System prune for cleanup in Docker - Mini Project: Build & Apply

System prune for cleanup

📖 Scenario: You are managing a Docker environment on your computer. Over time, unused containers, images, volumes, and networks take up space. To keep your system clean and free up disk space, you want to remove all unused Docker data safely.

🎯 Goal: Learn how to use the docker system prune command to clean up unused Docker resources and see the space saved.

📋 What You'll Learn

Create a Docker container running in the background

Create a Docker image by pulling from Docker Hub

Use docker system prune to remove unused data

Display the output of the prune command

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

Docker environments accumulate unused data over time. Cleaning up regularly helps keep your system fast and saves disk space.

💼 Career

Knowing how to manage Docker resources and clean up unused data is essential for DevOps engineers and system administrators to maintain healthy container environments.

1

Create a running Docker container

Run a Docker container in detached mode using the nginx image with the container name mynginx. Use the command docker run -d --name mynginx nginx.

Docker

# Run the nginx container in detached mode with name mynginx
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Use docker run with -d for detached mode and --name mynginx to name the container.

2

Pull a Docker image

Pull the alpine image from Docker Hub using the command docker pull alpine.

Docker

docker run -d --name mynginx nginx
# Pull the alpine image from Docker Hub
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Use docker pull alpine to download the image.

3

Run system prune to clean unused data

Run the command docker system prune -f to remove stopped containers, unused networks, dangling images, and build cache without asking for confirmation.

Docker

docker run -d --name mynginx nginx
docker pull alpine
# Run system prune with force option
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Add -f to skip confirmation prompt.

4

Display the prune command output

Print the output of the docker system prune -f command to see what was removed and how much space was freed.

Docker

docker run -d --name mynginx nginx
docker pull alpine
docker system prune -f
# The output is shown automatically after running the command

Need a hint?

After running docker system prune -f, the terminal shows the cleanup summary including 'Total reclaimed space'.