DockerCLI/docs/reference/commandline/run.md

---
title: "run"
description: "The run command description and usage"
keywords: "run, command, container"
---

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# run

```markdown
Usage:  docker run [OPTIONS] IMAGE [COMMAND] [ARG...]

Run a command in a new container

Options:
      --add-host value              Add a custom host-to-IP mapping (host:ip) (default [])
  -a, --attach value                Attach to STDIN, STDOUT or STDERR (default [])
      --blkio-weight value          Block IO (relative weight), between 10 and 1000
      --blkio-weight-device value   Block IO weight (relative device weight) (default [])
      --cap-add value               Add Linux capabilities (default [])
      --cap-drop value              Drop Linux capabilities (default [])
      --cgroup-parent string        Optional parent cgroup for the container
      --cidfile string              Write the container ID to the file
      --cpu-count int               The number of CPUs available for execution by the container.
                                    Windows daemon only. On Windows Server containers, this is
                                    approximated as a percentage of total CPU usage.
      --cpu-percent int             Limit percentage of CPU available for execution
                                    by the container. Windows daemon only.
                                    The processor resource controls are mutually
                                    exclusive, the order of precedence is CPUCount
                                    first, then CPUShares, and CPUPercent last.
      --cpu-period int              Limit CPU CFS (Completely Fair Scheduler) period
      --cpu-quota int               Limit CPU CFS (Completely Fair Scheduler) quota
  -c, --cpu-shares int              CPU shares (relative weight)
      --cpus NanoCPUs               Number of CPUs (default 0.000)
      --cpu-rt-period int           Limit the CPU real-time period in microseconds
      --cpu-rt-runtime int          Limit the CPU real-time runtime in microseconds
      --cpuset-cpus string          CPUs in which to allow execution (0-3, 0,1)
      --cpuset-mems string          MEMs in which to allow execution (0-3, 0,1)
  -d, --detach                      Run container in background and print container ID
      --detach-keys string          Override the key sequence for detaching a container
      --device value                Add a host device to the container (default [])
      --device-cgroup-rule value    Add a rule to the cgroup allowed devices list
      --device-read-bps value       Limit read rate (bytes per second) from a device (default [])
      --device-read-iops value      Limit read rate (IO per second) from a device (default [])
      --device-write-bps value      Limit write rate (bytes per second) to a device (default [])
      --device-write-iops value     Limit write rate (IO per second) to a device (default [])
      --disable-content-trust       Skip image verification (default true)
      --dns value                   Set custom DNS servers (default [])
      --dns-option value            Set DNS options (default [])
      --dns-search value            Set custom DNS search domains (default [])
      --entrypoint string           Overwrite the default ENTRYPOINT of the image
  -e, --env value                   Set environment variables (default [])
      --env-file value              Read in a file of environment variables (default [])
      --expose value                Expose a port or a range of ports (default [])
      --group-add value             Add additional groups to join (default [])
      --health-cmd string           Command to run to check health
      --health-interval duration    Time between running the check (ns|us|ms|s|m|h) (default 0s)
      --health-retries int          Consecutive failures needed to report unhealthy
      --health-timeout duration     Maximum time to allow one check to run (ns|us|ms|s|m|h) (default 0s)
      --help                        Print usage
  -h, --hostname string             Container host name
      --init                        Run an init inside the container that forwards signals and reaps processes
      --init-path string            Path to the docker-init binary
  -i, --interactive                 Keep STDIN open even if not attached
      --io-maxbandwidth string      Maximum IO bandwidth limit for the system drive (Windows only)
                                    (Windows only). The format is `<number><unit>`.
                                    Unit is optional and can be `b` (bytes per second),
                                    `k` (kilobytes per second), `m` (megabytes per second),
                                    or `g` (gigabytes per second). If you omit the unit,
                                    the system uses bytes per second.
                                    --io-maxbandwidth and --io-maxiops are mutually exclusive options.
      --io-maxiops uint             Maximum IOps limit for the system drive (Windows only)
