0

Swarm Commands

This version of vSphere Integrated Containers Engine does not directly support Docker Swarm. However, you can use the dch-photon Docker Engine to instantiate a Docker swarm for use with vSphere Integrated Containers.

results matching ""

    No results matching ""