ctr is an unsupported debug and administrative client for interacting with the containerd daemon. Because it is unsupported, the commands, options, and operations are not guaranteed to be backward compatible or stable from release to release of the containerd project.
containers, c, container
Manage containers
create
Create container
--allow-new-privs: Turn off OCI spec's NoNewPrivileges feature flag
--annotation="": Specify additional OCI annotations (e.g. foo=bar)
--apparmor-default-profile="": Enable AppArmor with the default profile with the specified name, e.g. "cri-containerd.apparmor.d"
--apparmor-profile="": Enable AppArmor with an existing custom profile
--blockio-class="": Name of the blockio class to associate the container with
--blockio-config-file="": File path to blockio class definitions. By default class definitions are not loaded.
--cap-add="": Add Linux capabilities (Set capabilities with 'CAP_' prefix)
--cap-drop="": Drop Linux capabilities (Set capabilities with 'CAP_' prefix)
--config, -c="": Path to the runtime-specific spec config file
--cpu-period="": Limit CPU CFS period (default: 0)
--cpu-quota="": Limit CPU CFS quota (default: -1)
--cwd="": Specify the working directory of the process
--device="": File path to a device to add to the container; or a path to a directory tree of devices to add to the container
--env="": Specify additional container environment variables (e.g. FOO=bar)
--env-file="": Specify additional container environment variables in a file(e.g. FOO=bar, one per line)
--gpus="": Add gpus to the container
--hostname="": Set the container's host name
--label="": Specify additional labels (e.g. foo=bar)
--memory-limit="": Memory limit (in bytes) for the container (default: 0)
--mount="": Specify additional container mount (e.g. type=bind,src=/tmp,dst=/host,options=rbind:ro)
--net-host: Enable host networking for the container
--no-pivot: Disable use of pivot-root (linux only)
--pid-file="": File path to write the task's pid
--privileged: Run privileged container
--rdt-class="": Name of the RDT class to associate the container with. Specifies a Class of Service (CLOS) for cache and memory bandwidth management.
--read-only: Set the containers filesystem as readonly
--rootfs: Use custom rootfs that is not managed by containerd snapshotter
--rootfs-propagation="": Set the propagation of the container rootfs
--runtime="": Runtime name or absolute path to runtime binary (default: io.containerd.runc.v2)
--runtime-config-path="": Optional runtime config path
--sandbox="": Create the container in the given sandbox
--seccomp: Enable the default seccomp profile
--seccomp-profile="": File path to custom seccomp profile. seccomp must be set to true, before using seccomp-profile
--snapshotter="": Snapshotter name. Empty value stands for the default value.
--snapshotter-label="": Labels added to the new snapshot for this container.
--tty, -t: Allocate a TTY for the container
--user, -u="": Username or user id, group optional (format: [:])
--with-ns="": Specify existing Linux namespaces to join at container runtime (format ':')
delete, del, remove, rm
Delete one or more existing containers
--keep-snapshot: Do not clean up snapshot with container
info
Get info about a container
--spec: Only display the spec
list, ls
List containers
--quiet, -q: Print only the container id
label
Set and clear labels for a container
checkpoint
Checkpoint a container
--image: Include the image in the checkpoint
--rw: Include the rw layer in the checkpoint
--task: Checkpoint container task
restore
Restore a container from checkpoint
--live: Restore the runtime and memory data from the checkpoint
--rw: Restore the rw layer from the checkpoint
content
Manage content
active
Display active transfers
--root="": Path to content store root (default: /tmp/content)
--timeout, -t="": Total timeout for fetch (default: 0s)
delete, del, remove, rm
Permanently delete one or more blobs
edit
Edit a blob and return a new digest
--editor="": Select editor (vim, emacs, etc.)
