docker kill

Description

Kill one or more running containers

Usage

$ docker kill [OPTIONS] CONTAINER [CONTAINER...]

Extended description

The docker kill subcommand kills one or more containers. The main process inside the container is sent SIGKILL signal (default), or the signal that is specified with the --signal option. You can reference a container by its ID, ID-prefix, or name.

The --signal (or -s shorthand) flag sets the system call signal that is sent to the container. This signal can be a signal name in the format SIG<NAME>, for instance SIGINT, or an unsigned number that matches a position in the kernel’s syscall table, for instance 2.

While the default (SIGKILL) signal will terminate the container, the signal set through --signal may be non-terminal, depending on the container’s main process. For example, the SIGHUP signal in most cases will be non-terminal, and the container will continue running after receiving the signal.

Note

ENTRYPOINT and CMD in the shell form run as a child process of /bin/sh -c, which does not pass signals. This means that the executable is not the container’s PID 1 and does not receive Unix signals.

For example uses of this command, refer to the examples section below.

Options

Examples

Send a KILL signal to a container

The following example sends the default SIGKILL signal to the container named my_container:

$ docker kill my_container

Send a custom signal to a container

The following example sends a SIGHUP signal to the container named my_container:

$ docker kill --signal=SIGHUP  my_container

You can specify a custom signal either by name, or number. The SIG prefix is optional, so the following examples are equivalent:

$ docker kill --signal=SIGHUP my_container
$ docker kill --signal=HUP my_container
$ docker kill --signal=1 my_container

Refer to the signal(7) man-page for a list of standard Linux signals.

Parent command