container/docs/command-reference.md

Container CLI Command Reference

Note: Command availability may vary depending on host operating system and macOS version.

Core Commands

container run

Runs a container from an image. If a command is provided, it will execute inside the container; otherwise the image's default command runs. By default the container runs in the foreground and STDIN remains closed unless -i/--interactive is specified.

Usage

container run [OPTIONS] IMAGE [COMMAND] [ARG...]

Options

• Process and resources
  • -w, --cwd, --workdir <cwd>: Current working directory for the container
  • -e, --env <env>: Set environment variables
  • --env-file <env-file>: Read in a file of environment variables
  • --uid <uid>: Set the uid for the process
  • --gid <gid>: Set the gid for the process
  • -i, --interactive: Keep Stdin open even if not attached
  • -t, --tty: Open a tty with the process
  • -u, --user <user>: Set the user for the process
  • -c, --cpus <cpus>: Number of CPUs to allocate to the container
  • -m, --memory <memory>: Amount of memory in bytes, kilobytes (K), megabytes (M), or gigabytes (G) for the container, with MB granularity (for example, 1024K will result in 1MB being allocated for the container)
• Container management
  • -d, --detach: Run the container and detach from the process
  • --entrypoint <entrypoint>: Override the entrypoint of the image
  • --mount <mount>: Add a mount to the container (type=<>,source=<>,target=<>,readonly)
  • -p, --publish <publish>: Publish a port from container to host (format: [host-ip:]host-port:container-port[/protocol])
  • --publish-socket <publish-socket>: Publish a socket from container to host (format: host_path:container_path)
  • --tmpfs <tmpfs>: Add a tmpfs mount to the container at the given path
  • --name <name>: Assign a name to the container. If excluded will be a generated UUID
  • --remove, --rm: Remove the container after it stops
  • --os <os>: Set OS if image can target multiple operating systems (default: linux)
  • -a, --arch <arch>: Set arch if image can target multiple architectures (default: arm64)
  • -v, --volume <volume>: Bind mount a volume into the container
  • -k, --kernel <kernel>: Set a custom kernel path
  • --network <network>: Attach the container to a network
  • --cidfile <cidfile>: Write the container ID to the path provided
  • --no-dns: Do not configure DNS in the container
  • --dns <dns>: DNS nameserver IP address
  • --dns-domain <dns-domain>: Default DNS domain
  • --dns-search <dns-search>: DNS search domains
  • --dns-option <dns-option>: DNS options
  • -l, --label <label>: Add a key=value label to the container
  • --virtualization: Expose virtualization capabilities to the container. (Host must have nested virtualization support, and guest kernel must have virtualization capabilities enabled)
• Registry/progress/global
  • --scheme <scheme>: Scheme to use when connecting to the container registry. One of (http, https, auto) (default: auto)
  • --disable-progress-updates: Disable progress bar updates
  • --debug: Enable debug output [environment: CONTAINER_DEBUG]
  • --version: Show the version.
  • -h, --help: Show help information.

Examples

# run a container and attach an interactive shell
container run -it ubuntu:latest /bin/bash

# run a background web server
container run -d --name web -p 8080:80 nginx:latest

# set environment variables and limit resources
container run -e NODE_ENV=production --cpus 2 --memory 1G node:18

container build

Builds an OCI image from a local build context. It reads a Dockerfile (default Dockerfile) and produces an image tagged with -t option. The build runs in isolation using BuildKit, and resource limits may be set for the build process itself.

Usage

container build [OPTIONS] PATH

Options

• Resource management
  • -c, --cpus <number>: CPUs to allocate to the build process (default 2)
  • -m, --memory <size>: Amount of memory in bytes, kilobytes (K), megabytes (M), or gigabytes (G) for the container, with MB granularity (for example, 1024K will result in 1MB being allocated for the container) (default: 2048MB)
• Build configuration
  • --build-arg <key=value>: build-time variables passed to the Dockerfile
  • -f, --file <path>: path to the Dockerfile (default Dockerfile)
  • -l, --label <key=value>: add metadata labels to the image
  • --no-cache: disable cache usage
  • -o, --output <config>: specify build output (default type=oci)
  • --arch <arch>: target architecture (default arm64)
  • --os <os>: target operating system (default linux)
  • --progress <type>: progress output mode: auto, plain, or tty
  • --vsock-port <port>: Builder-shim vsock port (default 8088)
  • -t, --tag <name>: set image name and tag
  • --target <stage>: set the target stage for multi-stage builds
  • -q, --quiet: suppress build output
• Global
  • --debug: enable debug logging
  • --version: show version and exit
  • -h, --help: show help

Examples

# build an image and tag it as my-app:latest
container build -t my-app:latest .

# use a custom Dockerfile
container build -f docker/Dockerfile.prod -t my-app:prod .

# pass build args
container build --build-arg NODE_VERSION=18 -t my-app .

# build the production stage only and disable cache
container build --target production --no-cache -t my-app:prod .

Container Management

container create

Creates a container from an image without starting it. This command accepts most of the same process/resource/management flags as container run, but leaves the container stopped after creation.