      --ip string                   IPv4 address (e.g., 172.30.100.104)
      --ip6 string                  IPv6 address (e.g., 2001:db8::33)
      --ipc string                  IPC namespace to use
      --isolation string            Container isolation technology
      --kernel-memory string        Kernel memory limit
  -l, --label value                 Set meta data on a container (default [])
      --label-file value            Read in a line delimited file of labels (default [])
      --link value                  Add link to another container (default [])
      --link-local-ip value         Container IPv4/IPv6 link-local addresses (default [])
      --log-driver string           Logging driver for the container
      --log-opt value               Log driver options (default [])
      --mac-address string          Container MAC address (e.g., 92:d0:c6:0a:29:33)
  -m, --memory string               Memory limit
      --memory-reservation string   Memory soft limit
      --memory-swap string          Swap limit equal to memory plus swap: '-1' to enable unlimited swap
      --memory-swappiness int       Tune container memory swappiness (0 to 100) (default -1)
      --name string                 Assign a name to the container
      --network-alias value         Add network-scoped alias for the container (default [])
      --network string              Connect a container to a network
                                    'bridge': create a network stack on the default Docker bridge
                                    'none': no networking
                                    'container:<name|id>': reuse another container's network stack
                                    'host': use the Docker host network stack
                                    '<network-name>|<network-id>': connect to a user-defined network
      --no-healthcheck              Disable any container-specified HEALTHCHECK
      --oom-kill-disable            Disable OOM Killer
      --oom-score-adj int           Tune host's OOM preferences (-1000 to 1000)
      --pid string                  PID namespace to use
      --pids-limit int              Tune container pids limit (set -1 for unlimited)
      --privileged                  Give extended privileges to this container
  -p, --publish value               Publish a container's port(s) to the host (default [])
  -P, --publish-all                 Publish all exposed ports to random ports
      --read-only                   Mount the container's root filesystem as read only
      --restart string              Restart policy to apply when a container exits (default "no")
                                    Possible values are : no, on-failure[:max-retry], always, unless-stopped
      --rm                          Automatically remove the container when it exits
      --runtime string              Runtime to use for this container
      --security-opt value          Security Options (default [])
      --shm-size bytes              Size of /dev/shm
                                    The format is `<number><unit>`. `number` must be greater than `0`.
                                    Unit is optional and can be `b` (bytes), `k` (kilobytes), `m` (megabytes),
                                    or `g` (gigabytes). If you omit the unit, the system uses bytes.
      --sig-proxy                   Proxy received signals to the process (default true)
      --stop-signal string          Signal to stop a container (default "SIGTERM")
      --stop-timeout=10             Timeout (in seconds) to stop a container
      --storage-opt value           Storage driver options for the container (default [])
      --sysctl value                Sysctl options (default map[])
      --tmpfs value                 Mount a tmpfs directory (default [])
  -t, --tty                         Allocate a pseudo-TTY
      --ulimit value                Ulimit options (default [])
  -u, --user string                 Username or UID (format: <name|uid>[:<group|gid>])
      --userns string               User namespace to use
                                    'host': Use the Docker host user namespace
                                    '': Use the Docker daemon user namespace specified by `--userns-remap` option.
      --uts string                  UTS namespace to use
  -v, --volume value                Bind mount a volume (default []). The format
                                    is `[host-src:]container-dest[:<options>]`.
                                    The comma-delimited `options` are [rw|ro],
                                    [z|Z], [[r]shared|[r]slave|[r]private],
                                    [delegated|cached|consistent], and
                                    [nocopy]. The 'host-src' is an absolute path
                                    or a name value.
      --volume-driver string        Optional volume driver for the container
      --volumes-from value          Mount volumes from the specified container(s) (default [])
  -w, --workdir string              Working directory inside the container
```

