1. Get the ID of the container you want to SSH into
  2. SSH into the container you want

Docker containers can be a great way to try out some scripts before they are ready for production. One of the basic tasks is to run a command in a specific container. Here is how to do it.

Get the ID of the container you want to SSH into

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docker ps

You should get something like this:

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CONTAINER ID        IMAGE                                                 COMMAND                  CREATED             STATUS              PORTS                                            NAMES
347f111f3112        joaorosilva/mongodb:3.7-no-volumes                    "docker-entrypoint.s…"   5 days ago          Up 6 hours          0.0.0.0:27017->27017/tcp                         mongodb-dendro
14ad46120a7a        joaorosilva/mysql:8.0-no-volumes                      "docker-entrypoint.s…"   5 days ago          Up 6 hours          0.0.0.0:3306->3306/tcp                           mysql-dendro
cee3f8ee57d0        joaorosilva/virtuoso:7.2.4-for-dendro-0.3             "/bin/bash /virtuoso…"   5 days ago          Up 6 hours          0.0.0.0:1111->1111/tcp, 0.0.0.0:8890->8890/tcp   virtuoso-dendro
4e54faa904eb        docker.elastic.co/elasticsearch/elasticsearch:6.2.2   "/usr/local/bin/dock…"   5 days ago          Up 6 hours          0.0.0.0:9200->9200/tcp, 0.0.0.0:9300->9300/tcp   elasticsearch-dendro

SSH into the container you want

See the ID of the container you want to SSH into. In this case, I want the joaorosilva/elasticsearch/elasticsearch:6.2.2 container. Insert the ID into the command:

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docker exec -it 4e54faa904eb /bin/bash

You will get a root command prompt.

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➜  ~ docker exec -it 4e54faa904eb /bin/bash
[root@elasticsearch-dendro elasticsearch]#

If you want to run a different command, simply replace /bin/bash with the command you want. Be aware that it will be run as root.

Happy SSH’ing!