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Docker Context

Socktainer can be used through a dedicated Docker context, so standard Docker CLI commands target the Socktainer socket instead of the default Docker daemon.

Current Status​

Issue socktainer/socktainer#26 tracks adding a built-in option to generate a Docker context automatically.

Today, you can create the context manually and use it immediately with the Docker CLI.

Create the Context​

Run:

docker context create --description socktainer --docker "host=unix://${HOME}/.socktainer/container.sock" socktainer

This creates a Docker context named socktainer pointing at:

unix://${HOME}/.socktainer/container.sock

Switch to Socktainer​

docker context use socktainer

After that, regular Docker commands such as docker ps, docker images, and docker logs will go through Socktainer.

Verify​

docker context ls

You should see a context similar to:

NAME            DESCRIPTION                               DOCKER ENDPOINT                                     ERROR
default         Current DOCKER_HOST based configuration   unix:///var/run/docker.sock
desktop-linux   Docker Desktop                            unix:///Users/your-user/.docker/run/docker.sock
socktainer *    socktainer                                unix:///Users/your-user/.socktainer/container.sock

Switch Back​

To go back to your default Docker context:

docker context use default