title: "Remote API" description: "API Documentation for Docker"
Docker's Remote API uses an open schema model. In this model, unknown properties in incoming messages are ignored. Client applications need to take this behavior into account to ensure they do not break when talking to newer Docker daemons.
The API tends to be REST, but for some complex commands, like attach or pull, the HTTP connection is hijacked to transport STDOUT, STDIN, and STDERR.
By default the Docker daemon listens on unix:///var/run/docker.sock
and the
client must have root
access to interact with the daemon. If a group named
docker
exists on your system, docker
applies ownership of the socket to the
group.
To connect to the Docker daemon with cURL you need to use cURL 7.40 or
later, as these versions have the --unix-socket
flag available. To
run curl
against the daemon on the default socket, use the
following:
When using cUrl 7.50 or later:
$ curl --unix-socket /var/run/docker.sock http://localhost/containers/json
When using cURL 7.40, localhost
must be omitted:
$ curl --unix-socket /var/run/docker.sock http://containers/json
If you have bound the Docker daemon to a different socket path or TCP port, you would reference that in your cURL rather than the default.
The current version of the API is v1.25 which means calling /info
is the same
as calling /v1.25/info
. To call an older version of the API use
/v1.24/info
. If a newer daemon is installed, new properties may be returned
even when calling older versions of the API.
Use the table below to find the API version for a Docker version:
Docker version | API version | Changes |
---|---|---|
1.13.x | 1.25 | API changes |
1.12.x | 1.24 | API changes |
1.11.x | 1.23 | API changes |
1.10.x | 1.22 | API changes |
1.9.x | 1.21 | API changes |
1.8.x | 1.20 | API changes |
1.7.x | 1.19 | API changes |
1.6.x | 1.18 | API changes |
Refer to the GitHub repository for older releases.
Authentication configuration is handled client side, so the
client has to send the authConfig
as a POST
in /images/(name)/push
. The
authConfig
, set as the X-Registry-Auth
header, is currently a Base64 encoded
(JSON) string with the following structure:
{"username": "string", "password": "string", "email": "string",
"serveraddress" : "string", "auth": ""}
Callers should leave the auth
empty. The serveraddress
is a domain/ip
without protocol. Throughout this structure, double quotes are required.
If you are using docker-machine
, the Docker daemon is on a host that
uses an encrypted TCP socket using TLS. This means, for Docker Machine users,
you need to add extra parameters to curl
or wget
when making test
API requests, for example:
curl --insecure \
--cert $DOCKER_CERT_PATH/cert.pem \
--key $DOCKER_CERT_PATH/key.pem \
https://YOUR_VM_IP:2376/images/json
wget --no-check-certificate --certificate=$DOCKER_CERT_PATH/cert.pem \
--private-key=$DOCKER_CERT_PATH/key.pem \
https://YOUR_VM_IP:2376/images/json -O - -q
The following diagram depicts the container states accessible through the API.
Some container-related events are not affected by container state, so they are not included in this diagram. These events are:
docker export
docker exec
docker exec
after exec_createRunning docker rmi
emits an untag event when removing an image name. The rmi
command may also emit delete events when images are deleted by ID directly or by deleting the last tag referring to the image.
Acknowledgment: This diagram and the accompanying text were used with the permission of Matt Good and Gilder Labs. See Matt's original blog post Docker Events Explained.
This section lists each version from latest to oldest. Each listing includes a link to the full documentation set and the changes relevant in that release.