## Description

The `docker run` command first `creates` a writeable container layer over the
specified image, and then `starts` it using the specified command. That is,
`docker run` is equivalent to the API `/containers/create` then
`/containers/(id)/start`. A stopped container can be restarted with all its
previous changes intact using `docker start`. See `docker ps -a` to view a list
of all containers.

The `docker run` command can be used in combination with `docker commit` to
[*change the command that a container runs*](commit.md). There is additional detailed information about `docker run` in the [Docker run reference](../run.md).

For information on connecting a container to a network, see the ["*Docker network overview*"](https://docs.docker.com/engine/userguide/networking/).

## Examples

### Assign name and allocate pseudo-TTY (--name, -it)

```bash
$ docker run --name test -it debian

root@d6c0fe130dba:/# exit 13
$ echo $?
13
$ docker ps -a | grep test
d6c0fe130dba        debian:7            "/bin/bash"         26 seconds ago      Exited (13) 17 seconds ago                         test
```

This example runs a container named `test` using the `debian:latest`
image. The `-it` instructs Docker to allocate a pseudo-TTY connected to
the container's stdin; creating an interactive `bash` shell in the container.
In the example, the `bash` shell is quit by entering
`exit 13`. This exit code is passed on to the caller of
`docker run`, and is recorded in the `test` container's metadata.

### Capture container ID (--cidfile)

```bash
$ docker run --cidfile /tmp/docker_test.cid ubuntu echo "test"
```

This will create a container and print `test` to the console. The `cidfile`
flag makes Docker attempt to create a new file and write the container ID to it.
If the file exists already, Docker will return an error. Docker will close this
file when `docker run` exits.

### Full container capabilities (--privileged)

```bash
$ docker run -t -i --rm ubuntu bash
root@bc338942ef20:/# mount -t tmpfs none /mnt
mount: permission denied
```

This will *not* work, because by default, most potentially dangerous kernel
capabilities are dropped; including `cap_sys_admin` (which is required to mount
filesystems). However, the `--privileged` flag will allow it to run:

```bash
$ docker run -t -i --privileged ubuntu bash
root@50e3f57e16e6:/# mount -t tmpfs none /mnt
root@50e3f57e16e6:/# df -h
Filesystem      Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
none            1.9G     0  1.9G   0% /mnt
```

The `--privileged` flag gives *all* capabilities to the container, and it also
lifts all the limitations enforced by the `device` cgroup controller. In other
words, the container can then do almost everything that the host can do. This
flag exists to allow special use-cases, like running Docker within Docker.

### Set working directory (-w)

```bash
$ docker  run -w /path/to/dir/ -i -t  ubuntu pwd
```

The `-w` lets the command being executed inside directory given, here
`/path/to/dir/`. If the path does not exist it is created inside the container.

### Set storage driver options per container

```bash
$ docker run -it --storage-opt size=120G fedora /bin/bash
```

This (size) will allow to set the container rootfs size to 120G at creation time.
This option is only available for the `devicemapper`, `btrfs`, `overlay2`,
`windowsfilter` and `zfs` graph drivers.
For the `devicemapper`, `btrfs`, `windowsfilter` and `zfs` graph drivers,
user cannot pass a size less than the Default BaseFS Size.
For the `overlay2` storage driver, the size option is only available if the
backing fs is `xfs` and mounted with the `pquota` mount option.
Under these conditions, user can pass any size less then the backing fs size.

### Mount tmpfs (--tmpfs)

```bash
$ docker run -d --tmpfs /run:rw,noexec,nosuid,size=65536k my_image
```

The `--tmpfs` flag mounts an empty tmpfs into the container with the `rw`,
`noexec`, `nosuid`, `size=65536k` options.

### Mount volume (-v, --read-only)

```bash
$ docker  run  -v `pwd`:`pwd` -w `pwd` -i -t  ubuntu pwd
```

The `-v` flag mounts the current working directory into the container. The `-w`
lets the command being executed inside the current working directory, by
changing into the directory to the value returned by `pwd`. So this
combination executes the command using the container, but inside the
current working directory.

```bash
$ docker run -v /doesnt/exist:/foo -w /foo -i -t ubuntu bash
```

When the host directory of a bind-mounted volume doesn't exist, Docker
will automatically create this directory on the host for you. In the
example above, Docker will create the `/doesnt/exist`
folder before starting your container.

```bash
$ docker run --read-only -v /icanwrite busybox touch /icanwrite/here
```

Volumes can be used in combination with `--read-only` to control where
a container writes files. The `--read-only` flag mounts the container's root
filesystem as read only prohibiting writes to locations other than the
specified volumes for the container.

```bash
$ docker run -t -i -v /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock -v /path/to/static-docker-binary:/usr/bin/docker busybox sh
```

By bind-mounting the docker unix socket and statically linked docker
binary (refer to [get the linux binary](
https://docs.docker.com/engine/installation/binaries/#/get-the-linux-binary)),
you give the container the full access to create and manipulate the host's
Docker daemon.

