Docker image
A Docker image is a template for creating Docker containers. It is an executable package that contains everything you need to run an application: code, runtime, libraries, environment variables, and configuration files.
A Docker image consists of layers. Each change is written to a new layer.
- When pushing or pulling a Docker image, operations are performed only on the layers that were changed.
- The layers of the source Docker image are shared by all its versions and are not duplicated.
Version control
Docker image version control is carried out using tags and digests.
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A tag is assigned by the user. If no tag is specified when pushing a Docker image to the registry, the Docker CLI assigns the
latesttag by default. A tag is unique within a single repository and can be changed. One Docker image can have multiple tags. -
A digest is generated automatically, is unique, and identifies the exact version of the Docker image.
You can access a specific version of the Docker image in one of the following ways:
<registry>/<image name>:<tag><registry>/<image name>@<digest>
A Docker image and all its versions are stored in a repository.