Two ways to create containers in docker (interactive and guarded)

When using Docker, there are two common ways to create containers: the interactive way and the daemonized way. This article will introduce these two methods and related commands in detail, and illustrate them with specific cases.

Create containers interactively

Creating a container interactively means starting an interactive session inside the container, similar to logging into a virtual machine in a terminal. You can interact directly with the container and execute commands inside the container.

Here are the steps and related commands to create a container interactively:

Step 1: Pull the image

First, we need to pull the required images from Docker Hub or a private repository. For example, we will use the centos image as an example:

docker pull centos

Step 2: Create the container

Next, use docker runthe command to create an interactive container. Here is the command to create the container:

docker run -it --name <container_name> <image_name> /bin/bash

<container_name>: Specifies the name of the container.
<image_name>: Specify the image name to use.

For example, we create a mycentos2container named and use the centos image:

docker run -it --name mycontainer ubuntu /bin/bash

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After the creation is successful, enter the container, and then you can see that there are many things in the container
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Enter exit to exit
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After exiting, if you want to run again, you can enter the following command

First enter docker start <容器ID或名称>the start container
and then enter the docker exec -it <容器ID或名称> /bin/bashrun container to see all the containers, and then the mycentos2 container is running.
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docker ps -a

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Step 3: Interact with the container

You are now at the command line interface of the interactive container. You can execute arbitrary commands inside the container, just like in a local terminal. For example, run the following command to see a list of files inside the container:

ls

You can also install packages, edit files, and more.

Step 4: Exit the container

When you're done working inside the container, you can exit the container and return to the host system's command-line interface with the following command:

exit

Daemonized way to create containers

Creating a container in daemon mode means running the container in the background without entering the container for interaction. This approach is suitable for long-running services or applications.

The following are the steps and related commands to create a container in daemon mode:

Step 1: Pull the image

Same as the interactive method, you first need to pull the required image from Docker Hub or a private warehouse.

Step 2: Create the container

docker runCreate a daemonized container using the command. Here is the command to create the container:

docker run -d --name <container_name> <image_name> <command>

<container_name>: Specifies the name of the container.
<image_name>: Specify the image name to use.
<command>: Specifies the command to execute when the container starts.

For example, we create a mycentos4container named and use the centos image to run a simple centos server:

docker run -di --name=mycentos4 centos:latest

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Step 3: View container status

You can view the status of the container with the following command:

docker ps

Step 4: Interact with the container (optional)

If you need to interact with the container, you can enter the container's interactive session with the following command:

docker exec -it <container_name> /bin/bash

Step 5: Stop and delete the container

To stop a daemon container, the following command can be used:

docker stop <container_name>

To delete a container, the following command can be used:

docker rm <container_name>