Docker Rename Image / Container

This quick tutorial shows you how to rename a Docker image / container.

I’ll be using hello-world Docker image to demonstrate the usage of each command.

$ docker pull hello-world
Using default tag: latest
latest: Pulling from library/hello-world
Digest: sha256:6a65f928fb91fcfbc963f7aa6d57c8eeb426ad9a20c7ee045538ef34847f44f1
Status: Downloaded newer image for hello-world:latest

$ docker images
REPOSITORY          TAG                 IMAGE ID            CREATED             SIZE
hello-world         latest              bf756fb1ae65        4 months ago        13.3kB

$ docker run hello-world
  Hello from Docker!
  ..........
  ......

$ docker ps
CONTAINER ID        IMAGE               COMMAND             CREATED             STATUS          PORTS               NAMES
1972fa4393d5        hello-world         "/hello"            4 seconds ago       Exited (0) 4 seconds ago                       sad_shaw

Rename Docker Image

To rename a Docker image, use either docker tag or docker image tag commands. Here you can use image name or ID as reference to the current image.

// Using Image Name
$ docker tag <OLD NAME (REPOSITORY:TAG)> <NEW NAME (REPOSITORY:TAG)>
e.g.
$ docker tag hello-world:latest hello-world:latest_renamed_using_repo_and_tag

// Using Image ID
$ docker tag <IMAGE ID> <NEW NAME (REPOSITORY:TAG)>
e.g. 
$ docker tag bf756fb1ae65 hello-world:latest_renamed_using_imageId

$ docker images
REPOSITORY          TAG                                 IMAGE ID            CREATED             SIZE
hello-world         latest                              bf756fb1ae65        4 months ago        13.3kB
hello-world         latest_renamed_using_imageId        bf756fb1ae65        4 months ago        13.3kB
hello-world         latest_renamed_using_repo_and_tag   bf756fb1ae65        4 months ago        13.3kB

Even though the image names (REPOSITORY:TAG) are different, IMAGE ID will be common among all images since this is the same image under 3 different references.

Rename Docker Container

To rename a Docker container, use either docker rename or docker container rename commands. Here you can use container ID as reference to the current container.

// Using Container Name
$ docker rename <OLD NAME> <NEW NAME>
e.g.
$ docker rename sad_shaw hello_world

// Using Container ID
$ docker rename <CONTAINER ID> <NEW NAME>
e.g.
$ docker rename 1972fa4393d5 hello_world

$ docker ps
CONTAINER ID        IMAGE               COMMAND             CREATED             STATUS          PORTS               NAMES
1972fa4393d5        hello-world         "/hello"            5 minutes ago       Exited (0) 5 minutes ago                       hello_world

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👉 Any questions? Please comment below.

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