Docker Remote API v1.25 documentation
GET /version
now returns MinAPIVersion
.POST /build
accepts networkmode
parameter to specify network used during build.GET /images/(name)/json
now returns OsVersion
if populatedGET /info
now returns Isolation
.POST /containers/create
now takes AutoRemove
in HostConfig, to enable auto-removal of the container on daemon side when the container's process exits.GET /containers/json
and GET /containers/(id or name)/json
now return "removing"
as a value for the State.Status
field if the container is being removed. Previously, "exited" was returned as status.GET /containers/json
now accepts removing
as a valid value for the status
filter.GET /containers/json
now supports filtering containers by health
status.DELETE /volumes/(name)
now accepts a force
query parameter to force removal of volumes that were already removed out of band by the volume driver plugin.POST /containers/create/
and POST /containers/(name)/update
now validates restart policies.POST /containers/create
now validates IPAMConfig in NetworkingConfig, and returns error for invalid IPv4 and IPv6 addresses (--ip
and --ip6
in docker create/run
).POST /containers/create
now takes a Mounts
field in HostConfig
which replaces Binds
, Volumes
, and Tmpfs
. note: Binds
, Volumes
, and Tmpfs
are still available and can be combined with Mounts
.POST /build
now performs a preliminary validation of the Dockerfile
before starting the build, and returns an error if the syntax is incorrect. Note that this change is unversioned and applied to all API versions.POST /build
accepts cachefrom
parameter to specify images used for build cache.GET /networks/
endpoint now correctly returns a list of all networks,
instead of the default network if a trailing slash is provided, but no name
or id
.DELETE /containers/(name)
endpoint now returns an error of removal of container name is already in progress
with status code of 400, when container name is in a state of removal in progress.GET /containers/json
now supports a is-task
filter to filter
containers that are tasks (part of a service in swarm mode).POST /containers/create
now takes StopTimeout
field.POST /services/create
and POST /services/(id or name)/update
now accept Monitor
and MaxFailureRatio
parameters, which control the response to failures during service updates.POST /services/(id or name)/update
now accepts a ForceUpdate
parameter inside the TaskTemplate
, which causes the service to be updated even if there are no changes which would ordinarily trigger an update.GET /networks/(name)
now returns field Created
in response to show network created time.POST /containers/(id or name)/exec
now accepts an Env
field, which holds a list of environment variables to be set in the context of the command execution.GET /volumes
, GET /volumes/(name)
, and POST /volumes/create
now return the Options
field which holds the driver specific options to use for when creating the volume.GET /exec/(id)/json
now returns Pid
, which is the system pid for the exec'd process.POST /containers/prune
prunes stopped containers.POST /images/prune
prunes unused images.POST /volumes/prune
prunes unused volumes.POST /networks/prune
prunes unused networks.Docker-Experimental
header specifying if experimental features are enabled (value can be true
or false
).hostConfig
option now accepts the fields CpuRealtimePeriod
and CpuRtRuntime
to allocate cpu runtime to rt tasks when CONFIG_RT_GROUP_SCHED
is enabled in the kernel.SecurityOptions
field within the GET /info
response now includes userns
if user namespaces are enabled in the daemon.Docker Remote API v1.24 documentation
POST /containers/create
now takes StorageOpt
field.GET /info
now returns SecurityOptions
field, showing if apparmor
, seccomp
, or selinux
is supported.GET /info
no longer returns the ExecutionDriver
property. This property was no longer used after integration
with ContainerD in Docker 1.11.GET /networks
now supports filtering by label
and driver
.GET /containers/json
now supports filtering containers by network
name or id.POST /containers/create
now takes IOMaximumBandwidth
and IOMaximumIOps
fields. Windows daemon only.POST /containers/create
now returns an HTTP 400 "bad parameter" message
if no command is specified (instead of an HTTP 500 "server error")GET /images/search
now takes a filters
query parameter.GET /events
now supports a reload
event that is emitted when the daemon configuration is reloaded.GET /events
now supports filtering by daemon name or ID.GET /events
now supports a detach
event that is emitted on detaching from container process.GET /events
