docker-commit

docker commit [options] container [repository[:tag]]

docker commit creates a new image from a container's changes. This captures the current state of a container's filesystem as a new image layer by examining all modifications made since the container was created.While useful for debugging, experimentation, or saving a working state, this approach is not recommended for production workflows. Dockerfiles provide better reproducibility, version control, and documentation of the build process. Committed images lack the transparent layer history that Dockerfiles provide, making them harder to maintain and audit.

-a, --author string

Author of the image.

Apply Dockerfile instructions to the image.

Commit message.

Pause container during commit (default true).

Does not include data in volumes mounted into the container. The resulting image lacks meaningful build history and is not reproducible from source. By default the container is paused for the duration of the commit (--pause=true); pass --pause=false to keep it running, at the risk of capturing an inconsistent filesystem snapshot if writes are in flight.

docker commit has been in the Docker CLI since the project's first public release in 2013. It predates Dockerfiles and was the original way to build images; modern workflows prefer docker build for reproducibility and docker commit for ad-hoc debug snapshots only.

docker(1), docker-build(1), docker-save(1), docker-diff(1)