DOCKER(1)

NAME
docker-image-pull - Download an image from a registry

SYNOPSIS
docker image pull [OPTIONS] NAME[:TAG|@DIGEST]

DESCRIPTION
This command pulls down an image or a repository from a registry. If there is more than one image for a repository (e.g., fedora) then all images for that repository name can be pulled down including any tags (see the option -a or --all-tags).

If you do not specify a REGISTRY_HOST, the command uses Docker's public registry located at registry-1.docker.io by default.

EXAMPLES

  Pull an image from Docker Hub
To download a particular image, or set of images (i.e., a repository), use docker image pull (or the docker pull shorthand). If no tag is provided, Docker Engine uses the :latest tag as a default. This example pulls the debian:latest image:

    $ docker image pull debian

    Using default tag: latest
    latest: Pulling from library/debian
    e756f3fdd6a3: Pull complete
    Digest: sha256:3f1d6c17773a45c97bd8f158d665c9709d7b29ed7917ac934086ad96f92e4510
    Status: Downloaded newer image for debian:latest
    docker.io/library/debian:latest

Docker images can consist of multiple layers. In the example above, the image consists of a single layer; e756f3fdd6a3.

Layers can be reused by images. For example, the debian:bookworm image shares its layer with the debian:latest. Pulling the debian:bookworm image therefore only pulls its metadata, but not its layers, because the layer is already present locally:

    $ docker image pull debian:bookworm

    bookworm: Pulling from library/debian
    Digest: sha256:3f1d6c17773a45c97bd8f158d665c9709d7b29ed7917ac934086ad96f92e4510
    Status: Downloaded newer image for debian:bookworm
    docker.io/library/debian:bookworm

To see which images are present locally, use the docker-images(1) command:

    $ docker images

    REPOSITORY   TAG        IMAGE ID       CREATED        SIZE
    debian       bookworm   4eacea30377a   8 days ago     124MB
    debian       latest     4eacea30377a   8 days ago     124MB

Docker uses a content-addressable image store, and the image ID is a SHA256 digest covering the image's configuration and layers. In the example above, debian:bookworm and debian:latest have the same image ID because they are the same image tagged with different names. Because they are the same image, their layers are stored only once and do not consume extra disk space.

For more information about images, layers, and the content-addressable store, refer to understand images, containers, and storage drivers ⟨https://docs.docker.com/storage/storagedriver/⟩ in the online documentation.

Pull an image by digest (immutable identifier)
So far, you've pulled images by their name (and "tag"). Using names and tags is a convenient way to work with images. When using tags, you can docker image pull an image again to make sure you have the most up-to-date version of that image. For example, docker image pull ubuntu:24.04 pulls the latest version of the Ubuntu 24.04 image.

In some cases you don't want images to be updated to newer versions, but prefer to use a fixed version of an image. Docker enables you to pull an image by its digest. When pulling an image by digest, you specify exactly which version of an image to pull. Doing so, allows you to "pin" an image to that version, and guarantee that the image you're using is always the same.

To know the digest of an image, pull the image first. Let's pull the latest ubuntu:24.04 image from Docker Hub:

    $ docker image pull ubuntu:24.04

    24.04: Pulling from library/ubuntu
    125a6e411906: Pull complete
    Digest: sha256:2e863c44b718727c860746568e1d54afd13b2fa71b160f5cd9058fc436217b30
    Status: Downloaded newer image for ubuntu:24.04
    docker.io/library/ubuntu:24.04

Docker prints the digest of the image after the pull has finished. In the example above, the digest of the image is:

    sha256:2e863c44b718727c860746568e1d54afd13b2fa71b160f5cd9058fc436217b30

Docker also prints the digest of an image when pushing to a registry. This may be useful if you want to pin to a version of the image you just pushed.