now supports an exec_detach
event that is emitted on detaching from exec process.GET /images/json
now supports filters since
and before
.POST /containers/(id or name)/start
no longer accepts a HostConfig
.POST /images/(name)/tag
no longer has a force
query parameter.GET /images/search
now supports maximum returned search results limit
.POST /containers/{name:.*}/copy
is now removed and errors out starting from this API version.POST /containers/create
and POST /containers/(id)/start
allow you to configure kernel parameters (sysctls) for use in the container.POST /containers/<container ID>/exec
and POST /exec/<exec ID>/start
no longer expects a "Container" field to be present. This property was not used
and is no longer sent by the docker client.POST /containers/create/
now validates the hostname (should be a valid RFC 1123 hostname).POST /containers/create/
HostConfig.PidMode
field now accepts container:<name|id>
,
to have the container join the PID namespace of an existing container.Docker Remote API v1.23 documentation
GET /containers/json
returns the state of the container, one of created
, restarting
, running
, paused
, exited
or dead
.GET /containers/json
returns the mount points for the container.GET /networks/(name)
now returns an Internal
field showing whether the network is internal or not.GET /networks/(name)
now returns an EnableIPv6
field showing whether the network has ipv6 enabled or not.POST /containers/(name)/update
now supports updating container's restart policy.POST /networks/create
now supports enabling ipv6 on the network by setting the EnableIPv6
field (doing this with a label will no longer work).GET /info
now returns CgroupDriver
field showing what cgroup driver the daemon is using; cgroupfs
or systemd
.GET /info
now returns KernelMemory
field, showing if "kernel memory limit" is supported.POST /containers/create
now takes PidsLimit
field, if the kernel is >= 4.3 and the pids cgroup is supported.GET /containers/(id or name)/stats
now returns pids_stats
, if the kernel is >= 4.3 and the pids cgroup is supported.POST /containers/create
now allows you to override usernamespaces remapping and use privileged options for the container.POST /containers/create
now allows specifying nocopy
for named volumes, which disables automatic copying from the container path to the volume.POST /auth
now returns an IdentityToken
when supported by a registry.POST /containers/create
with both Hostname
and Domainname
fields specified will result in the container's hostname being set to Hostname
, rather than Hostname.Domainname
.GET /volumes
now supports more filters, new added filters are name
and driver
.GET /containers/(id or name)/logs
now accepts a details
query parameter to stream the extra attributes that were provided to the containers LogOpts
, such as environment variables and labels, with the logs.POST /images/load
now returns progress information as a JSON stream, and has a quiet
query parameter to suppress progress details.Docker Remote API v1.22 documentation
POST /container/(name)/update
updates the resources of a container.GET /containers/json
supports filter isolation
on Windows.GET /containers/json
now returns the list of networks of containers.GET /info
Now returns Architecture
and OSType
fields, providing information
about the host architecture and operating system type that the daemon runs on.GET /networks/(name)
now returns a Name
field for each container attached to the network.GET /version
now returns the BuildTime
field in RFC3339Nano format to make it
consistent with other date/time values returned by the API.AuthConfig
now supports a registrytoken
for token based authenticationPOST /containers/create
now has a 4M minimum value limit for HostConfig.KernelMemory
POST /images/(name)/push
and pulls initiated with POST /images/create
will be cancelled if the HTTP connection making the API request is closed before
the push or pull completes.POST /containers/create
now allows you to set a read/write rate limit for a
device (in bytes per second or IO per second).GET /networks
now supports filtering by name
, id
and type
.POST /containers/create
now allows you to set the static IPv4 and/or IPv6 address for the container.POST /networks/(id)/connect
now allows you to set the static IPv4 and/or IPv6 address for the container.GET /info
now includes the number of containers running, stopped, and paused.POST /networks/create
now supports restricting external access to the network by setting the Internal
field.POST /networks/(id)/disconnect
now includes a Force