Usage

container create [OPTIONS] IMAGE [COMMAND] [ARG...]

Typical use: create a container to inspect or modify its configuration before running it.

container start

Starts a stopped container. You can attach to the container's output streams and optionally keep STDIN open.

Usage

container start [OPTIONS] CONTAINER

Options

• -a, --attach: attach to STDOUT/STDERR of the container
• -i, --interactive: attach STDIN for interactive sessions
• Global: --debug, --version, -h/--help

container stop

Stops running containers gracefully by sending a signal. A timeout can be specified before a SIGKILL is issued. If no containers are specified, nothing is stopped unless --all is used.

Usage

container stop [OPTIONS] [CONTAINER...]

Options

• -a, --all: stop all running containers
• -s, --signal <signal>: signal to send (default SIGTERM)
• -t, --time <seconds>: timeout in seconds before killing the container (default 5)
• Global: --debug, --version, -h/--help

container kill

Immediately kills running containers by sending a signal (defaults to SIGKILL). Use with caution: it does not allow for graceful shutdown.

Usage

container kill [OPTIONS] [CONTAINER...]

Options

• -s, --signal <signal>: signal to send (default KILL)
• -a, --all: kill all running containers
• Global: --debug, --version, -h/--help

container delete (rm)

Removes one or more containers. If the container is running, you may force deletion with --force. Without a container ID, nothing happens unless --all is supplied.

Usage

container delete [OPTIONS] [CONTAINER...]

Options

• -f, --force: remove running containers by sending SIGKILL
• -a, --all: remove all containers
• Global: --debug, --version, -h/--help

container list (ls)

Lists containers. By default only running containers are shown. Output can be formatted as a table or JSON.

Usage

container list [OPTIONS]

Options

• -a, --all: include stopped containers
• -q, --quiet: display only container IDs
• --format <format>: Format of the output (values: json, table; default: table)
• Global: --debug, --version, -h/--help

container exec

Executes a command inside a running container. It uses the same process flags as container run to control environment, user, and TTY settings.

Usage

container exec [OPTIONS] CONTAINER COMMAND [ARG...]

Key flags

• -w, --cwd, --workdir <cwd>: Current working directory for the container
• -e, --env <env>: Set environment variables
• --env-file <env-file>: Read in a file of environment variables
• --uid <uid>: Set the uid for the process
• --gid <gid>: Set the gid for the process
• -i, --interactive: Keep Stdin open even if not attached
• -t, --tty: Open a tty with the process
• -u, --user <user>: Set the user for the process
• Global: --debug, --version, -h/--help

container logs

Fetches logs from a container. You can follow the logs (-f/--follow), restrict the number of lines shown, or view boot logs.

Usage

container logs [OPTIONS] CONTAINER

Options

• -f, --follow: Follow log output
• --boot: Display the boot log for the container instead of stdio
• -n <lines>: Number of lines to show from the end of the logs. If not provided this will print all of the logs
• Global: --debug, --version, -h/--help

container inspect

Displays detailed container information in JSON. Pass one or more container IDs to inspect multiple containers.

Usage

container inspect [OPTIONS] CONTAINER...

No additional flags; uses global flags for debug, version, and help.

Image Management

container image list (ls)

Lists local images. Verbose output provides additional details such as image ID, creation time and size; JSON output provides the same data in machine-readable form.

Usage

container image list [OPTIONS]

Options

• -q, --quiet: Only output the image name
• -v, --verbose: Verbose output
• --format <format>: Format of the output (values: json, table; default: table)
• Global: --debug, --version, -h/--help

container image pull

Pulls an image from a registry. Supports specifying a platform and controlling progress display.

Usage

container image pull [OPTIONS] REFERENCE

Options

• --platform <platform>: Platform string in the form os/arch/variant. Example linux/arm64/v8, linux/amd64. Default: current host platform.
• --scheme <scheme>: Scheme to use when connecting to the container registry. One of (http, https, auto) (default: auto)
• --disable-progress-updates: Disable progress bar updates
• Global: --debug, --version, -h/--help

container image push

Pushes an image to a registry. The flags mirror those for image pull with the addition of specifying a platform for multi-platform images.

Usage

container image push [OPTIONS] REFERENCE

Options

• --platform <platform>: Platform string in the form os/arch/variant. Example linux/arm64/v8, linux/amd64 (optional)
• --scheme <scheme>: Scheme to use when connecting to the container registry. One of (http, https, auto) (default: auto)
• --disable-progress-updates: Disable progress bar updates
• Global: --debug, --version, -h/--help

container image save

Saves an image to a tar archive on disk. Useful for exporting images for offline transport.

