Manage Containers

Learn how to manage your containers throughout their lifecycle - from starting and stopping to monitoring and deletion.

Accessing Containers link

From Containers Page link

Navigate to the main containers page:

1. Click “Containers” in the sidebar
2. See all your containers in the table

Container States link

Containers can be in different states with color-coded badges:

State transitions:

  Creating → Booting → Initializing → Running
Running → Stopped (via Stop)
Running → Paused (via Pause)
Paused → Running (via Resume)
Any State → Error (if failure occurs)
  

Filtering and Searching link

Search Containers link

Use the search box to find specific containers:

Search by:

• Container name (e.g., “nginx”)
• Image name (e.g., “postgres”)
• Partial matches (e.g., “prod” finds all production containers)

Example searches:

  "postgres"  → Finds all PostgreSQL containers
"prod"      → Finds prod-api, prod-db, nginx-prod
"alpine"    → Finds containers using Alpine images
  

Filter by Status link

Filter containers by their current state:

Filter options:

• All Status - Show all containers
• Running - Only running containers
• Stopped - Only stopped containers
• Creating - Containers being created
• Booting - Containers booting
• Initializing - Containers initializing
• Paused - Paused containers
• Error - Containers with errors

Use cases:

• Find all running containers to check resource usage
• Find stopped containers to clean up
• Find error containers to troubleshoot

Container Table link

The container table shows detailed information:

Table Columns link

1. Name

• Container name (clickable link)
• Click to open container detail page

2. Image

• Docker image and tag
• Displayed in monospace font
• Examples: nginx:alpine, postgres:15

3. Status

• Current state with colored badge
• Colors: Green (Running), Red (Stopped/Error), Yellow (Creating), Gray (Booting), Cyan (Initializing), Amber (Paused)

4. Uptime

• How long container has been running
• Format: “2h 30m”, “5d 12h”, “Never” (if never started)
• Only shown for running containers

5. CPU

• vCPU allocation
• Examples: “0.5 vCPU”, “2 vCPU”, “4 vCPU”

6. Memory

• Memory allocation in MB
• Examples: “512 MB”, “2048 MB”, “4096 MB”

7. Ports

• Port mappings (Host:Container)
• Shows protocol (TCP/UDP)
• Multiple rows if multiple ports
• “No ports” if no mappings

Example port displays:

  8080:80 (TCP)
5432:5432 (TCP)

Multiple ports:
  8080:80 (TCP)
  8443:443 (TCP)
  

8. Owner

• Who created the container
• Shows: “You” (your containers), “Other User”, or “System”

9. Actions

• Action buttons for container operations
• See “Container Actions” section below

Container Actions link

Actions available in the table and detail page:

View Logs link

Click the Logs icon (📄) to view container logs:

Opens the container detail page on the Logs tab.

What you’ll see:

• Real-time log streaming
• stdout and stderr output
• Timestamps for each log entry

See View Logs for complete guide.

View Shell link

Click the Shell icon (⌨️) to open container shell:

Opens the container detail page on the Shell tab.

What you’ll see:

• Interactive terminal inside container
• Execute commands directly
• Access container filesystem

Start Container link

Available when: Container is Stopped

How to start:

1. Locate stopped container in table
2. Click Play icon (▶️) button
3. Container state changes to “Booting” then “Running”
4. Wait 5-10 seconds for startup

What happens:

• Firecracker VM is resumed or restarted
• Docker daemon starts
• Container starts with saved configuration

Stop Container link

Available when: Container is Running

How to stop:

1. Locate running container in table
2. Click Stop icon (⏹️) button
3. Container gracefully shuts down
4. State changes to “Stopped”

What happens:

• Container receives SIGTERM signal
• 10-second grace period for cleanup
• Then SIGKILL if not stopped
• Firecracker VM is stopped

Data safety:

• ✅ Data in volumes is preserved
• ✅ Configuration is preserved
• ⚠️ Data not in volumes may be lost

Restart Container link

Available when: Container is Running

How to restart:

1. Locate running container in table
2. Click Restart icon (🔄) button
3. Container stops then starts again
4. Total time: 10-20 seconds

What happens:

1. Container is stopped (graceful shutdown)
2. Container is started fresh
3. Same configuration used
4. New uptime counter

Use cases:

• Apply configuration changes
• Clear memory state
• Recover from soft errors
• Reload application code (if volume-mounted)

Delete Container link

Available when: Container is Stopped or in Error state

How to delete:

From table:

1. Locate stopped/error container
2. Click Trash icon (🗑️) button
3. Confirm deletion in dialog

From detail page:

1. Stop container first (if running)
2. Click “Delete” button in header
3. Confirm deletion

Confirmation dialog:

Warning: This action cannot be undone!

What is deleted:

• ❌ Container configuration
• ❌ Container instance
• ❌ Firecracker microVM
• ❌ Temporary container data (not in volumes)
• ✅ Volumes are preserved (can be reused)

Important: If you want to delete volumes too, manually delete them from the Volumes page.

