---
title: "dockerd"
description: "The daemon command description and usage"
keywords: "container, daemon, runtime"
aliases:
- /engine/reference/commandline/daemon/
---

<!-- This file is maintained within the docker/cli GitHub
     repository at https://github.com/docker/cli/. Make all
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# daemon

```markdown
Usage: dockerd [OPTIONS]

A self-sufficient runtime for containers.

Options:
      --add-runtime runtime                   Register an additional OCI compatible runtime (default [])
      --allow-nondistributable-artifacts list Allow push of nondistributable artifacts to registry
      --api-cors-header string                Set CORS headers in the Engine API
      --authorization-plugin list             Authorization plugins to load
      --bip string                            Specify network bridge IP
  -b, --bridge string                         Attach containers to a network bridge
      --cdi-spec-dir list                     CDI specification directories to use
      --cgroup-parent string                  Set parent cgroup for all containers
      --config-file string                    Daemon configuration file (default "/etc/docker/daemon.json")
      --containerd string                     containerd grpc address
      --containerd-namespace string           Containerd namespace to use (default "moby")
      --containerd-plugins-namespace string   Containerd namespace to use for plugins (default "plugins.moby")
      --cpu-rt-period int                     Limit the CPU real-time period in microseconds for the
                                              parent cgroup for all containers (not supported with cgroups v2)
      --cpu-rt-runtime int                    Limit the CPU real-time runtime in microseconds for the
                                              parent cgroup for all containers (not supported with cgroups v2)
      --cri-containerd                        start containerd with cri
      --data-root string                      Root directory of persistent Docker state (default "/var/lib/docker")
  -D, --debug                                 Enable debug mode
      --default-address-pool pool-options     Default address pools for node specific local networks
      --default-cgroupns-mode string          Default mode for containers cgroup namespace ("host" | "private") (default "private")
      --default-gateway ip                    Container default gateway IPv4 address
      --default-gateway-v6 ip                 Container default gateway IPv6 address
      --default-ipc-mode string               Default mode for containers ipc ("shareable" | "private") (default "private")
      --default-network-opt mapmap            Default network options (default map[])
      --default-runtime string                Default OCI runtime for containers (default "runc")
      --default-shm-size bytes                Default shm size for containers (default 64MiB)
      --default-ulimit ulimit                 Default ulimits for containers (default [])
      --dns list                              DNS server to use
      --dns-opt list                          DNS options to use
      --dns-search list                       DNS search domains to use
      --exec-opt list                         Runtime execution options
      --exec-root string                      Root directory for execution state files (default "/var/run/docker")
      --experimental                          Enable experimental features
      --fixed-cidr string                     IPv4 subnet for fixed IPs
      --fixed-cidr-v6 string                  IPv6 subnet for fixed IPs
  -G, --group string                          Group for the unix socket (default "docker")
      --help                                  Print usage
  -H, --host list                             Daemon socket(s) to connect to
      --host-gateway-ip ip                    IP address that the special 'host-gateway' string in --add-host resolves to.
                                              Defaults to the IP address of the default bridge
      --http-proxy string                     HTTP proxy URL to use for outgoing traffic
      --https-proxy string                    HTTPS proxy URL to use for outgoing traffic
      --icc                                   Enable inter-container communication (default true)
      --init                                  Run an init in the container to forward signals and reap processes
      --init-path string                      Path to the docker-init binary
      --insecure-registry list                Enable insecure registry communication
      --ip ip                                 Default IP when binding container ports (default 0.0.0.0)
      --ip-forward                            Enable net.ipv4.ip_forward (default true)
      --ip-masq                               Enable IP masquerading (default true)
      --ip6tables                             Enable addition of ip6tables rules (experimental)
      --iptables                              Enable addition of iptables rules (default true)
      --ipv6                                  Enable IPv6 networking
      --label list                            Set key=value labels to the daemon
      --live-restore                          Enable live restore of docker when containers are still running
      --log-driver string                     Default driver for container logs (default "json-file")
  -l, --log-level string                      Set the logging level ("debug"|"info"|"warn"|"error"|"fatal") (default "info")
      --log-opt map                           Default log driver options for containers (default map[])
      --max-concurrent-downloads int          Set the max concurrent downloads (default 3)
      --max-concurrent-uploads int            Set the max concurrent uploads (default 5)
      --max-download-attempts int             Set the max download attempts for each pull (default 5)
      --metrics-addr string                   Set default address and port to serve the metrics api on
      --mtu int                               Set the containers network MTU (default 1500)
      --network-control-plane-mtu int         Network Control plane MTU (default 1500)
      --no-new-privileges                     Set no-new-privileges by default for new containers
      --no-proxy string                       Comma-separated list of hosts or IP addresses for which the proxy is skipped
      --node-generic-resource list            Advertise user-defined resource
      --oom-score-adjust int                  Set the oom_score_adj for the daemon
  -p, --pidfile string                        Path to use for daemon PID file (default "/var/run/docker.pid")
      --raw-logs                              Full timestamps without ANSI coloring
      --registry-mirror list                  Preferred registry mirror
      --rootless                              Enable rootless mode; typically used with RootlessKit
      --seccomp-profile string                Path to seccomp profile. Use "unconfined" to disable the default seccomp profile (default "builtin")
      --selinux-enabled                       Enable selinux support
      --shutdown-timeout int                  Set the default shutdown timeout (default 15)
  -s, --storage-driver string                 Storage driver to use
      --storage-opt list                      Storage driver options
      --swarm-default-advertise-addr string   Set default address or interface for swarm advertised address
      --tls                                   Use TLS; implied by --tlsverify
      --tlscacert string                      Trust certs signed only by this CA (default "~/.docker/ca.pem")
      --tlscert string                        Path to TLS certificate file (default "~/.docker/cert.pem")
      --tlskey string                         Path to TLS key file (default "~/.docker/key.pem")
      --tlsverify                             Use TLS and verify the remote
      --userland-proxy                        Use userland proxy for loopback traffic (default true)
      --userland-proxy-path string            Path to the userland proxy binary
      --userns-remap string                   User/Group setting for user namespaces
      --validate                              Validate daemon configuration and exit
  -v, --version                               Print version information and quit
```

Options with [] may be specified multiple times.

