docker-top

View documentation for the original command

$ tldr docker container top

docker top [OPTIONS] CONTAINER [ps OPTIONS]

--help
    Print usage information

CONTAINER
    Container name or ID (required)

ps OPTIONS
    Optional arguments passed to ps inside the container (e.g., aux, -eo pid,ppid,cmd)

docker top provides a view of the running processes inside a specified Docker container, similar to the top or ps commands on a host system.

It executes the ps command within the container's environment, respecting its process namespace, PID namespace, and mount points. By default, it mimics top -b -n1 output if no arguments are provided, showing CPU, memory usage, and process details.

This is useful for monitoring resource consumption and troubleshooting issues without entering the container via docker exec. Note that PIDs shown are container-internal and may differ from host PIDs due to PID namespaces.

The command requires the container to be running; stopped containers will error. It's lightweight, as it doesn't attach an interactive shell.

Container must be running; uses container's ps binary; non-interactive output only; PID namespaces hide host PIDs.

Shows columns like PID, USER, TIME, CMD similar to top -b -n1.

docker top mycontainer
docker top mycontainer aux

Introduced in Docker 0.7.0 (June 2014) for container introspection; evolved with Docker's namespace support in later versions.

docker ps(1), docker exec(1), ps(1), top(1)