Manage Docker Networks

In Docker, a network is a communication mechanism that allows isolated containers to communicate with each other as well as external services located on the same host or distant machines.

The short answer

The base command for managing Docker networks is the docker network  command, which enables developers to create, inspect, connect, disconnect, and remove networks:

 $ docker network <subcommand>

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Where subcommand  includes create , inspect , connect , and so on.

retrieve these commands using Wrap’s AI Command Suggestions

If you’re using Warp as your terminal, you can easily retrieve these commands using the Warp AI Command Suggestions feature:

Entering docker network  in the AI Command Suggestion will prompt a list of docker  commands that can then quickly be inserted into your shell by pressing CMD+ENTER .

Creating a new network

To create a new Docker network, you can use the docker network create  command as follows:

 $ docker network create <network_name>

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For example, this command will create a new network named my_network :

 $ docker network create my_network

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Specifying a network driver

In Docker, a network driver is a component responsible for determining how containers on a Docker host connect and communicate with each other and with external networks. 

Docker supports multiple network drivers, each designed to meet specific use cases:

• The default bridge  driver enables communication between containers on the same host. Only the containers connected to the same bridge network can communicate, but they are isolated from containers on different bridge networks.
• The host  driver removes network isolation between the container and the Docker host. Containers share the host's network namespace. This driver can provide better network performance as it skips the additional encapsulation used in other drivers.
• The overlay  driver is used in Docker swarm mode for multi-host networking. It facilitates communication between containers running on different nodes in a swarm.
• The macvlan  driver allows containers to have their own MAC addresses, giving them a physical presence on the network.
• The ipvlan  driver enables containers to have their own MAC address but share the same IP address as the underlying host or other containers.
• The none  driver disables all networking for a container, which is useful when a container doesn’t need network access.

To create a new Docker network with a specific driver instead of the default bridge  driver, you can use the docker network create  command with the -d  flag (short for --driver ):

 $ docker network create -d <driver_type> <network_name>

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Note that, if the -d flag is not specified, the network driver will default to bridge.

For example, this command will create a new network named my_new_bridge  using the host driver:

 $ docker network create -d host my_new_bridge

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Listing existing networks

To get the list of existing Docker networks, you can use the docker network ls command:

 $ docker network ls

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For example:

 $ docker network ls
NETWORK ID   NAME   DRIVER   SCOPE
d4fe037a03e3   bridge    bridge      local

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Getting detailed information about networks

To get detailed information about a Docker network, such as its name, ID, driver type, IP address, associated containers, and more, you can use the docker network inspect command:

 $ docker network inspect <network_name>

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For example, this command will return the detailed information of the network named my_network :

 $ docker network inspect my_network

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Adding containers to a network

To connect a running container to an existing network and enable it to communicate and exchange data with the other containers connected to the same network, you can use the docker network connect  command as follows:

 $ docker network connect <network_name> <container_id>

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Note that, by default, Docker automatically assigns an IP address to the container from the subnet of the specified network.

For example, this command connects the container identified by the ID 7783cbb0deaa  to the network named my_network :

 $ docker network connect my_network 7783cbb0deaa

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Alternatively, you can launch a new container and connect it to a network at the same time using the docker run  command combined with the --network  flag as follows:

 $ docker run -it --network my_network busybox:latest

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Disconnecting a container from a network

To disconnect a container from a network, you can use the docker network disconnect  command as follows:

 $ docker network disconnect <network_name> <container_id>

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For example:

 $ docker network disconnect my_network 7783cbb0deaa

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Removing networks

To remove an existing Docker network, you can use the docker network rm  command as follows:

 $ docker network rm <network_name>

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Note that, if containers are connected to the network you are trying to remove, Docker will prompt you for confirmation before disconnecting these containers and removing the network.

For example:

 $ docker network rm my_network

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Pruning networks

To free up disk space and resources, you can remove all unused networks that are not connected to any containers (i.e. pruning) using the docker network prune  command:

 $ docker network prune

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Running containers in isolation

The none  network driver is used to create containers without any networking capabilities, which means that they won’t be able to communicate with the external world or with other containers.

This network mode is mostly useful for containers that are used solely for data storage, batch processing jobs, or debugging.

To create a container without any networking capabilities, you can use the --network  flag as follows:

 $ docker run -it --network none alpine:latest

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