# import Usage: docker import URL|- [REPOSITORY[:TAG]] Create an empty filesystem image and import the contents of the tarball (.tar, .tar.gz, .tgz, .bzip, .tar.xz, .txz) into it, then optionally tag it. -c, --change=[] Apply specified Dockerfile instructions while importing the image URLs must start with `http` and point to a single file archive (.tar, .tar.gz, .tgz, .bzip, .tar.xz, or .txz) containing a root filesystem. If you would like to import from a local directory or archive, you can use the `-` parameter to take the data from `STDIN`. The `--change` option will apply `Dockerfile` instructions to the image that is created. Supported `Dockerfile` instructions: `CMD`|`ENTRYPOINT`|`ENV`|`EXPOSE`|`ONBUILD`|`USER`|`VOLUME`|`WORKDIR` ## Examples **Import from a remote location:** This will create a new untagged image. $ docker import http://example.com/exampleimage.tgz **Import from a local file:** Import to docker via pipe and `STDIN`. $ cat exampleimage.tgz | docker import - exampleimagelocal:new **Import from a local directory:** $ sudo tar -c . | docker import - exampleimagedir **Import from a local directory with new configurations:** $ sudo tar -c . | docker import --change "ENV DEBUG true" - exampleimagedir Note the `sudo` in this example – you must preserve the ownership of the files (especially root ownership) during the archiving with tar. If you are not root (or the sudo command) when you tar, then the ownerships might not get preserved.