option to forcefully disconnect a container from networkGET /containers/(id)/json
now returns the NetworkID
of containers.POST /networks/create
Now supports an options field in the IPAM config that provides options
for custom IPAM plugins.GET /networks/{network-id}
Now returns IPAM config options for custom IPAM plugins if any
are available.GET /networks/<network-id>
now returns subnets info for user-defined networks.GET /info
can now return a SystemStatus
field useful for returning additional information about applications
that are built on top of engine.Docker Remote API v1.21 documentation
GET /volumes
lists volumes from all volume drivers.POST /volumes/create
to create a volume.GET /volumes/(name)
get low-level information about a volume.DELETE /volumes/(name)
remove a volume with the specified name.VolumeDriver
was moved from config
to HostConfig
to make the configuration portable.GET /images/(name)/json
now returns information about an image's RepoTags
and RepoDigests
.config
option now accepts the field StopSignal
, which specifies the signal to use to kill a container.GET /containers/(id)/stats
will return networking information respectively for each interface.HostConfig
option now includes the DnsOptions
field to configure the container's DNS options.POST /build
now optionally takes a serialized map of build-time variables.GET /events
now includes a timenano
field, in addition to the existing time
field.GET /events
now supports filtering by image and container labels.GET /info
now lists engine version information and return the information of CPUShares
and Cpuset
.GET /containers/json
will return ImageID
of the image used by container.POST /exec/(name)/start
will now return an HTTP 409 when the container is either stopped or paused.POST /containers/create
now takes KernelMemory
in HostConfig to specify kernel memory limit.GET /containers/(name)/json
now accepts a size
parameter. Setting this parameter to '1' returns container size information in the SizeRw
and SizeRootFs
fields.GET /containers/(name)/json
now returns a NetworkSettings.Networks
field,
detailing network settings per network. This field deprecates the
NetworkSettings.Gateway
, NetworkSettings.IPAddress
,
NetworkSettings.IPPrefixLen
, and NetworkSettings.MacAddress
fields, which
are still returned for backward-compatibility, but will be removed in a future version.GET /exec/(id)/json
now returns a NetworkSettings.Networks
field,
detailing networksettings per network. This field deprecates the
NetworkSettings.Gateway
, NetworkSettings.IPAddress
,
NetworkSettings.IPPrefixLen
, and NetworkSettings.MacAddress
fields, which
are still returned for backward-compatibility, but will be removed in a future version.HostConfig
option now includes the OomScoreAdj
field for adjusting the
badness heuristic. This heuristic selects which processes the OOM killer kills
under out-of-memory conditions.Docker Remote API v1.20 documentation
GET /containers/(id)/archive
get an archive of filesystem content from a container.PUT /containers/(id)/archive
upload an archive of content to be extracted to
an existing directory inside a container's filesystem.POST /containers/(id)/copy
is deprecated in favor of the above archive
endpoint which can be used to download files and directories from a container.hostConfig
option now accepts the field GroupAdd
, which specifies a
list of additional groups that the container process will run as.Docker Remote API v1.19 documentation
GET /containers/(id)/stats
now accepts stream
bool to get only one set of stats and disconnect.GET /containers/(id)/logs
now accepts a since
timestamp parameter.GET /info
The fields Debug
, IPv4Forwarding
, MemoryLimit
, and
SwapLimit
are now returned as boolean instead of as an int. In addition, the
end point now returns the new boolean fields CpuCfsPeriod
, CpuCfsQuota
, and
OomKillDisable
.hostConfig
option now accepts the fields CpuPeriod
and CpuQuota
POST /build
accepts cpuperiod
and cpuquota
optionsDocker Remote API v1.18 documentation
GET /version
now returns Os
, Arch
and KernelVersion
.POST /containers/create
and POST /containers/(id)/start
allow you to set ulimit settings for use in the container.GET /info
now returns SystemTime
, HttpProxy
,HttpsProxy
and NoProxy
.GET /images/json
added a RepoDigests
field to include image digest information.POST /build
can now set resource constraints for all containers created for the build.CgroupParent
can be passed in the host config to setup container cgroups under a specific cgroup.POST /build
closing the HTTP request cancels the buildPOST /containers/(id)/exec
includes Warnings
field to response.