Container Detail Page link

Click a container name to open the detail page:

Page Header link

The header shows:

1. Back button - Return to containers list
2. Container name - Large, bold
3. Status badge - Current state with color
4. Image name - Below container name
5. Container ID - Unique identifier
6. Error message - If in error state (red text)
7. Action buttons - Right side

Action Buttons (Detail Page) link

Available buttons (depends on state):

• Refresh - Reload container data
• Edit - Modify configuration (when stopped)
• Start - Start stopped container
• Pause - Pause running container
• Resume - Resume paused container
• Stop - Stop running container
• Restart - Restart running container
• View Container VM - Open underlying microVM
• Delete - Delete container

Container Tabs link

The detail page has 5 tabs:

1. Overview Tab link

Shows container summary and information:

Information displayed:

• Container ID
• Current state
• Image name and tag
• Uptime
• Created date
• CPU and memory limits
• Port mappings
• Environment variables
• Volume mounts
• Container VM link

Use cases:

• Quick status check
• View configuration at a glance
• Access container VM

2. Logs Tab link

Real-time container logs:

Features:

• Start/stop log streaming
• Auto-scroll to latest logs
• Download logs as text file
• Separate stdout/stderr
• Timestamps for each entry

See View Logs for complete guide.

3. Stats Tab link

Resource usage monitoring:

Metrics shown:

• CPU usage (%)
• Memory usage (MB and %)
• Network I/O
• Disk I/O
• Uptime

Features:

• Real-time updates (every 5 seconds)
• Charts and graphs
• Historical data

See Monitor Stats for complete guide.

4. Config Tab link

Complete configuration details:

Shows:

• All port mappings
• All environment variables
• All volume mounts
• Resource limits
• Image information
• Container settings

Use cases:

• Verify configuration
• Document settings
• Reference for new deployments

5. Events Tab link

Container lifecycle events:

Event types:

• Container created
• Container started
• Container stopped
• Container deleted
• State changes
• Errors and warnings

Event details:

• Timestamp
• Event type
• Event message
• Actor (who triggered)

Edit Container link

Modify container configuration when stopped.

When Available link

Edit button is enabled only when:

• ✅ Container is Stopped
• ✅ Container is in Error state
• ❌ Disabled when Running, Paused, or Creating

Open Edit Dialog link

Click “Edit” button to open the edit dialog:

Editable Fields link

You can modify:

1. Resource Limits:

• CPU limit (0.1 to 16 vCPU)
• Memory limit (64 MB to 32 GB)

2. Environment Variables:

• Add new variables
• Modify existing variables
• Remove variables

Not editable after creation:

• ❌ Container name
• ❌ Image name
• ❌ Volume mounts (create new container instead)

Save Changes link

After editing:

1. Review your changes
2. Click “Save Changes”
3. Container configuration is updated
4. Start container to apply changes

Important: Changes only take effect after starting the container.

View Container VM link

Each container runs in its own dedicated Firecracker microVM. You can view the underlying VM:

Access Container VM link

Click “View Container VM” button:

• Opens VM detail page in new view
• Shows VM that’s running this container
• View VM logs, metrics, configuration

Container VM Details link

The container’s VM shows:

• VM ID - Unique identifier (starts with “vm-”)
• State - VM state (matches container state)
• Resources - CPU and memory allocated
• Network - VM network configuration
• Logs - VM boot and system logs

Use cases:

• Debug VM-level issues
• Check VM boot logs
• Verify network configuration
• Monitor VM resource usage

Refresh Container List link

Keep the container list up-to-date:

How to Refresh link

Click the “Refresh” button in the page header.

What happens:

• Button shows “Refreshing…” with spinner
• Fetches latest container data
• Table updates with new information

When to refresh:

• After deploying new container
• Check status changes
• Verify action completed
• Monitor multiple containers

Auto-refresh: Not available yet. Manual refresh required.

Common Management Tasks link

Task: Stop All Running Containers link

Steps:

1. Filter by status: “Running”
2. For each running container, click Stop button
3. Wait for each to reach “Stopped” state
4. Refresh list to verify

Use case: Maintenance, resource cleanup, shutdown

Task: Restart Failed Containers link

Steps:

1. Filter by status: “Error”
2. For each error container:
   • Click container name to view details
   • Check logs for error reason
   • Fix issue (if configuration problem)
   • Delete and recreate container

Use case: Recover from errors, fix configuration

Task: Find Resource-Heavy Containers link

Steps:

1. Filter by status: “Running”
2. Look at CPU and Memory columns
3. Click containers with high resources
4. Go to Stats tab
5. Analyze actual resource usage
6. Adjust limits if needed (stop, edit, start)

Use case: Optimize resource allocation, find bottlenecks

Task: Clean Up Old Containers link

Steps:

1. Filter by status: “Stopped”
2. Check Uptime column (shows when last run)
3. Delete containers no longer needed
4. Confirm deletion for each

Use case: Free up resources, clean up old deployments

Task: Monitor Production Containers link

Workflow:

1. Search for “prod” to find production containers
2. Verify all are in “Running” state
3. Click each to check:
   • Logs tab: No errors
   • Stats tab: Resource usage normal
   • Uptime: Stable, no restarts