--validate="": Validate the result against a format (json, mediatype, etc.)
fetch
Fetch all content for an image into containerd
--all-metadata: Pull metadata for all platforms
--all-platforms: Pull content from all platforms
--hosts-dir="": Custom hosts configuration directory
--http-dump: Dump all HTTP request/responses when interacting with container registry
--http-trace: Enable HTTP tracing for registry interactions
--label="": Labels to attach to the image
--metadata-only: Pull all metadata including manifests and configs
--plain-http: Allow connections using plain HTTP
--platform="": Pull content from a specific platform
--refresh="": Refresh token for authorization server
--skip-verify, -k: Skip SSL certificate validation
--tlscacert="": Path to TLS root CA
--tlscert="": Path to TLS client certificate
--tlskey="": Path to TLS client key
--user, -u="": User[:password] Registry user and password
fetch-object
Retrieve objects from a remote
--hosts-dir="": Custom hosts configuration directory
--http-dump: Dump all HTTP request/responses when interacting with container registry
--http-trace: Enable HTTP tracing for registry interactions
--plain-http: Allow connections using plain HTTP
--refresh="": Refresh token for authorization server
--skip-verify, -k: Skip SSL certificate validation
--tlscacert="": Path to TLS root CA
--tlscert="": Path to TLS client certificate
--tlskey="": Path to TLS client key
--user, -u="": User[:password] Registry user and password
fetch-blob
Retrieve blobs from a remote
--hosts-dir="": Custom hosts configuration directory
--http-dump: Dump all HTTP request/responses when interacting with container registry
--http-trace: Enable HTTP tracing for registry interactions
--plain-http: Allow connections using plain HTTP
--refresh="": Refresh token for authorization server
--skip-verify, -k: Skip SSL certificate validation
--tlscacert="": Path to TLS root CA
--tlscert="": Path to TLS client certificate
--tlskey="": Path to TLS client key
--user, -u="": User[:password] Registry user and password
get
Get the data for an object
ingest
Accept content into the store
--expected-digest="": Verify content against expected digest
--expected-size="": Validate against provided size (default: 0)
list, ls
List all blobs in the store
--quiet, -q: Print only the blob digest
push-object
Push an object to a remote
--hosts-dir="": Custom hosts configuration directory
--http-dump: Dump all HTTP request/responses when interacting with container registry
--http-trace: Enable HTTP tracing for registry interactions
--plain-http: Allow connections using plain HTTP
--refresh="": Refresh token for authorization server
--skip-verify, -k: Skip SSL certificate validation
--tlscacert="": Path to TLS root CA
--tlscert="": Path to TLS client certificate
--tlskey="": Path to TLS client key
--user, -u="": User[:password] Registry user and password
label
Add labels to content
prune
Prunes content from the content store
references
Prunes preference labels from the content store (layers only by default)
--async: Allow garbage collection to cleanup asynchronously
--dry: Just show updates without applying (enables debug logging)
images, image, i
Manage images
check
Check existing images to ensure all content is available locally
--quiet, -q: Print only the ready image refs (fully downloaded and unpacked)
--snapshotter="": Snapshotter name. Empty value stands for the default value.
export
Export images
--all-platforms: Exports content from all platforms
--local: Run export locally rather than through transfer API
--platform="": Pull content from a specific platform
--skip-manifest-json: Do not add Docker compatible manifest.json to archive
--skip-non-distributable: Do not add non-distributable blobs such as Windows layers to archive
import
Import images
--all-platforms: Imports content for all platforms, false by default
--base-name="": Base image name for added images, when provided only images with this name prefix are imported
--compress-blobs: Compress uncompressed blobs when creating manifest (Docker format only)
--digests: Whether to create digest images (default: false)
--discard-unpacked-layers: Allow the garbage collector to clean layers up from the content store after unpacking, cannot be used with --no-unpack, false by default
--index-name="": Image name to keep index as, by default index is discarded
--local: Run import locally rather than through transfer API
--no-unpack: Skip unpacking the images, cannot be used with --discard-unpacked-layers, false by default
--platform="": Imports content for specific platform
--skip-digest-for-named: Skip applying --digests option to images named in the importing tar (use it in conjunction with --digests)
--snapshotter="": Snapshotter name. Empty value stands for the default value.
list, ls
List images known to containerd
--quiet, -q: Print only the image refs
mount
Mount an image to a target path
--hosts-dir="": Custom hosts configuration directory
--http-dump: Dump all HTTP request/responses when interacting with container registry
--http-trace: Enable HTTP tracing for registry interactions
--label="": Labels to attach to the image
--plain-http: Allow connections using plain HTTP
--platform="": Mount the image for the specified platform (default: linux/amd64)
--refresh="": Refresh token for authorization server
--rw: Enable write support on the mount
--skip-verify, -k: Skip SSL certificate validation
--snapshotter="": Snapshotter name. Empty value stands for the default value.