Usage

container image save [OPTIONS] REFERENCE

Options

• --platform <platform>: Platform string in the form os/arch/variant. Example linux/arm64/v8, linux/amd64 (optional)
• -o, --output <file>: Path to save the image tar archive
• Global: --debug, --version, -h/--help

container image load

Loads images from a tar archive created by image save. The tar file must be specified via --input.

Usage

container image load [OPTIONS]

Options

• -i, --input <file>: Path to the tar archive to load images from
• Global: --debug, --version, -h/--help

container image tag

Applies a new tag to an existing image. The original image reference remains unchanged.

Usage

container image tag SOURCE_IMAGE[:TAG] TARGET_IMAGE[:TAG]

No extra flags aside from global options.

container image delete (rm)

Removes one or more images. If no images are provided, --all can be used to remove all images. Images currently referenced by running containers cannot be deleted without first removing those containers.

Usage

container image delete [OPTIONS] [IMAGE...]

Options

• -a, --all: remove all images
• Global: --debug, --version, -h/--help

container image prune

Removes unused (dangling) images to reclaim disk space. The command outputs the amount of space freed after deletion.

Usage

container image prune [OPTIONS]

No extra options; uses global flags for debug and help.

container image inspect

Shows detailed information for one or more images in JSON format. Accepts image names or IDs.

Usage

container image inspect [OPTIONS] IMAGE...

Only global flags (--debug, --version, -h/--help) are available.

Builder Management

The builder commands manage the BuildKit-based builder used for image builds.

container builder start

Starts the BuildKit builder container. CPU and memory limits can be set for the builder.

Usage

container builder start [OPTIONS]

Options

• -c, --cpus <number>: Number of CPUs to allocate to the container (default: 2)
• -m, --memory <size>: Amount of memory in bytes, kilobytes (K), megabytes (M), or gigabytes (G) for the container, with MB granularity (for example, 1024K will result in 1MB being allocated for the container) (default: 2048MB)
• Global: --version, -h/--help

container builder status

Shows the current status of the BuildKit builder. Without flags a human-readable table is displayed; with --json the status is returned as JSON.

Usage

container builder status [OPTIONS]

Options

• --json: output status as JSON
• Global: --version, -h/--help

container builder stop

Stops the BuildKit builder. No additional options are required; uses global flags only.

container builder delete (rm)

Removes the BuildKit builder container. It can optionally force deletion if the builder is still running.

Usage

container builder delete [OPTIONS]

Options

• -f, --force: force deletion even if the builder is running
• Global: --version, -h/--help

Network Management (macOS 26+)

The network commands are available on macOS 26 and later and allow creation and management of user-defined container networks.

container network create

Creates a new network with the given name.

Usage

container network create NAME [OPTIONS]

Options

• --label <key=value>: set metadata labels on the network
• Global: --version, -h/--help

container network delete (rm)

Deletes one or more networks. When deleting multiple networks, pass them as separate arguments. To delete all networks, use --all.

Usage

container network delete [OPTIONS] [NAME...]

Options

• -a, --all: delete all defined networks
• Global: --debug, --version, -h/--help

container network list (ls)

Lists user-defined networks.

Usage

container network list [OPTIONS]

Options

• -q, --quiet: Only output the network name
• --format <format>: Format of the output (values: json, table; default: table)
• Global: --debug, --version, -h/--help

container network inspect

Shows detailed information about one or more networks.

Usage

container network inspect [OPTIONS] NAME...

Only global flags are available for debugging, version, and help.

Volume Management

Manage persistent volumes for containers.

container volume create

Creates a new volume with an optional size and driver-specific options.

Usage

container volume create [OPTIONS] NAME

Options

• -s <size>: size of the volume (default: 512GB). Examples: 1G, 512MB, 2T
• --opt <key=value>: set driver-specific options
• --label <key=value>: set metadata labels on the volume
• Global: --version, -h/--help

container volume delete (rm)

Removes one or more volumes by name.

Usage

container volume delete NAME...

Only global flags are available.

container volume list (ls)

Lists volumes.

Usage

container volume list [OPTIONS]

Options

• -q, --quiet: Only display volume names
• --format <format>: Format of the output (values: json, table; default: table)
• Global: --version, -h/--help

container volume inspect

Displays detailed information for one or more volumes in JSON.

Usage

container volume inspect NAME...

Only global flags are available.

Registry Management

The registry commands manage authentication and defaults for container registries.

container registry login

Authenticates with a registry. Credentials can be provided interactively or via flags. The login is stored for reuse by subsequent commands.