## Description

`dockerd` is the persistent process that manages containers. Docker
uses different binaries for the daemon and client. To run the daemon you
type `dockerd`.

To run the daemon with debug output, use `dockerd --debug` or add `"debug": true`
to [the `daemon.json` file](#daemon-configuration-file).

> **Enabling experimental features**
>
> Enable experimental features by starting `dockerd` with the `--experimental`
> flag or adding `"experimental": true` to the `daemon.json` file.

### Environment variables

The following list of environment variables are supported by the `dockerd` daemon.
Some of these environment variables are supported both by the Docker Daemon and
the `docker` CLI. Refer to [Environment variables](https://docs.docker.com/engine/reference/commandline/cli/#environment-variables)
in the CLI section to learn about environment variables supported by the
`docker` CLI.

| Variable            | Description                                                                                                                                                                             |
| :------------------ | :-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `DOCKER_CERT_PATH`  | Location of your authentication keys. This variable is used both by the [`docker` CLI](https://docs.docker.com/engine/reference/commandline/cli/) and the `dockerd` daemon.             |
| `DOCKER_DRIVER`     | The storage driver to use.                                                                                                                                                              |
| `DOCKER_RAMDISK`    | If set this disables `pivot_root`.                                                                                                                                                      |
| `DOCKER_TLS_VERIFY` | When set Docker uses TLS and verifies the remote. This variable is used both by the [`docker` CLI](https://docs.docker.com/engine/reference/commandline/cli/) and the `dockerd` daemon. |
| `DOCKER_TMPDIR`     | Location for temporary files created by the daemon.                                                                                                                                     |
| `HTTP_PROXY`        | Proxy URL for HTTP requests unless overridden by NoProxy. See the [Go specification](https://pkg.go.dev/golang.org/x/net/http/httpproxy#Config) for details.                            |
| `HTTPS_PROXY`       | Proxy URL for HTTPS requests unless overridden by NoProxy. See the [Go specification](https://pkg.go.dev/golang.org/x/net/http/httpproxy#Config) for details.                           |
| `MOBY_DISABLE_PIGZ` | Disables the use of [`unpigz`](https://linux.die.net/man/1/pigz) to decompress layers in parallel when pulling images, even if it is installed.                                         |
| `NO_PROXY`          | Comma-separated values specifying hosts that should be excluded from proxying. See the [Go specification](https://pkg.go.dev/golang.org/x/net/http/httpproxy#Config) for details.       |

## Examples

### Proxy configuration

> **Note**
>
> Refer to the [Docker Desktop manual](https://docs.docker.com/desktop/networking/#httphttps-proxy-support)
> if you are running [Docker Desktop](https://docs.docker.com/desktop/).

If you are behind an HTTP proxy server, for example in corporate settings,
you may have to configure the Docker daemon to use the proxy server for
operations such as pulling and pushing images. The daemon can be configured
in three ways:

1. Using environment variables (`HTTP_PROXY`, `HTTPS_PROXY`, and `NO_PROXY`).
2. Using the `http-proxy`, `https-proxy`, and `no-proxy` fields in the
   [daemon configuration file](#daemon-configuration-file) (Docker Engine version 23.0 or later).
3. Using the `--http-proxy`, `--https-proxy`, and `--no-proxy` command-line
   options. (Docker Engine version 23.0 or later).

The command-line and configuration file options take precedence over environment
variables. Refer to [control and configure Docker with systemd](https://docs.docker.com/config/daemon/systemd/#httphttps-proxy)
to set these environment variables on a host using `systemd`.

### Daemon socket option

The Docker daemon can listen for [Docker Engine API](https://docs.docker.com/engine/api/)
requests via three different types of Socket: `unix`, `tcp`, and `fd`.

By default, a `unix` domain socket (or IPC socket) is created at
`/var/run/docker.sock`, requiring either `root` permission, or `docker` group
membership.

If you need to access the Docker daemon remotely, you need to enable the tcp
Socket. When using a TCP socket, the Docker daemon provides un-encrypted and
un-authenticated direct access to the Docker daemon by default. You should secure
the daemon either using the [built in HTTPS encrypted socket](https://docs.docker.com/engine/security/protect-access/),
or by putting a secure web proxy in front of it. You can listen on port `2375` on all
network interfaces with `-H tcp://0.0.0.0:2375`, or on a particular network
interface using its IP address: `-H tcp://192.168.59.103:2375`. It is
conventional to use port `2375` for un-encrypted, and port `2376` for encrypted
communication with the daemon.

> **Note**
>
> If you're using an HTTPS encrypted socket, keep in mind that only
> TLS version 1.0 and higher is supported. Protocols SSLv3 and below are not
> supported for security reasons.

On systemd based systems, you can communicate with the daemon via
[systemd socket activation](https://0pointer.de/blog/projects/socket-activation.html),
with `dockerd -H fd://`. Using `fd://` works for most setups, but
you can also specify individual sockets: `dockerd -H fd://3`. If the
specified socket activated files aren't found, the daemon exits. You can
find examples of using systemd socket activation with Docker and systemd in the
[Docker source tree](https://github.com/docker/docker/tree/master/contrib/init/systemd/).

You can configure the Docker daemon to listen to multiple sockets at the same
time using multiple `-H` options:

The example below runs the daemon listening on the default Unix socket, and
on 2 specific IP addresses on this host:

```console
$ sudo dockerd -H unix:///var/run/docker.sock -H tcp://192.168.59.106 -H tcp://10.10.10.2
```

The Docker client honors the `DOCKER_HOST` environment variable to set the
`-H` flag for the client. Use **one** of the following commands:

```console
$ docker -H tcp://0.0.0.0:2375 ps
```

```console
$ export DOCKER_HOST="tcp://0.0.0.0:2375"

$ docker ps
```

Setting the `DOCKER_TLS_VERIFY` environment variable to any value other than
the empty string is equivalent to setting the `--tlsverify` flag. The following
are equivalent:

```console
$ docker --tlsverify ps
# or
$ export DOCKER_TLS_VERIFY=1
$ docker ps
```

The Docker client honors the `HTTP_PROXY`, `HTTPS_PROXY`, and `NO_PROXY`
environment variables (or the lowercase versions thereof). `HTTPS_PROXY` takes
precedence over `HTTP_PROXY`.