Use case: Daily health checks, monitoring

Permissions and Access Control link

Owner-based Access link

Containers are owned by the user who created them:

Owner indicators:

• “You” - Your containers (full control)
• “Other User” - Another user’s containers (limited access)
• “System” - System containers (limited access)

Permission Levels link

Your containers (Owner: “You”):

• ✅ View details
• ✅ View logs, stats, config
• ✅ Start, stop, restart, pause, resume
• ✅ Edit configuration
• ✅ Delete

Other users’ containers:

• ✅ View in list (if admin/viewer role)
• ❌ Cannot modify
• ❌ Cannot delete
• Shows “Not permitted” in Actions column

Troubleshooting link

Issue: Container Won’t Start link

Symptoms:

• Click Start button
• Container goes to “Booting” then back to “Stopped”
• Or goes to “Error” state

Solutions:

1. Check logs:

   • Go to Logs tab
   • Look for error messages
   • Common: Port conflict, missing env vars

2. Verify configuration:

   • Go to Config tab
   • Check environment variables
   • Verify port mappings

3. Check host resources:

   • Go to Dashboard → Hosts
   • Verify host has enough CPU/memory
   • Check host is online

4. Check container VM:

   • Click “View Container VM”
   • Check VM state
   • View VM logs

Issue: Container Keeps Restarting link

Symptoms:

• Container reaches “Running”
• Then goes back to “Stopped”
• Repeats continuously

Solutions:

1. Check application logs:

   • View Logs tab quickly after restart
   • Look for crash messages
   • Common: Application errors, missing dependencies

2. Verify environment variables:

   • Check required env vars are set
   • Examples: POSTGRES_PASSWORD, API_KEY

3. Check image requirements:

   • Read Docker Hub documentation
   • Verify all requirements met
   • Check minimum memory requirements

4. Test locally:

     docker run -it --rm \
     -e VAR=value \
     -p 8080:80 \
     nginx:alpine
     

Issue: Can’t Delete Container link

Symptoms:

• Delete button is disabled
• Container state is “Running” or “Paused”

Solution:

1. Stop container first:
   • Click Stop button (if running)
   • Or Resume then Stop (if paused)
2. Wait for “Stopped” state
3. Then click Delete

Why: Can’t delete running containers to prevent data loss.

Issue: Edit Button Disabled link

Symptoms:

• Edit button is grayed out
• Container is running

Solution:

1. Stop container first:
   • Click Stop button
   • Wait for “Stopped” state
2. Then click Edit

Why: Can’t edit configuration while container is running.

Issue: Actions Show “Not Permitted” link

Symptoms:

• Can see container in list
• Actions column shows “Not permitted”
• Can’t start, stop, or delete

Reason:

• Container was created by another user
• You don’t have permission to modify

Solution:

• Ask container owner to grant access
• Or ask admin to transfer ownership
• Or create your own container

Issue: Container Missing from List link

Symptoms:

• Container existed before
• Now missing from table
• Not deleted intentionally

Solutions:

1. Check filters:

   • Verify status filter is “All Status”
   • Clear search box
   • Click “Refresh”

2. Check ownership filter:

   • Non-admin users only see their own containers
   • Admin/viewer roles see all containers

3. Verify not deleted:

   • Check with other team members
   • Check Events tab of other containers

Best Practices link

Lifecycle Management link

✅ Stop containers when not in use:

• Free up host resources
• Reduce costs
• Easy to restart when needed

✅ Monitor container health:

• Check logs regularly
• Monitor resource usage in Stats
• Watch for errors or warnings

✅ Restart containers periodically:

• Clear memory leaks
• Apply configuration changes
• Refresh connections

❌ Don’t delete containers with data:

• Stop instead of delete if data is important
• Use volumes for persistent data
• Volumes survive container deletion

Resource Optimization link

✅ Right-size containers:

• Monitor actual usage in Stats tab
• Adjust resources based on data
• Stop, edit, start to apply new limits

✅ Use pause for temporary idle:

• Pause instead of stop for short periods
• Resume faster than restart
• Maintains state

❌ Don’t over-allocate resources:

• Check actual usage before increasing
• Wastes host resources
• Limits number of deployable containers

Security link

✅ Regular updates:

• Periodically recreate containers with latest images
• Check for security updates
• Test before deploying to production

✅ Review permissions:

• Check who has access to containers
• Remove unnecessary access
• Use ownership model properly

✅ Monitor logs:

• Watch for unusual activity
• Check for unauthorized access
• Set up alerts (future feature)

Troubleshooting link

✅ Check logs first:

• Most issues show up in logs
• Start with Logs tab
• Look for error messages and stack traces

✅ Use Stats for resource issues:

• If container is slow, check Stats
• Look for high CPU or memory
• Adjust limits if needed

✅ Test configuration changes:

• Edit container when stopped
• Test in non-production first
• Verify before deploying

Quick Reference link

Container State Actions link

Common Action Shortcuts link

Keyboard Shortcuts link

Next Steps link

• View Logs - Real-time log streaming and debugging
• Monitor Stats - Resource usage and performance metrics
• Deploy a Container - Create new containers
• Container Overview - Learn more about containers