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docker stats

Definition

A CLI command that displays a live, real-time stream of resource usage statistics for running containers, including CPU usage, Memory limits, and Network I/O.

Explain Like I'm New

The 'Activity Monitor' or 'Task Manager' for Docker. It shows you exactly how much RAM and CPU each container is currently eating.

Real World Example

Your server fan is spinning wildly and everything is slow. You type `docker stats`. You immediately see that the `redis` container is currently consuming 99% CPU and 16GB of RAM due to a bug.

Common Use Cases

  • •Performance monitoring
  • •Finding memory leaks

Interview Questions

basic

  • Does `docker stats` show historical data from yesterday, or live data?

intermediate

  • If a container has no resource limits set, what will the 'MEM LIMIT' column display in `docker stats`?

Flash Cards

Question

Historical or live?

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Answer

Live, real-time data only.

Question

MEM LIMIT display?

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Answer

It will display the total physical RAM of the entire Host machine, indicating that the container is allowed to consume 100% of the server's memory if it wants to.