On Windows, the paths must be specified using Windows-style semantics.

```powershell
PS C:\> docker run -v c:\foo:c:\dest microsoft/nanoserver cmd /s /c type c:\dest\somefile.txt
Contents of file

PS C:\> docker run -v c:\foo:d: microsoft/nanoserver cmd /s /c type d:\somefile.txt
Contents of file
```

The following examples will fail when using Windows-based containers, as the
destination of a volume or bind-mount inside the container must be one of:
a non-existing or empty directory; or a drive other than C:. Further, the source
of a bind mount must be a local directory, not a file.

```powershell
net use z: \\remotemachine\share
docker run -v z:\foo:c:\dest ...
docker run -v \\uncpath\to\directory:c:\dest ...
docker run -v c:\foo\somefile.txt:c:\dest ...
docker run -v c:\foo:c: ...
docker run -v c:\foo:c:\existing-directory-with-contents ...
```

For in-depth information about volumes, refer to [manage data in containers](https://docs.docker.com/engine/tutorials/dockervolumes/)

### Publish or expose port (-p, --expose)

```bash
$ docker run -p 127.0.0.1:80:8080 ubuntu bash
```

This binds port `8080` of the container to port `80` on `127.0.0.1` of the host
machine. The [Docker User
Guide](https://docs.docker.com/engine/userguide/networking/default_network/dockerlinks/)
explains in detail how to manipulate ports in Docker.

```bash
$ docker run --expose 80 ubuntu bash
```

This exposes port `80` of the container without publishing the port to the host
system's interfaces.

### Set environment variables (-e, --env, --env-file)

```bash
$ docker run -e MYVAR1 --env MYVAR2=foo --env-file ./env.list ubuntu bash
```

This sets simple (non-array) environmental variables in the container. For
illustration all three
flags are shown here. Where `-e`, `--env` take an environment variable and
value, or if no `=` is provided, then that variable's current value, set via
`export`, is passed through (i.e. `$MYVAR1` from the host is set to `$MYVAR1`
in the container). When no `=` is provided and that variable is not defined
in the client's environment then that variable will be removed from the
container's list of environment variables. All three flags, `-e`, `--env` and
`--env-file` can be repeated.

Regardless of the order of these three flags, the `--env-file` are processed
first, and then `-e`, `--env` flags. This way, the `-e` or `--env` will
override variables as needed.

```bash
$ cat ./env.list
TEST_FOO=BAR
$ docker run --env TEST_FOO="This is a test" --env-file ./env.list busybox env | grep TEST_FOO
TEST_FOO=This is a test
```

The `--env-file` flag takes a filename as an argument and expects each line
to be in the `VAR=VAL` format, mimicking the argument passed to `--env`. Comment
lines need only be prefixed with `#`

An example of a file passed with `--env-file`

```bash
$ cat ./env.list
TEST_FOO=BAR

# this is a comment
TEST_APP_DEST_HOST=10.10.0.127
TEST_APP_DEST_PORT=8888
_TEST_BAR=FOO
TEST_APP_42=magic
helloWorld=true
123qwe=bar
org.spring.config=something

# pass through this variable from the caller
TEST_PASSTHROUGH
$ TEST_PASSTHROUGH=howdy docker run --env-file ./env.list busybox env
PATH=/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin
HOSTNAME=5198e0745561
TEST_FOO=BAR
TEST_APP_DEST_HOST=10.10.0.127
TEST_APP_DEST_PORT=8888
_TEST_BAR=FOO
TEST_APP_42=magic
helloWorld=true
TEST_PASSTHROUGH=howdy
HOME=/root
123qwe=bar
org.spring.config=something

$ docker run --env-file ./env.list busybox env
PATH=/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin
HOSTNAME=5198e0745561
TEST_FOO=BAR
TEST_APP_DEST_HOST=10.10.0.127
TEST_APP_DEST_PORT=8888
_TEST_BAR=FOO
TEST_APP_42=magic
helloWorld=true
TEST_PASSTHROUGH=
HOME=/root
123qwe=bar
org.spring.config=something
```

### Set metadata on container (-l, --label, --label-file)

A label is a `key=value` pair that applies metadata to a container. To label a container with two labels:

```bash
$ docker run -l my-label --label com.example.foo=bar ubuntu bash
```

The `my-label` key doesn't specify a value so the label defaults to an empty
string(`""`). To add multiple labels, repeat the label flag (`-l` or `--label`).