Usage

container registry login [OPTIONS] SERVER

Options

• -u, --username <username>: username for the registry
• --password-stdin: read the password from STDIN (non-interactive)
• --scheme <scheme>: registry scheme. One of (http, https, auto) (default: auto)
• Global: --version, -h/--help

container registry logout

Logs out of a registry, removing stored credentials.

Usage

container registry logout SERVER

Only --version and -h/--help are available.

System Management

System commands manage the container apiserver, logs, DNS settings and kernel. These are only available on macOS hosts.

container system start

Starts the container services and (optionally) installs a default kernel. It will start the container-apiserver and background services.

Usage

container system start [OPTIONS]

Options

• -a, --app-root <path>: application data directory
• --install-root <path>: path to the installation root directory
• --debug: enable debug logging for the runtime daemon
• --enable-kernel-install: install the recommended default kernel
• --disable-kernel-install: skip installing the default kernel If neither kernel-install flag is provided, you will be prompted to choose whether to install the recommended kernel.

container system stop

Stops the container services and deregisters them from launchd. You can specify a prefix to target services created with a different launchd prefix.

Usage

container system stop [OPTIONS]

Options

• -p, --prefix <prefix>: launchd prefix (default: com.apple.container.)
• Global: --version, -h/--help

container system status

Checks whether the container services are running and prints status information. It will ping the apiserver and report readiness.

Usage

container system status [OPTIONS]

Options

• -p, --prefix <prefix>: launchd prefix to query (default: com.apple.container.)
• Global: --version, -h/--help

container system logs

Displays logs from the container services. You can specify a time interval or follow new logs in real time.

Usage

container system logs [OPTIONS]

Options

• --last <duration>: Fetch logs starting from the specified time period (minus the current time); supported formats: m, h, d (default: 5m)
• -f, --follow: Follow log output
• Global: --debug, --version, -h/--help

container system dns create

Creates a local DNS domain for containers. Requires administrator privileges (use sudo).

Usage

container system dns create NAME

No options.

container system dns delete (rm)

Deletes a local DNS domain. Requires administrator privileges (use sudo).

Usage

container system dns delete NAME

No options.

container system dns list (ls)

Lists configured local DNS domains for containers.

Usage

container system dns list

No options.

container system kernel set

Installs or updates the Linux kernel used by the container runtime on macOS hosts.

Usage

container system kernel set [OPTIONS]

Options

• --binary <path>: Path to a kernel binary (can be used with --tar inside a tar archive)
• --tar <path | URL>: Path or URL to a tarball containing kernel images
• --arch <arch>: Target architecture (arm64 or x86_64)
• --recommended: Download and install the recommended default kernel for your host
• Global: --debug, --version, -h/--help

container system property list (ls)

Lists all available system properties with their current values, types, and descriptions. Output can be formatted as a table or JSON.

Usage

container system property list [OPTIONS]

Options

• -q, --quiet: Only output the property IDs
• --format <format>: Format of the output (values: json, table; default: table)
• Global: --debug, --version, -h/--help

Examples

# list all properties in table format
container system property list

# get only property IDs
container system property list --quiet

# output as JSON for scripting
container system property list --format json

container system property get

Retrieves the current value of a specific system property by its ID.

Usage

container system property get PROPERTY_ID

Arguments

• PROPERTY_ID: The ID of the property to retrieve (use property list to see available IDs)

Global flags: --debug, --version, -h/--help

Examples

# get the default registry domain
container system property get registry.domain

# get the current DNS domain setting
container system property get dns.domain

container system property set

Sets the value of a system property. The command validates the value based on the property type (boolean, domain name, image reference, URL, or CIDR address).

Usage

container system property set PROPERTY_ID VALUE

Arguments

• PROPERTY_ID: The ID of the property to set
• VALUE: The new value for the property

Property Types and Validation

• Boolean properties (build.rosetta): Accepts true, t, false, f (case-insensitive)
• Domain properties (dns.domain, registry.domain): Must be valid domain names
• Image properties (image.builder, image.init): Must be valid OCI image references
• URL properties (kernel.url): Must be valid URLs
• Network properties (network.subnet): Must be valid CIDR addresses
• Path properties (kernel.binaryPath): Accept any string value

Global flags: --debug, --version, -h/--help

Examples

# enable Rosetta for AMD64 builds on ARM64
container system property set build.rosetta true

# set a custom DNS domain
container system property set dns.domain mycompany.local

# configure a custom registry
container system property set registry.domain registry.example.com

# set a custom builder image
container system property set image.builder myregistry.com/custom-builder:latest

container system property clear

Clears (unsets) a system property, reverting it to its default value.

Usage

container system property clear PROPERTY_ID

Arguments

• PROPERTY_ID: The ID of the property to clear

Global flags: --debug, --version, -h/--help

Examples

# clear custom DNS domain (revert to default)
container system property clear dns.domain

# clear custom registry setting
container system property clear registry.domain