Using an object-oriented programming analogy, the difference between a Docker image and a Docker container is the same as that of the difference between a class and an object. An object is the runtime instance of a class. Similarly, a container is the runtime instance of an image.
An object gets created only once when it is instantiated. Similarly, a container can be running or stopped. Containers are created out of an image, though this might not always be the case. The following example creates an Apache server image, runs the image, lists the images and then lists the containers:
Create a Dockerfile with the following contents:
FROM httpd:2.4
Install Apache server
sudo docker build -t my-apache2 .
Run the image
sudo docker run -it --rm --name my-running-app my-apache2
List Docker images
sudo docker images
List the running Docker containers
docker ps
List all containers
docker ps -a
List latest created containers
docker ps -l