The `key=value` must be unique to avoid overwriting the label value. If you
specify labels with identical keys but different values, each subsequent value
overwrites the previous. Docker uses the last `key=value` you supply.

Use the `--label-file` flag to load multiple labels from a file. Delimit each
label in the file with an EOL mark. The example below loads labels from a
labels file in the current directory:

```bash
$ docker run --label-file ./labels ubuntu bash
```

The label-file format is similar to the format for loading environment
variables. (Unlike environment variables, labels are not visible to processes
running inside a container.) The following example illustrates a label-file
format:

```none
com.example.label1="a label"

# this is a comment
com.example.label2=another\ label
com.example.label3
```

You can load multiple label-files by supplying multiple  `--label-file` flags.

For additional information on working with labels, see [*Labels - custom
metadata in Docker*](https://docs.docker.com/engine/userguide/labels-custom-metadata/) in the Docker User
Guide.

### Connect a container to a network (--network)

When you start a container use the `--network` flag to connect it to a network.
This adds the `busybox` container to the `my-net` network.

```bash
$ docker run -itd --network=my-net busybox
```

You can also choose the IP addresses for the container with `--ip` and `--ip6`
flags when you start the container on a user-defined network.

```bash
$ docker run -itd --network=my-net --ip=10.10.9.75 busybox
```

If you want to add a running container to a network use the `docker network connect` subcommand.

You can connect multiple containers to the same network. Once connected, the
containers can communicate easily need only another container's IP address
or name. For `overlay` networks or custom plugins that support multi-host
connectivity, containers connected to the same multi-host network but launched
from different Engines can also communicate in this way.

> **Note**: Service discovery is unavailable on the default bridge network.
> Containers can communicate via their IP addresses by default. To communicate
> by name, they must be linked.

You can disconnect a container from a network using the `docker network
disconnect` command.

### Mount volumes from container (--volumes-from)

```bash
$ docker run --volumes-from 777f7dc92da7 --volumes-from ba8c0c54f0f2:ro -i -t ubuntu pwd
```

The `--volumes-from` flag mounts all the defined volumes from the referenced
containers. Containers can be specified by repetitions of the `--volumes-from`
argument. The container ID may be optionally suffixed with `:ro` or `:rw` to
mount the volumes in read-only or read-write mode, respectively. By default,
the volumes are mounted in the same mode (read write or read only) as
the reference container.

Labeling systems like SELinux require that proper labels are placed on volume
content mounted into a container. Without a label, the security system might
prevent the processes running inside the container from using the content. By
default, Docker does not change the labels set by the OS.

To change the label in the container context, you can add either of two suffixes
`:z` or `:Z` to the volume mount. These suffixes tell Docker to relabel file
objects on the shared volumes. The `z` option tells Docker that two containers
share the volume content. As a result, Docker labels the content with a shared
content label. Shared volume labels allow all containers to read/write content.
The `Z` option tells Docker to label the content with a private unshared label.
Only the current container can use a private volume.

### Attach to STDIN/STDOUT/STDERR (-a)

The `-a` flag tells `docker run` to bind to the container's `STDIN`, `STDOUT`
or `STDERR`. This makes it possible to manipulate the output and input as
needed.

```bash
$ echo "test" | docker run -i -a stdin ubuntu cat -
```

This pipes data into a container and prints the container's ID by attaching
only to the container's `STDIN`.

```bash
$ docker run -a stderr ubuntu echo test
```

This isn't going to print anything unless there's an error because we've
only attached to the `STDERR` of the container. The container's logs
still store what's been written to `STDERR` and `STDOUT`.

```bash
$ cat somefile | docker run -i -a stdin mybuilder dobuild
```

This is how piping a file into a container could be done for a build.
The container's ID will be printed after the build is done and the build
logs could be retrieved using `docker logs`. This is
useful if you need to pipe a file or something else into a container and
retrieve the container's ID once the container has finished running.

### Add host device to container (--device)

```bash
$ docker run --device=/dev/sdc:/dev/xvdc \
             --device=/dev/sdd --device=/dev/zero:/dev/nulo \
             -i -t \
             ubuntu ls -l /dev/{xvdc,sdd,nulo}

brw-rw---- 1 root disk 8, 2 Feb  9 16:05 /dev/xvdc
brw-rw---- 1 root disk 8, 3 Feb  9 16:05 /dev/sdd
crw-rw-rw- 1 root root 1, 5 Feb  9 16:05 /dev/nulo
```

It is often necessary to directly expose devices to a container. The `--device`
option enables that. For example, a specific block storage device or loop
device or audio device can be added to an otherwise unprivileged container
(without the `--privileged` flag) and have the application directly access it.