The Docker client supports connecting to a remote daemon via SSH:

```console
$ docker -H ssh://me@example.com:22/var/run/docker.sock ps
$ docker -H ssh://me@example.com:22 ps
$ docker -H ssh://me@example.com ps
$ docker -H ssh://example.com ps
```

To use SSH connection, you need to set up `ssh` so that it can reach the
remote host with public key authentication. Password authentication is not
supported. If your key is protected with passphrase, you need to set up
`ssh-agent`.

#### Bind Docker to another host/port or a Unix socket

> **Warning**
>
> Changing the default `docker` daemon binding to a TCP port or Unix `docker`
> user group introduces security risks, as it may allow non-root users to gain
> root access on the host. Make sure you control access to `docker`. If you are
> binding to a TCP port, anyone with access to that port has full Docker
> access; so it's not advisable on an open network.
{ .warning }

With `-H` it's possible to make the Docker daemon to listen on a specific IP
and port. By default, it listens on `unix:///var/run/docker.sock` to allow
only local connections by the root user. You could set it to `0.0.0.0:2375` or
a specific host IP to give access to everybody, but that isn't recommended
because someone could gain root access to the host where the daemon is running.

Similarly, the Docker client can use `-H` to connect to a custom port.
The Docker client defaults to connecting to `unix:///var/run/docker.sock`
on Linux, and `tcp://127.0.0.1:2376` on Windows.

`-H` accepts host and port assignment in the following format:

```text
tcp://[host]:[port][path] or unix://path
```

For example:

-   `tcp://` -> TCP connection to `127.0.0.1` on either port `2376` when TLS encryption
    is on, or port `2375` when communication is in plain text.
-   `tcp://host:2375` -> TCP connection on
    host:2375
-   `tcp://host:2375/path` -> TCP connection on
    host:2375 and prepend path to all requests
-   `unix://path/to/socket` -> Unix socket located
    at `path/to/socket`

`-H`, when empty, defaults to the same value as
when no `-H` was passed in.

`-H` also accepts short form for TCP bindings: `host:` or `host:port` or `:port`

Run Docker in daemon mode:

```console
$ sudo <path to>/dockerd -H 0.0.0.0:5555 &
```

Download an `ubuntu` image:

```console
$ docker -H :5555 pull ubuntu
```

You can use multiple `-H`, for example, if you want to listen on both
TCP and a Unix socket

```console
$ sudo dockerd -H tcp://127.0.0.1:2375 -H unix:///var/run/docker.sock &
# Download an ubuntu image, use default Unix socket
$ docker pull ubuntu
# OR use the TCP port
$ docker -H tcp://127.0.0.1:2375 pull ubuntu
```

### Daemon storage-driver

On Linux, the Docker daemon has support for several different image layer storage
drivers: `overlay2`, `fuse-overlayfs`, `btrfs`, and `zfs`.

`overlay2` is the preferred storage driver for all currently supported Linux distributions,
and is selected by default. Unless users have a strong reason to prefer another storage driver,
`overlay2` should be used.

You can find out more about storage drivers and how to select one in [Select a storage driver](https://docs.docker.com/storage/storagedriver/select-storage-driver/).

On Windows, the Docker daemon only supports the `windowsfilter` storage driver.

### Options per storage driver

Particular storage-driver can be configured with options specified with
`--storage-opt` flags. Options for `zfs` start with `zfs`, and options for
`btrfs` start with `btrfs`.

#### ZFS options

##### `zfs.fsname`

Specifies the ZFS filesystem that the daemon should use to create its datasets.
By default, the ZFS filesystem in `/var/lib/docker` is used.

###### Example

```console
$ sudo dockerd -s zfs --storage-opt zfs.fsname=zroot/docker
```

#### Btrfs options

##### `btrfs.min_space`

Specifies the minimum size to use when creating the subvolume which is used
for containers. If user uses disk quota for btrfs when creating or running
a container with **--storage-opt size** option, Docker should ensure the
**size** can't be smaller than **btrfs.min_space**.

###### Example

```console
$ sudo dockerd -s btrfs --storage-opt btrfs.min_space=10G
```

#### Overlay2 options

##### `overlay2.size`

Sets the default max size of the container. It is supported only when the
backing filesystem is `xfs` and mounted with `pquota` mount option. Under these
conditions the user can pass any size less than the backing filesystem size.

###### Example

```console
$ sudo dockerd -s overlay2 --storage-opt overlay2.size=1G
```


#### Windowsfilter options

##### `size`

Specifies the size to use when creating the sandbox which is used for containers.
Defaults to 20G.

###### Example

```powershell
C:\> dockerd --storage-opt size=40G
```

### Runtime options

The Docker daemon relies on a
[OCI](https://github.com/opencontainers/runtime-spec) compliant runtime
(invoked via the `containerd` daemon) as its interface to the Linux
kernel `namespaces`, `cgroups`, and `SELinux`.

#### Configure container runtimes

By default, the Docker daemon uses runc as a container runtime.
You can configure the daemon to add additional runtimes.

containerd shims installed on `PATH` can be used directly, without the need
to edit the daemon's configuration. For example, if you install the Kata
Containers shim (`containerd-shim-kata-v2`) on `PATH`, then you can select that
runtime with `docker run` without having to edit the daemon's configuration:

```console
$ docker run --runtime io.containerd.kata.v2
```

Container runtimes that don't implement containerd shims, or containerd shims
installed outside of `PATH`, must be registered with the daemon, either via the
configuration file or using the `--add-runtime` command line flag.

For examples on how to use other container runtimes, see
[Alternative container runtimes](https://docs.docker.com/engine/alternative-runtimes/)

##### Configure runtimes using `daemon.json`

To register and configure container runtimes using the daemon's configuration
file, add the runtimes as entries under `runtimes`:

```json
{
  "runtimes": {
    "<runtime>": {}
  }
}
```

The key of the entry (`<runtime>` in the previous example) represents the name
of the runtime. This is the name that you reference when you run a container,
using `docker run --runtime <runtime>`.

The runtime entry contains an object specifying the configuration for your
runtime. The properties of the object depends on what kind of runtime you're
looking to register:

- If the runtime implements its own containerd shim, the object shall contain
  a `runtimeType` field and an optional `options` field.

  ```json
  {
    "runtimes": {
      "<runtime>": {
        "runtimeType": "<name-or-path>",
        "options": {}
      }
    }
  }
  ```

  See [Configure shims](#configure-containerd-shims).

