ctr

Containerd command-line client

TLDR

List all containers

$ ctr containers list

List all images

$ ctr images list

Pull an image

$ ctr images pull [image]

Tag an image

$ ctr images tag [source_image]:[source_tag] [target_image]:[target_tag]

List images in Kubernetes namespace

$ ctr -n k8s.io images list

Run a container

$ ctr run [docker.io/library/alpine:latest] [my-container]

SYNOPSIS

ctr [global options] command [arguments]

ctr is the command-line client for containerd, the industry-standard container runtime. It provides low-level container and image management capabilities.Unlike Docker CLI, ctr is designed for debugging and direct containerd interaction rather than general use. Kubernetes typically uses containerd through crictl instead.

PARAMETERS

-n, --namespace namespace

Namespace to use. Default: default. Kubernetes uses k8s.io.

--address address

Address for containerd's GRPC server.

--connect-timeout duration

Timeout for connecting to containerd.

--debug

Enable debug output in logs.

SUBCOMMANDS

containers list

List all containers

containers rm id

Remove a container

images list

List all images

images pull ref

Pull an image

images push ref

Push an image

images tag source target

Tag an image

run image containerid_

Run a container

tasks list

List running tasks

tasks kill containerid_

Kill a running task

snapshots list

List snapshots

namespaces list

List namespaces

content fetch ref

Fetch content from remote

CAVEATS

Low-level tool primarily for debugging. For Kubernetes environments, use crictl. For general Docker-like experience, use nerdctl. Requires root or containerd socket access.

HISTORY

ctr is part of containerd, which was originally developed by Docker Inc. and donated to the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) in 2017. containerd became a graduated CNCF project and is now the standard container runtime for Kubernetes and many other platforms.

ctr