--tlscacert="": Path to TLS root CA
--tlscert="": Path to TLS client certificate
--tlskey="": Path to TLS client key
--user, -u="": User[:password] Registry user and password
unmount
Unmount the image from the target
--hosts-dir="": Custom hosts configuration directory
--http-dump: Dump all HTTP request/responses when interacting with container registry
--http-trace: Enable HTTP tracing for registry interactions
--label="": Labels to attach to the image
--plain-http: Allow connections using plain HTTP
--refresh="": Refresh token for authorization server
--rm: Remove the snapshot after a successful unmount
--skip-verify, -k: Skip SSL certificate validation
--snapshotter="": Snapshotter name. Empty value stands for the default value.
--tlscacert="": Path to TLS root CA
--tlscert="": Path to TLS client certificate
--tlskey="": Path to TLS client key
--user, -u="": User[:password] Registry user and password
pull
Pull an image from a remote
--all-metadata: Pull metadata for all platforms
--all-platforms: Pull content and metadata from all platforms
--hosts-dir="": Custom hosts configuration directory
--http-dump: Dump all HTTP request/responses when interacting with container registry
--http-trace: Enable HTTP tracing for registry interactions
--label="": Labels to attach to the image
--local: Fetch content from local client rather than using transfer service
--max-concurrent-downloads="": Set the max concurrent downloads for each pull (default: 0)
--plain-http: Allow connections using plain HTTP
--platform="": Pull content from a specific platform
--print-chainid: Print the resulting image's chain ID
--refresh="": Refresh token for authorization server
--skip-verify, -k: Skip SSL certificate validation
--snapshotter="": Snapshotter name. Empty value stands for the default value.
--tlscacert="": Path to TLS root CA
--tlscert="": Path to TLS client certificate
--tlskey="": Path to TLS client key
--user, -u="": User[:password] Registry user and password
push
Push an image to a remote
--allow-non-distributable-blobs: Allow pushing blobs that are marked as non-distributable
--hosts-dir="": Custom hosts configuration directory
--http-dump: Dump all HTTP request/responses when interacting with container registry
--http-trace: Enable HTTP tracing for registry interactions
--local: Push content from local client rather than using transfer service
--manifest="": Digest of manifest
--manifest-type="": Media type of manifest digest (default: application/vnd.oci.image.manifest.v1+json)
--max-concurrent-uploaded-layers="": Set the max concurrent uploaded layers for each push (default: 0)
--plain-http: Allow connections using plain HTTP
--platform="": Push content from a specific platform
--refresh="": Refresh token for authorization server
--skip-verify, -k: Skip SSL certificate validation
--tlscacert="": Path to TLS root CA
--tlscert="": Path to TLS client certificate
--tlskey="": Path to TLS client key
--user, -u="": User[:password] Registry user and password
prune
Remove unused images
--all: Remove all unused images, not just dangling ones (if all is not specified no images will be pruned)
delete, del, remove, rm
Remove one or more images by reference
--sync: Synchronously remove image and all associated resources
tag
Tag an image
--force: Force target_ref to be created, regardless if it already exists
--local: Run tag locally rather than through transfer API
label
Set and clear labels for an image
--replace-all, -r: Replace all labels
convert
Convert an image
--all-platforms: Exports content from all platforms
--oci: Convert Docker media types to OCI media types
--platform="": Pull content from a specific platform
--uncompress: Convert tar.gz layers to uncompressed tar layers
usage
Display usage of snapshots for a given image ref
--snapshotter="": Snapshotter name. Empty value stands for the default value.
run
Run a container
--allow-new-privs: Turn off OCI spec's NoNewPrivileges feature flag
--annotation="": Specify additional OCI annotations (e.g. foo=bar)
--apparmor-default-profile="": Enable AppArmor with the default profile with the specified name, e.g. "cri-containerd.apparmor.d"
--apparmor-profile="": Enable AppArmor with an existing custom profile
--blockio-class="": Name of the blockio class to associate the container with
--blockio-config-file="": File path to blockio class definitions. By default class definitions are not loaded.
