Are you confused with the Docker system prune command?

Usually, we use the docker system prune command to prune everything that includes images, containers, networks and so on.

At Bobcares, we often receive requests to solve docker errors as part of our Docker Hosting Support.

Today, let’s have a deep look at the main aspects of Docker prune commands.

About Docker

Before getting much into the topic, let’s first have a glance at Docker.

Nowadays, running applications in containers rather than virtual machines is gaining more acceptance.

Containers contain all the binary codes, libraries and configuration files that are necessary to run an application.

And, Docker helps in easy creation and running of applications using containers.

Docker containers ensure consistency across multiple developments and help to standardize the environment.

What is Docker system prune command?

So far we have discussed Docker. Now, let’s have a look at the real topic.

There are different types of Docker objects. These include containers, images, volumes, networks and so on.

And, Docker has methods to clean up unused objects like images, containers, etc.

If we want to clean such objects, we need to ask Docker to do so using some commands.

And, Docker will use extra disk space to do this. Usually, Docker uses prune command to clean the unused objects easily.

How we use the Docker system prune command?

Recently, one of our customers approached us with an error he faced while executing the prune command.

He wanted to clean up unused images. So he executed the system prune command. But, he got the below warning message.

Our Support Engineers checked and found errors with the command used.

Docker has separate prune commands to clean up images, containers and so on.

As the customer wanted to clean up the images, the suitable command is,

docker image prune

Similarly, there are prune commands to clean up containers, volumes, etc.

But, we use the system prune command to prune everything that includes images, containers, networks and so on.

docker system prune

Usually, when we execute this command, we will get a warning message as shown previously.

And, to bypass the prompt, we need to use -f or the –force flag.

[Need more assistance to fix this error?- We’re available 24/7.]

Conclusion

In short, we use the Docker system prune command to prune everything that includes images, containers, networks and so on. In today’s writeup, we discussed how our Support Engineers use this command efficiently for pruning.