====== Docker - Containers - Remove a container ======

===== Remove one or more specific containers =====

Use the **docker ps** command with the **-a** flag to locate the name or ID of the containers you want to remove:

To list the containers:

<code bash>
docker ps -a
</code>


To remove the containers:

<code bash>
docker rm ID_or_Name
</code>

----

===== Remove a container upon exit =====

If you know when you're creating a container that you won't want to keep it around once you're done, you can run **docker run --rm** to automatically delete it when it exits.

Run and Remove:

<code bash>
docker run --rm image_name
</code>

----

===== Remove all exited containers =====

You can locate containers using **docker ps -a** and filter them by their status: created, restarting, running, paused, or exited.

To review the list of exited containers, use the **-f** flag to filter based on status.

When you've verified you want to remove those containers, using **-q** to pass the IDs to the **docker rm** command.

To list the containers:

<code bash>
docker ps -a -f status=exited
</code>


To remove the containers:

<code bash>
docker rm $(docker ps -a -f status=exited -q)
</code>

----

===== Remove all existing containers =====

<code bash>
docker rm $(docker ps -aq)
</code>

----

===== Remove containers using more than one filter =====

Docker filters can be combined by repeating the filter flag with an additional value.

This results in a list of containers that meet either condition.

For example, if you want to delete all containers marked as either Created (a state which can result when you run a container with an invalid command) or Exited, you can use two filters:

To list the containers:

<code bash>
docker ps -a -f status=exited -f status=created
</code>


To remove the containers:

<code bash>
docker rm $(docker ps -a -f status=exited -f status=created -q)
</code>

----

===== Remove containers according to a pattern =====

You can find all the containers that match a pattern using a combination of **docker ps** and grep.

When you're satisfied that you have the list you want to delete, you can use awk and xargs to supply the ID to **docker rmi**.

<WRAP info>
**NOTE:**  These utilities are not supplied by Docker and not necessarily available on all systems.
</WRAP>


To list the containers:

<code bash>
docker ps -a |  grep "pattern”
</code>


To remove the containers:

<code bash>
docker ps -a | grep "pattern" | awk '{print $3}' | xargs docker rmi
</code>

----

===== Stop and remove all containers =====

You can review the containers on your system with **docker ps**.

Adding the **-a** flag will show all containers.

When you're sure you want to delete them, you can add the **-q** flag to supply the IDs to the **docker stop** and **docker rm** commands:

To list the containers:

<code bash>
docker ps -a
</code>


To remove the containers:

<code bash>
docker stop $(docker ps -a -q)
docker rm $(docker ps -a -q)
</code>


----