--cap-add="": Add Linux capabilities (Set capabilities with 'CAP_' prefix)
--cap-drop="": Drop Linux capabilities (Set capabilities with 'CAP_' prefix)
--cgroup="": Cgroup path (To disable use of cgroup, set to "" explicitly)
--cni: Enable cni networking for the container
--config, -c="": Path to the runtime-specific spec config file
--cpu-period="": Limit CPU CFS period (default: 0)
--cpu-quota="": Limit CPU CFS quota (default: -1)
--cpu-shares="": Set the cpu shares (default: 1024)
--cpus="": Set the CFS cpu quota (default: 0.000000)
--cwd="": Specify the working directory of the process
--detach, -d: Detach from the task after it has started execution, cannot be used with --rm
--device="": File path to a device to add to the container; or a path to a directory tree of devices to add to the container
--env="": Specify additional container environment variables (e.g. FOO=bar)
--env-file="": Specify additional container environment variables in a file(e.g. FOO=bar, one per line)
--fifo-dir="": Directory used for storing IO FIFOs
--gidmap="": Run inside a user namespace with the specified GID mapping range; specified with the format container-gid:host-gid:length
--gpus="": Add gpus to the container
--hostname="": Set the container's host name
--label="": Specify additional labels (e.g. foo=bar)
--log-uri="": Log uri
--memory-limit="": Memory limit (in bytes) for the container (default: 0)
--mount="": Specify additional container mount (e.g. type=bind,src=/tmp,dst=/host,options=rbind:ro)
--net-host: Enable host networking for the container
--no-pivot: Disable use of pivot-root (linux only)
--null-io: Send all IO to /dev/null
--pid-file="": File path to write the task's pid
--platform="": Run image for specific platform
--privileged: Run privileged container
--privileged-without-host-devices: Don't pass all host devices to privileged container
--rdt-class="": Name of the RDT class to associate the container with. Specifies a Class of Service (CLOS) for cache and memory bandwidth management.
--read-only: Set the containers filesystem as readonly
--remap-labels: Provide the user namespace ID remapping to the snapshotter via label options; requires snapshotter support
--rm: Remove the container after running, cannot be used with --detach
--rootfs: Use custom rootfs that is not managed by containerd snapshotter
--rootfs-propagation="": Set the propagation of the container rootfs
--runc-binary="": Specify runc-compatible binary
--runc-root="": Specify runc-compatible root
--runc-systemd-cgroup: Start runc with systemd cgroup manager
--runtime="": Runtime name or absolute path to runtime binary (default: io.containerd.runc.v2)
--runtime-config-path="": Optional runtime config path
--sandbox="": Create the container in the given sandbox
--seccomp: Enable the default seccomp profile
--seccomp-profile="": File path to custom seccomp profile. seccomp must be set to true, before using seccomp-profile
--snapshotter="": Snapshotter name. Empty value stands for the default value.
--snapshotter-label="": Labels added to the new snapshot for this container.
--tty, -t: Allocate a TTY for the container
--uidmap="": Run inside a user namespace with the specified UID mapping range; specified with the format container-uid:host-uid:length
--user, -u="": Username or user id, group optional (format: [:])
--with-ns="": Specify existing Linux namespaces to join at container runtime (format ':')
tasks, t, task
Manage tasks
attach
Attach to the IO of a running container
checkpoint
Checkpoint a container
--exit: Stop the container after the checkpoint
--image-path="": Path to criu image files
--work-path="": Path to criu work files and logs
delete, del, remove, rm
Delete one or more tasks
--exec-id="": Process ID to kill
--force, -f: Force delete task process
exec
Execute additional processes in an existing container
--cwd="": Working directory of the new process
--detach, -d: Detach from the task after it has started execution
--exec-id="": Exec specific id for the process
--fifo-dir="": Directory used for storing IO FIFOs
--log-uri="": Log uri for custom shim logging
--tty, -t: Allocate a TTY for the container
--user="": User id or name
list, ls
List tasks
--quiet, -q: Print only the task id
kill
Signal a container (default: SIGTERM)
--all, -a: Send signal to all processes inside the container
--exec-id="": Process ID to kill
--signal, -s="": Signal to send to the container
metrics, metric
Get a single data point of metrics for a task with the built-in Linux runtime
--format="": "table" or "json" (default: table)
pause
Pause an existing container
ps
List processes for container
resume
Resume a paused container
start
Start a container that has been created
--detach, -d: Detach from the task after it has started execution
--fifo-dir="": Directory used for storing IO FIFOs
--log-uri="": Log uri
--no-pivot: Disable use of pivot-root (linux only)
--null-io: Send all IO to /dev/null
--pid-file="": File path to write the task's pid