- If the runtime is designed to be a drop-in replacement for runc,
  the object contains a `path` field, and an optional `runtimeArgs` field.

  ```json
  {
    "runtimes": {
      "<runtime>": {
        "path": "/path/to/bin",
        "runtimeArgs": ["...args"]
      }
    }
  }
  ```

  See [Configure runc drop-in replacements](#configure-runc-drop-in-replacements).

After changing the runtimes configuration in the configuration file,
you must reload or restart the daemon for changes to take effect:

```console
$ sudo systemctl reload dockerd
```

##### Configure containerd shims

If the runtime that you want to register implements a containerd shim,
or if you want to register a runtime which uses the runc shim,
use the following format for the runtime entry:

```json
{
  "runtimes": {
    "<runtime>": {
      "runtimeType": "<name-or-path>",
      "options": {}
    }
  }
}
```

`runtimeType` refers to either:

- A fully qualified name of a containerd shim.

  The fully qualified name of a shim is the same as the `runtime_type` used to
  register the runtime in containerd's CRI configuration.
  For example, `io.containerd.runsc.v1`.

- The path of a containerd shim binary.

  This option is useful if you installed the containerd shim binary outside of
  `PATH`.

`options` is optional. It lets you specify the runtime configuration that you
want to use for the shim. The configuration parameters that you can specify in
`options` depends on the runtime you're registering. For most shims,
the supported configuration options are `TypeUrl` and `ConfigPath`.
For example:

```json
{
  "runtimes": {
    "gvisor": {
      "runtimeType": "io.containerd.runsc.v1",
      "options": {
        "TypeUrl": "io.containerd.runsc.v1.options",
        "ConfigPath": "/etc/containerd/runsc.toml",
      }
    }
  }
}
```

You can configure multiple runtimes using the same runtimeType. For example:

```json
{
  "runtimes": {
    "gvisor-foo": {
      "runtimeType": "io.containerd.runsc.v1",
      "options": {
        "TypeUrl": "io.containerd.runsc.v1.options",
        "ConfigPath": "/etc/containerd/runsc-foo.toml"
      }
    },
    "gvisor-bar": {
      "runtimeType": "io.containerd.runsc.v1",
      "options": {
        "TypeUrl": "io.containerd.runsc.v1.options",
        "ConfigPath": "/etc/containerd/runsc-bar.toml"
      }
    }
  }
}
```

The `options` field takes a special set of configuration parameters when used
with `"runtimeType": "io.containerd.runc.v2"`. For more information about runc
parameters, refer to the runc configuration section in
[CRI Plugin Config Guide](https://github.com/containerd/containerd/blob/v1.7.2/docs/cri/config.md#full-configuration).

##### Configure runc drop-in replacements

If the runtime that you want to register can act as a drop-in replacement for
runc, you can register the runtime either using the daemon configuration file, 
or using the `--add-runtime` flag for the `dockerd` cli.

When you use the configuration file, the entry uses the following format:

```json
{
  "runtimes": {
    "<runtime>": {
      "path": "/path/to/binary",
      "runtimeArgs": ["...args"]
    }
  }
}
```

Where `path` is either the absolute path to the runtime executable, or the name
of an executable installed on `PATH`:

```json
{
  "runtimes": {
    "runc": {
      "path": "runc"
    }
  }
}
```

And `runtimeArgs` lets you optionally pass additional arguments to the runtime.
Entries with this format use the containerd runc shim to invoke a custom
runtime binary.

When you use the `--add-runtime` CLI flag, use the following format:

```console
$ sudo dockerd --add-runtime <runtime>=<path>
```

Defining runtime arguments via the command line is not supported.

For an example configuration for a runc drop-in replacment, see
[Alternative container runtimes > youki](https://docs.docker.com/engine/alternative-runtimes/#youki)

##### Configure the default container runtime

You can specify either the name of a fully qualified containerd runtime shim,
or the name of a registered runtime. You can specify the default runtime either
using the daemon configuration file, or using the `--default-runtime` flag for
the `dockerd` cli.

When you use the configuration file, the entry uses the following format:

```json
{
  "default-runtime": "io.containerd.runsc.v1"
}
```

When you use the `--default-runtime` CLI flag, use the following format:

```console
$ dockerd --default-runtime io.containerd.runsc.v1
```

#### Run containerd standalone

By default, the Docker daemon automatically starts `containerd`. If you want to
control `containerd` startup, manually start `containerd` and pass the path to
the `containerd` socket using the `--containerd` flag. For example:

```console
$ sudo dockerd --containerd /run/containerd/containerd.sock
```

#### Configure cgroup driver

You can configure how the runtime should manage container cgroups, using the
`--exec-opt native.cgroupdriver` CLI flag.

You can only specify `cgroupfs` or `systemd`. If you specify
`systemd` and it is not available, the system errors out. If you omit the
`native.cgroupdriver` option,` cgroupfs` is used on cgroup v1 hosts, `systemd`
is used on cgroup v2 hosts with systemd available.

This example sets the `cgroupdriver` to `systemd`:

```console
$ sudo dockerd --exec-opt native.cgroupdriver=systemd
```

Setting this option applies to all containers the daemon launches.

#### Configure container isolation technology (Windows)

For Windows containers, you can specify the default container isolation
technology to use, using the `--exec-opt isolation` flag. 

The following example makes `hyperv` the default isolation technology:

```console
> dockerd --exec-opt isolation=hyperv
```

If no isolation value is specified on daemon start, on Windows client,
the default is `hyperv`, and on Windows server, the default is `process`.

### Daemon DNS options

To set the DNS server for all Docker containers, use:

```console
$ sudo dockerd --dns 8.8.8.8
```

To set the DNS search domain for all Docker containers, use:

```console
$ sudo dockerd --dns-search example.com
```

### Allow push of non-distributable artifacts

Some images (e.g., Windows base images) contain artifacts whose distribution is
restricted by license. When these images are pushed to a registry, restricted
artifacts are not included.

To override this behavior for specific registries, use the
`--allow-nondistributable-artifacts` option in one of the following forms:

* `--allow-nondistributable-artifacts myregistry:5000` tells the Docker daemon
  to push non-distributable artifacts to myregistry:5000.
* `--allow-nondistributable-artifacts 10.1.0.0/16` tells the Docker daemon to
  push non-distributable artifacts to all registries whose resolved IP address
  is within the subnet described by the CIDR syntax.