By default, the container will be able to `read`, `write` and `mknod` these devices.
This can be overridden using a third `:rwm` set of options to each `--device`
flag:

```bash
$ docker run --device=/dev/sda:/dev/xvdc --rm -it ubuntu fdisk  /dev/xvdc

Command (m for help): q
$ docker run --device=/dev/sda:/dev/xvdc:r --rm -it ubuntu fdisk  /dev/xvdc
You will not be able to write the partition table.

Command (m for help): q

$ docker run --device=/dev/sda:/dev/xvdc:rw --rm -it ubuntu fdisk  /dev/xvdc

Command (m for help): q

$ docker run --device=/dev/sda:/dev/xvdc:m --rm -it ubuntu fdisk  /dev/xvdc
fdisk: unable to open /dev/xvdc: Operation not permitted
```

> **Note**: `--device` cannot be safely used with ephemeral devices. Block devices
> that may be removed should not be added to untrusted containers with
> `--device`.

### Restart policies (--restart)

Use Docker's `--restart` to specify a container's *restart policy*. A restart
policy controls whether the Docker daemon restarts a container after exit.
Docker supports the following restart policies:

| Policy            | Result                                  |
|-------------------|-----------------------------------------|
| `no`              | Do not automatically restart the container when it exits. This is the default. |
| `failure`         | Restart only if the container exits with a non-zero exit status. Optionally, limit the number of restart retries the Docker daemon attempts. |
| `always`          | Always restart the container regardless of the exit status. When you specify always, the Docker daemon will try to restart the container indefinitely. The container will also always start on daemon startup, regardless of the current state of the container. |

```bash
$ docker run --restart=always redis
```

This will run the `redis` container with a restart policy of **always**
so that if the container exits, Docker will restart it.

More detailed information on restart policies can be found in the
[Restart Policies (--restart)](../run.md#restart-policies-restart)
section of the Docker run reference page.

### Add entries to container hosts file (--add-host)

You can add other hosts into a container's `/etc/hosts` file by using one or
more `--add-host` flags. This example adds a static address for a host named
`docker`:

```bash
$ docker run --add-host=docker:10.180.0.1 --rm -it debian

root@f38c87f2a42d:/# ping docker
PING docker (10.180.0.1): 48 data bytes
56 bytes from 10.180.0.1: icmp_seq=0 ttl=254 time=7.600 ms
56 bytes from 10.180.0.1: icmp_seq=1 ttl=254 time=30.705 ms
^C--- docker ping statistics ---
2 packets transmitted, 2 packets received, 0% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = 7.600/19.152/30.705/11.553 ms
```

Sometimes you need to connect to the Docker host from within your
container. To enable this, pass the Docker host's IP address to
the container using the `--add-host` flag. To find the host's address,
use the `ip addr show` command.

The flags you pass to `ip addr show` depend on whether you are
using IPv4 or IPv6 networking in your containers. Use the following
flags for IPv4 address retrieval for a network device named `eth0`:

```bash
$ HOSTIP=`ip -4 addr show scope global dev eth0 | grep inet | awk '{print \$2}' | cut -d / -f 1`
$ docker run  --add-host=docker:${HOSTIP} --rm -it debian
```

For IPv6 use the `-6` flag instead of the `-4` flag. For other network
devices, replace `eth0` with the correct device name (for example `docker0`
for the bridge device).

### Set ulimits in container (--ulimit)

Since setting `ulimit` settings in a container requires extra privileges not
available in the default container, you can set these using the `--ulimit` flag.
`--ulimit` is specified with a soft and hard limit as such:
`<type>=<soft limit>[:<hard limit>]`, for example:

```bash
$ docker run --ulimit nofile=1024:1024 --rm debian sh -c "ulimit -n"
1024
```

> **Note**: If you do not provide a `hard limit`, the `soft limit` will be used
> for both values. If no `ulimits` are set, they will be inherited from
> the default `ulimits` set on the daemon.  `as` option is disabled now.
> In other words, the following script is not supported:
>
> ```bash
> $ docker run -it --ulimit as=1024 fedora /bin/bash`
> ```

The values are sent to the appropriate `syscall` as they are set.
Docker doesn't perform any byte conversion. Take this into account when setting the values.

