docker-inspect

return low-level information on Docker objects

TLDR

Inspect a container

$ docker inspect [container]

Inspect an image

$ docker inspect [image]

Get specific field

$ docker inspect -f '{{.State.Status}}' [container]

Get IP address

$ docker inspect -f '{{range .NetworkSettings.Networks}}{{.IPAddress}}{{end}}' [container]

Output as JSON

$ docker inspect --format '{{json .Config}}' [container]

SYNOPSIS

docker inspect [options] name|id [name|id...]

docker inspect returns low-level information on Docker objects including containers, images, volumes, and networks. Output is JSON by default, an array of result objects, one per argument.The --format flag accepts a Go template for extracting specific fields, useful in shell scripts to capture values like IP addresses, mount points, or exit codes. The {{json .Field}} template emits raw JSON for a sub-object. The --type flag disambiguates when an image and container share the same name.

PARAMETERS

-f, --format string

Format output using Go template.

-s, --size

Display total file sizes (containers only).

--type string

Return JSON for specified type (container or image).

INSTALL

sudo apt install docker-cli

sudo dnf install docker-cli

sudo pacman -S docker

sudo apk add docker-cli

sudo zypper install docker

brew install docker

nix profile install nixpkgs#docker

CAVEATS

When multiple objects share a name, --type must be used to disambiguate. For containers, --size adds SizeRw and SizeRootFs fields but is expensive on large filesystems. The output schema differs between containers, images, networks, and volumes, so format templates are not portable across object types.