This option can be used multiple times.

This option is useful when pushing images containing non-distributable artifacts
to a registry on an air-gapped network so hosts on that network can pull the
images without connecting to another server.

> **Warning**
>
> Non-distributable artifacts typically have restrictions on how
> and where they can be distributed and shared. Only use this feature to push
> artifacts to private registries and ensure that you are in compliance with
> any terms that cover redistributing non-distributable artifacts.
{ .warning }

### Insecure registries

In this section, "registry" refers to a private registry, and `myregistry:5000`
is a placeholder example of a private registry.

Docker considers a private registry either secure or insecure.
A secure registry uses TLS and a copy of its CA certificate is placed on the
Docker host at `/etc/docker/certs.d/myregistry:5000/ca.crt`. An insecure
registry is either not using TLS (i.e., listening on plain text HTTP), or is
using TLS with a CA certificate not known by the Docker daemon. The latter can
happen when the certificate wasn't found under
`/etc/docker/certs.d/myregistry:5000/`, or if the certificate verification
failed (i.e., wrong CA).

By default, Docker assumes all registries to be secure, except for local registries.
Communicating with an insecure registry isn't possible
if Docker assumes that registry is secure. In order to communicate with an
insecure registry, the Docker daemon requires `--insecure-registry` in one of
the following two forms:

* `--insecure-registry myregistry:5000` tells the Docker daemon that
  myregistry:5000 should be considered insecure.
* `--insecure-registry 10.1.0.0/16` tells the Docker daemon that all registries
  whose domain resolve to an IP address is part of the subnet described by the
  CIDR syntax, should be considered insecure.

The flag can be used multiple times to allow multiple registries to be marked
as insecure.

If an insecure registry isn't marked as insecure, `docker pull`,
`docker push`, and `docker search` result in error messages, prompting
the user to either secure or pass the `--insecure-registry` flag to the Docker
daemon as described above.

Local registries, whose IP address falls in the 127.0.0.0/8 range, are
automatically marked as insecure as of Docker 1.3.2. It isn't recommended to
rely on this, as it may change in the future.

Enabling `--insecure-registry`, i.e., allowing un-encrypted and/or untrusted
communication, can be useful when running a local registry. However,
because its use creates security vulnerabilities it should only be enabled for
testing purposes. For increased security, users should add their CA to their
system's list of trusted CAs instead of enabling `--insecure-registry`.

#### Legacy Registries

Operations against registries supporting only the legacy v1 protocol are no longer
supported. Specifically, the daemon doesn't attempt to push, pull or sign in
to v1 registries. The exception to this is `search` which can still be performed
on v1 registries.

### Running a Docker daemon behind an HTTPS_PROXY

When running inside a LAN that uses an `HTTPS` proxy, the proxy's certificates
replace Docker Hub's certificates. These certificates must be added to your
Docker host's configuration:

1. Install the `ca-certificates` package for your distribution
2. Ask your network admin for the proxy's CA certificate and append them to
   `/etc/pki/tls/certs/ca-bundle.crt`
3. Then start your Docker daemon with `HTTPS_PROXY=http://username:password@proxy:port/ dockerd`.
   The `username:` and `password@` are optional - and are only needed if your
   proxy is set up to require authentication.

This only adds the proxy and authentication to the Docker daemon's requests.
To use the proxy when building images and running containers, see
[Configure Docker to use a proxy server](https://docs.docker.com/network/proxy/)

### Default `ulimit` settings

The `--default-ulimit` flag lets you set the default `ulimit` options to use for
all containers. It takes the same options as `--ulimit` for `docker run`. If
these defaults aren't set, `ulimit` settings are inherited from the Docker daemon.
Any `--ulimit` options passed to `docker run` override the daemon defaults.

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 details, see [`docker run` reference](https://docs.docker.com/reference/cli/docker/container/run/#ulimit).

### Access authorization

Docker's access authorization can be extended by authorization plugins that your
organization can purchase or build themselves. You can install one or more
authorization plugins when you start the Docker `daemon` using the
`--authorization-plugin=PLUGIN_ID` option.

```console
$ sudo dockerd --authorization-plugin=plugin1 --authorization-plugin=plugin2,...
```

The `PLUGIN_ID` value is either the plugin's name or a path to its specification
file. The plugin's implementation determines whether you can specify a name or
path. Consult with your Docker administrator to get information about the
plugins available to you.

Once a plugin is installed, requests made to the `daemon` through the
command line or Docker's Engine API are allowed or denied by the plugin.
If you have multiple plugins installed, each plugin, in order, must
allow the request for it to complete.

For information about how to create an authorization plugin, refer to the
[authorization plugin](https://docs.docker.com/engine/extend/plugins_authorization/) section.

### Daemon user namespace options

The Linux kernel
[user namespace support](https://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man7/user_namespaces.7.html)
provides additional security by enabling a process, and therefore a container,
to have a unique range of user and group IDs which are outside the traditional
user and group range utilized by the host system. One of the most important
security improvements is that, by default, container processes running as the
`root` user have expected administrative privileges it expects (with some restrictions)
inside the container, but are effectively mapped to an unprivileged `uid` on
the host.

For details about how to use this feature, as well as limitations, see
[Isolate containers with a user namespace](https://docs.docker.com/engine/security/userns-remap/).

### Configure host gateway IP

The Docker daemon supports a special `host-gateway` value for the `--add-host`
flag for the `docker run` and `docker build` commands. This value resolves to
the host's gateway IP and lets containers connect to services running on the
host.

By default, `host-gateway` resolves to the IP address of the default bridge.
You can configure this to resolve to a different IP using the `--host-gateway-ip`
flag for the dockerd command line interface, or the `host-gateway-ip` key in
the daemon configuration file.

```console
$ cat > /etc/docker/daemon.json
{ "host-gateway-ip": "192.0.2.0" }
$ sudo systemctl restart docker
$ docker run -it --add-host host.docker.internal:host-gateway \
  busybox ping host.docker.internal 
PING host.docker.internal (192.0.2.0): 56 data bytes
```

### Enable CDI devices

> **Note**
>
> This is experimental feature and as such doesn't represent a stable API.
>
> This feature isn't enabled by default. To this feature, set `features.cdi` to
> `true` in the `daemon.json` configuration file.

