docker ps -a --filter is a very useful command for filtering the list of Docker containers based on specific conditions. It provides a powerful capability to quickly find the desired container in environments with many containers.

Below, I will explain the main filter options along with actual use cases.

Basic Format

docker ps -a --filter <filter_name>=<filter_value>

You can use multiple filters at the same time by employing several --filter options.

🔍 Key Filter Options and Use Cases

1. Filtering by Status

This is used to filter by the state of the containers.

Status Option Description
created Containers that have been created but not yet started
restarting Containers that are continuously restarting
running Containers that are currently running
paused Paused containers
exited Terminated containers

Example: Show only running containers

docker ps -a --filter status=running

Example: Show only exited containers

docker ps -a --filter status=exited

2. Filtering by Container Name

This is useful for finding containers that contain a specific name.

Example: Show only containers with "web" in the name

docker ps -a --filter name=web
  • Example Result:
CONTAINER ID   IMAGE           COMMAND     CREATED         STATUS         NAMES f1c2d3e4f5     nginx:latest    "/start"    2 days ago      Up 2 days      my-web-container

3. Filtering by Image

This is useful for easily finding containers that use a specific image.

Example: Show containers using the nginx image

docker ps -a --filter ancestor=nginx
  • Example Result:
CONTAINER ID   IMAGE          COMMAND          STATUS        NAMES
a1b2c3d4e5     nginx:latest   "/start"         Up 3 hours    nginx-server-1
f6g7h8i9j0     nginx:alpine   "/start"         Exited        nginx-temp

4. Filtering by Volume

This is useful for finding containers that have a specific volume mounted.

Example: Show containers using the my_volume volume

docker ps -a --filter volume=my_volume
  • Example Result:
CONTAINER ID   IMAGE          COMMAND           STATUS         NAMES
1a2b3c4d5e     postgres       "docker-entry"    Up 2 days      postgres_db

5. Filtering by Label

This is useful for managing containers with labels in Docker Compose or Kubernetes.

Example: Show containers with the label "env=production"

docker ps -a --filter label=env=production

  • Example Result:
CONTAINER ID   IMAGE           COMMAND         STATUS          NAMES 
abcdef12345    myapp:latest    "/run-app"      Up 3 days       myapp-production

6. Filtering by Network

This is useful for checking the list of containers connected to a specific network.

Example: Show containers connected to a specific network

docker ps -a --filter network=my_network

  • Example Result:
CONTAINER ID   IMAGE          COMMAND          STATUS         NAMES 
123abc456de    redis          "/start"         Up 1 day       redis-cache 
456def789gh    postgres       "/start"         Up 1 day       postgres-db

7. Filtering by ID

This is used to quickly search for a specific container ID (usually you only need to enter part of the ID).

Example: Show containers starting with ID 1234

docker ps -a --filter id=1234

💡 Using Multiple Filters

Multiple filters can be combined.

Example: Find containers that contain "web" in the name, are "running", and use the "nginx" image

docker ps -a --filter name=web --filter status=running --filter ancestor=nginx

🛠️ Practical Use Cases

  • To stop all containers of a specific project:
docker stop $(docker ps -a -q --filter name=my_project)****
  • To remove old exited containers:
docker rm $(docker ps -a -q --filter status=exited)
  • To clean up unnecessary temporary containers:
docker rm $(docker ps -a -q --filter ancestor=temp_image)

Thus, the docker ps -a --filter command is very practical and powerful for quickly filtering and managing when there are many containers. Make active use of it!