bash
docker swarm initNotes
Starts the control plane and prints worker join instructions.
Docker Swarm Cheat Sheet
Swarm cluster, node, service, and stack commands for container orchestration on Docker Engine.
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Swarm Basics
Initialize and manage a Docker Swarm cluster.
Initialize swarm with advertise address
Initialize swarm and advertise a specific manager IP.
bashANYswarmclusternetwork
bash
docker swarm init --advertise-addr 10.0.0.10Notes
Important on hosts with multiple interfaces.
bash
docker swarm join-token workerNotes
Use the printed command on worker nodes.
bash
docker swarm join-token managerNotes
Use carefully since managers have control plane privileges.
bash
docker swarm join --token <token> 10.0.0.10:2377Notes
Run this on a worker or manager being added to the cluster.
bash
docker swarm leaveNotes
Use `--force` carefully on a manager.
bash
docker node lsNotes
Shows manager status, availability, and health.
bash
docker node inspect selfNotes
Useful for labels, availability, and TLS info.
bash
docker node update --label-add zone=us-east-1a worker-1Notes
Labels are useful for placement constraints.
bash
docker node update --availability drain worker-1Notes
Useful before maintenance or draining workloads.
Swarm Services
Create, inspect, scale, and update services in a swarm.
bash
docker service create --name web -p 8080:80 nginx:latestNotes
This is the main swarm service deployment primitive.
bash
docker service lsNotes
Shows replica state and image references.
bash
docker service ps webNotes
Useful for troubleshooting placement and task failures.
bash
docker service inspect webNotes
Inspect update config, rollback policy, labels, and networking.
bash
docker service scale web=5Notes
Can scale multiple services in one command too.
bash
docker service update --image nginx:1.27 webNotes
Swarm performs a rolling update based on service update settings.
bash
docker service update --env-add LOG_LEVEL=debug webNotes
Useful for changing config without redefining the service from scratch.
bash
docker service update --publish-add 8443:443 webNotes
Useful for incremental service exposure changes.
bash
docker service rollback webNotes
Useful after a failed rolling update.
bash
docker service rm webNotes
Stops and cleans up all tasks of that service.
bash
docker stack deploy -c compose.yaml mystackNotes
A convenient higher-level workflow for multi-service swarm apps.
bash
docker stack lsNotes
Useful for multi-application swarm clusters.
bash
docker stack services mystackNotes
Helpful for per-application troubleshooting.
bash
docker stack ps mystackNotes
Useful when diagnosing stack rollout issues.
bash
docker stack rm mystackNotes
Stops and removes the stack's services and networks.
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