Container Device Interface (CDI) is a
[standardized](https://github.com/cncf-tags/container-device-interface/blob/main/SPEC.md)
mechanism for container runtimes to create containers which are able to
interact with third party devices.

The Docker daemon supports running containers with CDI devices if the requested
device specifications are available on the filesystem of the daemon.

The default specification directors are:

- `/etc/cdi/` for static CDI Specs
- `/var/run/cdi` for generated CDI Specs

Alternatively, you can set custom locations for CDI specifications using the
`cdi-spec-dirs` option in the `daemon.json` configuration file, or the
`--cdi-spec-dir` flag for the `dockerd` CLI.

```json
{
  "features": {
     "cdi": true
  },
  "cdi-spec-dirs": ["/etc/cdi/", "/var/run/cdi"]
}
```

When CDI is enabled for a daemon, you can view the configured CDI specification
directories using the `docker info` command.

### Miscellaneous options

IP masquerading uses address translation to allow containers without a public
IP to talk to other machines on the internet. This may interfere with some
network topologies, and can be disabled with `--ip-masq=false`.

Docker supports soft links for the Docker data directory (`/var/lib/docker`) and
for `/var/lib/docker/tmp`. The `DOCKER_TMPDIR` and the data directory can be
set like this:

```console
$ export DOCKER_TMPDIR=/mnt/disk2/tmp
$ sudo -E dockerd --data-root /var/lib/docker -H unix://
````

#### Default cgroup parent

The `--cgroup-parent` option lets you set the default cgroup parent
for containers. If this option isn't set, it defaults to `/docker` for
the cgroupfs driver, and `system.slice` for the systemd cgroup driver.

If the cgroup has a leading forward slash (`/`), the cgroup is created
under the root cgroup, otherwise the cgroup is created under the daemon
cgroup.

Assuming the daemon is running in cgroup `daemoncgroup`,
`--cgroup-parent=/foobar` creates a cgroup in
`/sys/fs/cgroup/memory/foobar`, whereas using `--cgroup-parent=foobar`
creates the cgroup in `/sys/fs/cgroup/memory/daemoncgroup/foobar`

The systemd cgroup driver has different rules for `--cgroup-parent`. systemd
represents hierarchy by slice and the name of the slice encodes the location in
the tree. So `--cgroup-parent` for systemd cgroups should be a slice name. A
name can consist of a dash-separated series of names, which describes the path
to the slice from the root slice. For example, `--cgroup-parent=user-a-b.slice`
means the memory cgroup for the container is created in
`/sys/fs/cgroup/memory/user.slice/user-a.slice/user-a-b.slice/docker-<id>.scope`.

This setting can also be set per container, using the `--cgroup-parent`
option on `docker create` and `docker run`, and takes precedence over
the `--cgroup-parent` option on the daemon.

#### Daemon metrics

The `--metrics-addr` option takes a TCP address to serve the metrics API.
This feature is still experimental, therefore, the daemon must be running in experimental
mode for this feature to work.

To serve the metrics API on `localhost:9323` you would specify `--metrics-addr 127.0.0.1:9323`,
allowing you to make requests on the API at `127.0.0.1:9323/metrics` to receive metrics in the
[prometheus](https://prometheus.io/docs/instrumenting/exposition_formats/) format.

Port `9323` is the [default port associated with Docker
metrics](https://github.com/prometheus/prometheus/wiki/Default-port-allocations)
to avoid collisions with other Prometheus exporters and services.

If you are running a Prometheus server you can add this address to your scrape configs
to have Prometheus collect metrics on Docker. For more information, see
[Collect Docker metrics with Prometheus](https://docs.docker.com/config/daemon/prometheus/).

#### Node generic resources

The `--node-generic-resources` option takes a list of key-value
pair (`key=value`) that allows you to advertise user defined resources
in a Swarm cluster.

The current expected use case is to advertise NVIDIA GPUs so that services
requesting `NVIDIA-GPU=[0-16]` can land on a node that has enough GPUs for
the task to run.

Example of usage:

```json
{
  "node-generic-resources": [
    "NVIDIA-GPU=UUID1",
    "NVIDIA-GPU=UUID2"
  ]
}
```

### Daemon configuration file

The `--config-file` option allows you to set any configuration option
for the daemon in a JSON format. This file uses the same flag names as keys,
except for flags that allow several entries, where it uses the plural
of the flag name, e.g., `labels` for the `label` flag.

The options set in the configuration file must not conflict with options set
using flags. The Docker daemon fails to start if an option is duplicated between
the file and the flags, regardless of their value. This is intentional, and avoids
silently ignore changes introduced in configuration reloads.
For example, the daemon fails to start if you set daemon labels
in the configuration file and also set daemon labels via the `--label` flag.
Options that are not present in the file are ignored when the daemon starts.

The `--validate` option allows to validate a configuration file without
starting the Docker daemon. A non-zero exit code is returned for invalid
configuration files.

```console
$ dockerd --validate --config-file=/tmp/valid-config.json
configuration OK

$ echo $?
0

$ dockerd --validate --config-file /tmp/invalid-config.json
unable to configure the Docker daemon with file /tmp/invalid-config.json: the following directives don't match any configuration option: unknown-option

$ echo $?
1
```

##### On Linux

The default location of the configuration file on Linux is
`/etc/docker/daemon.json`. Use the `--config-file` flag to specify a
non-default location.

