Command	Description
`docker run [OPTIONS] IMAGE [COMMAND]`	Creates and starts a new container
`docker ps`	Lists running containers
`docker ps -a`	Lists all containers (running and stopped)
`docker start CONTAINER`	Starts a stopped container
`docker stop CONTAINER`	Gracefully stops a running container
`docker kill CONTAINER`	Forcefully stops a container
`docker restart CONTAINER`	Restarts a container
`docker rm CONTAINER`	Removes a stopped container
`docker rm -f CONTAINER`	Removes a running container forcefully

Image Management

Command	Description
`docker images`	Lists available images
`docker pull IMAGE[:TAG]`	Downloads an image from Docker Hub
`docker build -t NAME:TAG PATH`	Builds an image from a Dockerfile
`docker rmi IMAGE`	Removes an image
`docker inspect IMAGE/CONTAINER`	Shows detailed info about an image or container

Common Docker Run Options

The docker run command has many useful options:

# Run container in detached mode (background)
docker run -d nginx

# Map port 8080 on host to port 80 in container
docker run -p 8080:80 nginx

# Mount a volume
docker run -v /host/path:/container/path nginx

# Set environment variables
docker run -e VARIABLE=value nginx

# Name your container
docker run --name my-nginx nginx

# Run container with interactive terminal
docker run -it ubuntu bash

# Automatically remove container when it exits
docker run --rm nginx

Container Lifecycle Example

Let's work through a practical example using the official Nginx web server:

# Pull the Nginx image
docker pull nginx:latest

# Run Nginx container in detached mode and map port 8080 to 80
docker run -d -p 8080:80 --name my-nginx nginx

# Check that the container is running
docker ps

# View container logs
docker logs my-nginx

# Stop the container
docker stop my-nginx

# Start it again
docker start my-nginx

# Execute a command inside the running container
docker exec -it my-nginx bash

# Remove the container (must be stopped first)
docker stop my-nginx
docker rm my-nginx

After running these commands, you can access the Nginx welcome page at http://localhost:8080 in your web browser.

Docker Container States

A Docker container can be in one of these states:

Created: Container created but not started
Running: Container running with all processes active
Paused: Container processes paused
Stopped: Container stopped, but still exists (can be restarted)
Deleted: Container removed, no longer exists

In the next section, we'll learn how to create custom Docker images using Dockerfiles.

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What is Docker?