--- title: "version" description: "The version command description and usage" keywords: "version, architecture, api" --- # version ```markdown Usage: docker version [OPTIONS] Show the Docker version information Options: -f, --format string Format the output using the given Go template --help Print usage ``` ## Description The version command prints the current version number for all independently versioned Docker components. Use the [`--format`](#format) option to customize the output. The version command (`docker version`) outputs the version numbers of Docker components, while the `--version` flag (`docker --version`) outputs the version number of the Docker CLI you are using. ### Default output The default output renders all version information divided into two sections; the "Client" section contains information about the Docker CLI and client components, and the "Server" section contains information about the Docker Engine and components used by the Engine, such as the "Containerd" and "Runc" OCI Runtimes. The information shown may differ depending on how you installed Docker and what components are in use. The following example shows the output on a macOS machine running Docker Desktop: ```console $ docker version Client: Version: 20.10.16 API version: 1.41 Go version: go1.17.10 Git commit: aa7e414 Built: Thu May 12 09:17:28 2022 OS/Arch: darwin/amd64 Context: default Server: Docker Desktop 4.8.2 (77141) Engine: Version: 20.10.16 API version: 1.41 (minimum version 1.12) Go version: go1.17.10 Git commit: f756502 Built: Thu May 12 09:15:33 2022 OS/Arch: linux/amd64 Experimental: false containerd: Version: 1.6.4 GitCommit: 212e8b6fa2f44b9c21b2798135fc6fb7c53efc16 runc: Version: 1.1.1 GitCommit: v1.1.1-0-g52de29d docker-init: Version: 0.19.0 GitCommit: de40ad0 ``` ### Client and server versions Docker uses a client/server architecture, which allows you to use the Docker CLI on your local machine to control a Docker Engine running on a remote machine, which can be (for example) a machine running in the Cloud or inside a Virtual Machine. The following example switches the Docker CLI to use a [context](context.md) named "remote-test-server", which runs an older version of the Docker Engine on a Linux server: ```console $ docker context use remote-test-server remote-test-server $ docker version Client: Version: 20.10.16 API version: 1.40 (downgraded from 1.41) Go version: go1.17.10 Git commit: aa7e414 Built: Thu May 12 09:17:28 2022 OS/Arch: darwin/amd64 Context: remote-test-server Server: Docker Engine - Community Engine: Version: 19.03.8 API version: 1.40 (minimum version 1.12) Go version: go1.12.17 Git commit: afacb8b Built: Wed Mar 11 01:29:16 2020 OS/Arch: linux/amd64 containerd: Version: v1.2.13 GitCommit: 7ad184331fa3e55e52b890ea95e65ba581ae3429 runc: Version: 1.0.0-rc10 GitCommit: dc9208a3303feef5b3839f4323d9beb36df0a9dd docker-init: Version: 0.18.0 GitCommit: fec3683 ``` ### API version and version negotiation The API version used by the client depends on the Docker Engine that the Docker CLI is connecting with. When connecting with the Docker Engine, the Docker CLI and Docker Engine perform API version negotiation, and select the highest API version that is supported by both the Docker CLI and the Docker Engine. For example, if the CLI is connecting with a Docker 19.03 engine, it downgrades to API version 1.40 (refer to the [API version matrix](https://docs.docker.com/engine/api/#api-version-matrix) to learn about the supported API versions for Docker Engine): ```console $ docker version --format '{{.Client.APIVersion}}' 1.40 ``` Be aware that API version can also be overridden using the `DOCKER_API_VERSION` environment variable, which can be useful for debugging purposes, and disables API version negotiation. The following example illustrates an environment where the `DOCKER_API_VERSION` environment variable is set. Unsetting the environment variable removes the override, and re-enables API version negotiation: ```console $ env | grep DOCKER_API_VERSION DOCKER_API_VERSION=1.39 $ docker version --format '{{.Client.APIVersion}}' 1.39 $ unset DOCKER_API_VERSION $ docker version --format '{{.Client.APIVersion}}' 1.41 ``` ## Examples ### Format the output (--format) The formatting option (`--format`) pretty-prints the output using a Go template, which allows you to customize the output format, or to obtain specific information from the output. Refer to the [format command and log output](https://docs.docker.com/config/formatting/) page for details of the format. ### Get the server version ```console $ docker version --format '{{.Server.Version}}' 20.10.16 ``` ### Get the client API version The following example prints the API version that is used by the client: ```console $ docker version --format '{{.Client.APIVersion}}' 1.41 ``` The version shown is the API version that is negotiated between the client and the Docker Engine. Refer to [API version and version negotiation](#api-version-and-version-negotiation) above for more information. ### Dump raw JSON data ```console $ docker version --format '{{json .}}' {"Client":{"Platform":{"Name":"Docker Engine - Community"},"Version":"19.03.8","ApiVersion":"1.40","DefaultAPIVersion":"1.40","GitCommit":"afacb8b","GoVersion":"go1.12.17","Os":"darwin","Arch":"amd64","BuildTime":"Wed Mar 11 01:21:11 2020","Experimental":true},"Server":{"Platform":{"Name":"Docker Engine - Community"},"Components":[{"Name":"Engine","Version":"19.03.8","Details":{"ApiVersion":"1.40","Arch":"amd64","BuildTime":"Wed Mar 11 01:29:16 2020","Experimental":"true","GitCommit":"afacb8b","GoVersion":"go1.12.17","KernelVersion":"4.19.76-linuxkit","MinAPIVersion":"1.12","Os":"linux"}},{"Name":"containerd","Version":"v1.2.13","Details":{"GitCommit":"7ad184331fa3e55e52b890ea95e65ba581ae3429"}},{"Name":"runc","Version":"1.0.0-rc10","Details":{"GitCommit":"dc9208a3303feef5b3839f4323d9beb36df0a9dd"}},{"Name":"docker-init","Version":"0.18.0","Details":{"GitCommit":"fec3683"}}],"Version":"19.03.8","ApiVersion":"1.40","MinAPIVersion":"1.12","GitCommit":"afacb8b","GoVersion":"go1.12.17","Os":"linux","Arch":"amd64","KernelVersion":"4.19.76-linuxkit","Experimental":true,"BuildTime":"2020-03-11T01:29:16.000000000+00:00"}} ```