How do I run a command on an already existing Docker container?

Better Stack Team
Updated on April 7, 2023

To run a command on an already existing Docker container, you can use the docker exec command. The docker exec command allows you to run a command in a running container.

The basic syntax of the docker exec command is:

 
docker exec [OPTIONS] CONTAINER COMMAND [ARG...]
  • OPTIONS: Optional flags for the docker exec command.
  • CONTAINER: The name or ID of the container you want to run the command in.
  • COMMAND: The command you want to run in the container.
  • ARG: Additional arguments to pass to the command.

For example, to run a command in a container with the name my-container, you can use the following command:

 
docker exec -it my-container command

In this example, the -it flag is used to allocate a new pseudo-TTY for the command. The command argument is the command you want to run in the container.

If you want to run a command as the root user, you can add the -u root flag to the docker exec command:

 
docker exec -it -u root my-container command

This will run the command as the root user in the my-container container.

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