#### For `nproc` usage

Be careful setting `nproc` with the `ulimit` flag as `nproc` is designed by Linux to set the
maximum number of processes available to a user, not to a container.  For example, start four
containers with `daemon` user:

```bash
$ docker run -d -u daemon --ulimit nproc=3 busybox top

$ docker run -d -u daemon --ulimit nproc=3 busybox top

$ docker run -d -u daemon --ulimit nproc=3 busybox top

$ docker run -d -u daemon --ulimit nproc=3 busybox top
```

The 4th container fails and reports "[8] System error: resource temporarily unavailable" error.
This fails because the caller set `nproc=3` resulting in the first three containers using up
the three processes quota set for the `daemon` user.

### Stop container with signal (--stop-signal)

The `--stop-signal` flag sets the system call signal that will be sent to the container to exit.
This signal can be a valid unsigned number that matches a position in the kernel's syscall table, for instance 9,
or a signal name in the format SIGNAME, for instance SIGKILL.

### Optional security options (--security-opt)

On Windows, this flag can be used to specify the `credentialspec` option.
The `credentialspec` must be in the format `file://spec.txt` or `registry://keyname`.

### Stop container with timeout (--stop-timeout)

The `--stop-timeout` flag sets the timeout (in seconds) that a pre-defined (see `--stop-signal`) system call
signal that will be sent to the container to exit. After timeout elapses the container will be killed with SIGKILL.

### Specify isolation technology for container (--isolation)

This option is useful in situations where you are running Docker containers on
Windows. The `--isolation <value>` option sets a container's isolation technology.
On Linux, the only supported is the `default` option which uses
Linux namespaces. These two commands are equivalent on Linux:

```bash
$ docker run -d busybox top
$ docker run -d --isolation default busybox top
```

On Windows, `--isolation` can take one of these values:


| Value     | Description                                                                                |
|-----------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| `default` | Use the value specified by the Docker daemon's `--exec-opt` or system default (see below). |
| `process` | Shared-kernel namespace isolation (not supported on Windows client operating systems).     |
| `hyperv`  | Hyper-V hypervisor partition-based isolation.                                              |

The default isolation on Windows server operating systems is `process`. The default (and only supported)
isolation on Windows client operating systems is `hyperv`. An attempt to start a container on a client
operating system with `--isolation process` will fail.

On Windows server, assuming the default configuration, these commands are equivalent
and result in `process` isolation:

```PowerShell
PS C:\> docker run -d microsoft/nanoserver powershell echo process
PS C:\> docker run -d --isolation default microsoft/nanoserver powershell echo process
PS C:\> docker run -d --isolation process microsoft/nanoserver powershell echo process
```

If you have set the `--exec-opt isolation=hyperv` option on the Docker `daemon`, or
are running against a Windows client-based daemon, these commands are equivalent and
result in `hyperv` isolation:

```PowerShell
PS C:\> docker run -d microsoft/nanoserver powershell echo hyperv
PS C:\> docker run -d --isolation default microsoft/nanoserver powershell echo hyperv
PS C:\> docker run -d --isolation hyperv microsoft/nanoserver powershell echo hyperv
```

### Configure namespaced kernel parameters (sysctls) at runtime

The `--sysctl` sets namespaced kernel parameters (sysctls) in the
container. For example, to turn on IP forwarding in the containers
network namespace, run this command:

```bash
$ docker run --sysctl net.ipv4.ip_forward=1 someimage
```

> **Note**: Not all sysctls are namespaced. Docker does not support changing sysctls
> inside of a container that also modify the host system. As the kernel
> evolves we expect to see more sysctls become namespaced.

#### Currently supported sysctls

- `IPC Namespace`:

  ```none
  kernel.msgmax, kernel.msgmnb, kernel.msgmni, kernel.sem, kernel.shmall, kernel.shmmax, kernel.shmmni, kernel.shm_rmid_forced
  Sysctls beginning with fs.mqueue.*
  ```

  If you use the `--ipc=host` option these sysctls will not be allowed.

- `Network Namespace`:

  Sysctls beginning with net.*

  If you use the `--network=host` option using these sysctls will not be allowed.