The following is a full example of the allowed configuration options on Linux:

```json
{
  "allow-nondistributable-artifacts": [],
  "api-cors-header": "",
  "authorization-plugins": [],
  "bip": "",
  "bridge": "",
  "builder": {
    "gc": {
      "enabled": true,
      "defaultKeepStorage": "10GB",
      "policy": [
        { "keepStorage": "10GB", "filter": ["unused-for=2200h"] },
        { "keepStorage": "50GB", "filter": ["unused-for=3300h"] },
        { "keepStorage": "100GB", "all": true }
      ]
    }
  },
  "cgroup-parent": "",
  "containerd": "/run/containerd/containerd.sock",
  "containerd-namespace": "docker",
  "containerd-plugins-namespace": "docker-plugins",
  "data-root": "",
  "debug": true,
  "default-address-pools": [
    {
      "base": "172.30.0.0/16",
      "size": 24
    },
    {
      "base": "172.31.0.0/16",
      "size": 24
    }
  ],
  "default-cgroupns-mode": "private",
  "default-gateway": "",
  "default-gateway-v6": "",
  "default-network-opts": {},
  "default-runtime": "runc",
  "default-shm-size": "64M",
  "default-ulimits": {
    "nofile": {
      "Hard": 64000,
      "Name": "nofile",
      "Soft": 64000
    }
  },
  "dns": [],
  "dns-opts": [],
  "dns-search": [],
  "exec-opts": [],
  "exec-root": "",
  "experimental": false,
  "features": {},
  "fixed-cidr": "",
  "fixed-cidr-v6": "",
  "group": "",
  "host-gateway-ip": "",
  "hosts": [],
  "proxies": {
    "http-proxy": "http://proxy.example.com:80",
    "https-proxy": "https://proxy.example.com:443",
    "no-proxy": "*.test.example.com,.example.org"
  },
  "icc": false,
  "init": false,
  "init-path": "/usr/libexec/docker-init",
  "insecure-registries": [],
  "ip": "0.0.0.0",
  "ip-forward": false,
  "ip-masq": false,
  "iptables": false,
  "ip6tables": false,
  "ipv6": false,
  "labels": [],
  "live-restore": true,
  "log-driver": "json-file",
  "log-level": "",
  "log-opts": {
    "cache-disabled": "false",
    "cache-max-file": "5",
    "cache-max-size": "20m",
    "cache-compress": "true",
    "env": "os,customer",
    "labels": "somelabel",
    "max-file": "5",
    "max-size": "10m"
  },
  "max-concurrent-downloads": 3,
  "max-concurrent-uploads": 5,
  "max-download-attempts": 5,
  "mtu": 0,
  "no-new-privileges": false,
  "node-generic-resources": [
    "NVIDIA-GPU=UUID1",
    "NVIDIA-GPU=UUID2"
  ],
  "oom-score-adjust": 0,
  "pidfile": "",
  "raw-logs": false,
  "registry-mirrors": [],
  "runtimes": {
    "cc-runtime": {
      "path": "/usr/bin/cc-runtime"
    },
    "custom": {
      "path": "/usr/local/bin/my-runc-replacement",
      "runtimeArgs": [
        "--debug"
      ]
    }
  },
  "seccomp-profile": "",
  "selinux-enabled": false,
  "shutdown-timeout": 15,
  "storage-driver": "",
  "storage-opts": [],
  "swarm-default-advertise-addr": "",
  "tls": true,
  "tlscacert": "",
  "tlscert": "",
  "tlskey": "",
  "tlsverify": true,
  "userland-proxy": false,
  "userland-proxy-path": "/usr/libexec/docker-proxy",
  "userns-remap": ""
}
```

> **Note**
>
> You can't set options in `daemon.json` that have already been set on
> daemon startup as a flag.
> On systems that use systemd to start the Docker daemon, `-H` is already set, so
> you can't use the `hosts` key in `daemon.json` to add listening addresses.
> See [custom Docker daemon options](https://docs.docker.com/config/daemon/systemd/#custom-docker-daemon-options)
> for an example on how to configure the daemon using systemd drop-in files.

##### On Windows

The default location of the configuration file on Windows is
`%programdata%\docker\config\daemon.json`. Use the `--config-file` flag
to specify a non-default location.

The following is a full example of the allowed configuration options on Windows:

```json
{
  "allow-nondistributable-artifacts": [],
  "authorization-plugins": [],
  "bridge": "",
  "containerd": "\\\\.\\pipe\\containerd-containerd",
  "containerd-namespace": "docker",
  "containerd-plugins-namespace": "docker-plugins",
  "data-root": "",
  "debug": true,
  "default-network-opts": {},
  "default-runtime": "",
  "default-ulimits": {},
  "dns": [],
  "dns-opts": [],
  "dns-search": [],
  "exec-opts": [],
  "experimental": false,
  "features": {},
  "fixed-cidr": "",
  "group": "",
  "host-gateway-ip": "",
  "hosts": [],
  "insecure-registries": [],
  "labels": [],
  "log-driver": "",
  "log-level": "",
  "max-concurrent-downloads": 3,
  "max-concurrent-uploads": 5,
  "max-download-attempts": 5,
  "mtu": 0,
  "pidfile": "",
  "raw-logs": false,
  "registry-mirrors": [],
  "shutdown-timeout": 15,
  "storage-driver": "",
  "storage-opts": [],
  "swarm-default-advertise-addr": "",
  "tlscacert": "",
  "tlscert": "",
  "tlskey": "",
  "tlsverify": true
}
```

The `default-runtime` option is by default unset, in which case dockerd automatically detects the runtime.
This detection is based on if the `containerd` flag is set.

Accepted values:

- `com.docker.hcsshim.v1` - This is the built-in runtime that Docker has used since Windows supported was first added and uses the v1 HCS API's in Windows.
- `io.containerd.runhcs.v1` - This is uses the containerd `runhcs` shim to run the container and uses the v2 HCS API's in Windows.

#### Feature options

The optional field `features` in `daemon.json` lets you enable or disable specific
daemon features.

```json
{
  "features": {
    "some-feature": true,
    "some-disabled-feature-enabled-by-default": false
  }
}
```

The list of feature options include:

- `containerd-snapshotter`: when set to `true`, the daemon uses containerd
  snapshotters instead of the classic storage drivers for storing image and
  container data. For more information, see
  [containerd storage](https://docs.docker.com/storage/containerd/).
- `windows-dns-proxy`: when set to `true`, the daemon's internal DNS resolver
  will forward requests to external servers. Without this, most applications
  running in the container will still be able to use secondary DNS servers
  configured in the container itself, but `nslookup` won't be able to resolve
  external names. The current default is `false`, it will change to `true` in
  a future release. This option is only allowed on Windows.

  > **Warning**
  > The `windows-dns-proxy` feature flag will be removed in a future release.

#### Configuration reload behavior

Some options can be reconfigured when the daemon is running without requiring
to restart the process. The daemon uses the `SIGHUP` signal in Linux to reload,
and a global event in Windows with the key `Global\docker-daemon-config-$PID`.
You can modify the options in the configuration file, but the daemon still
checks for conflicting settings with the specified CLI flags. The daemon fails
to reconfigure itself if there are conflicts, but it won't stop execution.

