Docker Docs
Learning path

Get started with Docker containers

You can explain what a container and an image are, run and configure containers from the command line, keep their data, and start a multi-container app with one command.

  • Beginner
  • 4 items
  • Developers new to Docker, or who have used it without knowing what it was doing.

Start at the top, or jump to any item

  1. What is a container?

    12 min

    Start with the mental model, so every command after it has somewhere to land.

  2. Run your first container

    20 min

    Run a real app, reach it in your browser, configure it, and look inside it.

  3. Keep data with volumes and bind mounts

    20 min

    Containers are disposable. Learn where to put the data that isn't.

  4. Run a multi-container app with Compose

    25 min

    Connect the app to a database by hand, then capture the whole setup in one file.

Where to go next

Build and share your own imagesWrite a Dockerfile for a real app, make it build fast, make it small, and push it to Docker Hub for anyone to run.