A digest takes the place of the tag when pulling an image, for example, to pull the above image by digest, run the following command:

    $ docker image pull ubuntu@sha256:2e863c44b718727c860746568e1d54afd13b2fa71b160f5cd9058fc436217b30

    docker.io/library/ubuntu@sha256:2e863c44b718727c860746568e1d54afd13b2fa71b160f5cd9058fc436217b30: Pulling from library/ubuntu
    Digest: sha256:2e863c44b718727c860746568e1d54afd13b2fa71b160f5cd9058fc436217b30
    Status: Image is up to date for ubuntu@sha256:2e863c44b718727c860746568e1d54afd13b2fa71b160f5cd9058fc436217b30
    docker.io/library/ubuntu@sha256:2e863c44b718727c860746568e1d54afd13b2fa71b160f5cd9058fc436217b30

Digest can also be used in the FROM of a Dockerfile, for example:

    FROM ubuntu@sha256:2e863c44b718727c860746568e1d54afd13b2fa71b160f5cd9058fc436217b30
    LABEL org.opencontainers.image.authors="some maintainer <maintainer@example.com>"

    Note

    Using this feature "pins" an image to a specific version in time. Docker does therefore not pull updated versions of an image, which may include security updates. If you want to pull an updated image, you need to change the digest accordingly.

Pull from a different registry
By default, docker image pull pulls images from Docker Hub. It is also possible to manually specify the path of a registry to pull from. For example, if you have set up a local registry, you can specify its path to pull from it. A registry path is similar to a URL, but does not contain a protocol specifier (https://).

The following command pulls the testing/test-image image from a local registry listening on port 5000 (myregistry.local:5000):

    $ docker image pull myregistry.local:5000/testing/test-image

Registry credentials are managed by docker-login(1).

Docker uses the https:// protocol to communicate with a registry, unless the registry is allowed to be accessed over an insecure connection. Refer to the insecure registries ⟨https://docs.docker.com/engine/reference/commandline/dockerd/#insecure-registries⟩ section in the online documentation for more information.

Pull a repository with multiple images
By default, docker image pull pulls a single image from the registry. A repository can contain multiple images. To pull all images from a repository, provide the -a (or --all-tags) option when using docker image pull.

This command pulls all images from the ubuntu repository:

    $ docker image pull --all-tags ubuntu

    Pulling repository ubuntu
    ad57ef8d78d7: Download complete
    105182bb5e8b: Download complete
    511136ea3c5a: Download complete
    73bd853d2ea5: Download complete
    ....

    Status: Downloaded newer image for ubuntu

After the pull has completed use the docker image ls (or docker images shorthand) command to see the images that were pulled. The example below shows all the ubuntu images that are present locally:

    $ docker image ls --filter reference=ubuntu
    REPOSITORY   TAG       IMAGE ID       CREATED        SIZE
    ubuntu       22.04     8a3cdc4d1ad3   3 weeks ago    77.9MB
    ubuntu       jammy     8a3cdc4d1ad3   3 weeks ago    77.9MB
    ubuntu       24.04     35a88802559d   6 weeks ago    78.1MB
    ubuntu       latest    35a88802559d   6 weeks ago    78.1MB
    ubuntu       noble     35a88802559d   6 weeks ago    78.1MB

Cancel a pull
Killing the docker image pull process, for example by pressing CTRL-c while it is running in a terminal, will terminate the pull operation.

    $ docker image pull ubuntu

    Using default tag: latest
    latest: Pulling from library/ubuntu
    a3ed95caeb02: Pulling fs layer
    236608c7b546: Pulling fs layer
    ^C

The Engine terminates a pull operation when the connection between the Docker Engine daemon and the Docker Engine client initiating the pull is lost. If the connection with the Engine daemon is lost for other reasons than a manual interaction, the pull is also aborted.

OPTIONS
-a, --all-tags[=false]
    Download all tagged images in the repository

--disable-content-trust[=true]
    Skip image verification

--platform=""
    Set platform if server is multi-platform capable

-q, --quiet[=false]
    Suppress verbose output

SEE ALSO
docker-image(1)