The list of currently supported options that can be reconfigured is this:

| Option                             | Description                                                                                                 |
| ---------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `debug`                            | Toggles debug mode of the daemon.                                                                           |
| `labels`                           | Replaces the daemon labels with a new set of labels.                                                        |
| `live-restore`                     | Toggles [live restore](https://docs.docker.com/config/containers/live-restore/).                            |
| `max-concurrent-downloads`         | Configures the max concurrent downloads for each pull.                                                      |
| `max-concurrent-uploads`           | Configures the max concurrent uploads for each push.                                                        |
| `max-download-attempts`            | Configures the max download attempts for each pull.                                                         |
| `default-runtime`                  | Configures the runtime to be used if not is specified at container creation.                                |
| `runtimes`                         | Configures the list of available OCI runtimes that can be used to run containers.                           |
| `authorization-plugin`             | Specifies the authorization plugins to use.                                                                 |
| `allow-nondistributable-artifacts` | Specifies a list of registries to which the daemon will push non-distributable artifacts.                   |
| `insecure-registries`              | Specifies a list of registries that the daemon should consider insecure.                                    |
| `registry-mirrors`                 | Specifies a list of registry mirrors.                                                                       |
| `shutdown-timeout`                 | Configures the daemon's existing configuration timeout with a new timeout for shutting down all containers. |
| `features`                         | Enables or disables specific features.                                                                      |

### Run multiple daemons

> **Note**
>
> Running multiple daemons on a single host is considered experimental.
> You may encounter unsolved problems, and things may not work as expected in some cases.

This section describes how to run multiple Docker daemons on a single host. To
run multiple daemons, you must configure each daemon so that it doesn't
conflict with other daemons on the same host. You can set these options either
by providing them as flags, or by using a [daemon configuration file](#daemon-configuration-file).

The following daemon options must be configured for each daemon:

```text
-b, --bridge=                          Attach containers to a network bridge
--exec-root=/var/run/docker            Root of the Docker execdriver
--data-root=/var/lib/docker            Root of persisted Docker data
-p, --pidfile=/var/run/docker.pid      Path to use for daemon PID file
-H, --host=[]                          Daemon socket(s) to connect to
--iptables=true                        Enable addition of iptables rules
--config-file=/etc/docker/daemon.json  Daemon configuration file
--tlscacert="~/.docker/ca.pem"         Trust certs signed only by this CA
--tlscert="~/.docker/cert.pem"         Path to TLS certificate file
--tlskey="~/.docker/key.pem"           Path to TLS key file
```

When your daemons use different values for these flags, you can run them on the same host without any problems.
It is important that you understand the meaning of these options and to use them correctly.

- The `-b, --bridge=` flag is set to `docker0` as default bridge network.
  It is created automatically when you install Docker.
  If you aren't using the default, you must create and configure the bridge manually, or set it to 'none': `--bridge=none`
- `--exec-root` is the path where the container state is stored.
  The default value is `/var/run/docker`.
  Specify the path for your running daemon here.
- `--data-root` is the path where persisted data such as images, volumes, and
  cluster state are stored. The default value is `/var/lib/docker`. To avoid any
  conflict with other daemons, set this parameter separately for each daemon.
- `-p, --pidfile=/var/run/docker.pid` is the path where the process ID of the daemon is stored.
  Specify the path for your PID file here.
- `--host=[]` specifies where the Docker daemon listens for client connections.
  If unspecified, it defaults to `/var/run/docker.sock`.
- `--iptables=false` prevents the Docker daemon from adding iptables rules. If
  multiple daemons manage iptables rules, they may overwrite rules set by another
  daemon. Be aware that disabling this option requires you to manually add
  iptables rules to expose container ports. If you prevent Docker from adding
  iptables rules, Docker also doesn't add IP masquerading rules, even if you set
  `--ip-masq` to `true`. Without IP masquerading rules, Docker containers can't
  connect to external hosts or the internet when using network other than default bridge.
- `--config-file=/etc/docker/daemon.json` is the path where configuration file is stored.
  You can use it instead of daemon flags. Specify the path for each daemon.
- `--tls*` Docker daemon supports `--tlsverify` mode that enforces encrypted and authenticated remote connections.
  The `--tls*` options enable use of specific certificates for individual daemons.

Example script for a separate “bootstrap” instance of the Docker daemon without network:

```console
$ sudo dockerd \
        -H unix:///var/run/docker-bootstrap.sock \
        -p /var/run/docker-bootstrap.pid \
        --iptables=false \
        --ip-masq=false \
        --bridge=none \
        --data-root=/var/lib/docker-bootstrap \
        --exec-root=/var/run/docker-bootstrap
```

### Default network options

The `default-network-opts` key in the `daemon.json` configuration file, and the
equivalent `--default-network-opt` CLI flag, let you specify default values for
driver network driver options for new networks.

The following example shows how to configure options for the `bridge` driver
using the `daemon.json` file.

```json
{
  "default-network-opts": {
    "bridge": {
      "com.docker.network.bridge.host_binding_ipv4": "127.0.0.1",
      "com.docker.network.driver.mtu": "1234"
    }
  }
}
```

This example uses the `bridge` network driver. Refer to the
[bridge network driver page](https://docs.docker.com/network/drivers/bridge/#options)
for an overview of available driver options.

After changing the configuration and restarting the daemon, new networks that
you create use these option configurations as defaults.

```console
$ docker network create mynet
$ docker network inspect mynet --format "{{json .Options}}"
{"com.docker.network.bridge.host_binding_ipv4":"127.0.0.1","com.docker.network.driver.mtu":"1234"}
```

Note that changing this daemon configuration doesn't affect pre-existing
networks.

Using the `--default-network-opt` CLI flag is useful for testing and debugging
purposes, but you should prefer using the `daemon.json` file for persistent
daemon configuration. The CLI flag expects a value with the following format:
`driver=opt=value`, for example:

```console
$ sudo dockerd \
  --default-network-opt bridge=com.docker.network.bridge.host_binding_ipv4=127.0.0.1 \
  --default-network-opt bridge=com.docker.network.driver.mtu=1234
```
