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Docker Compose Commands

Docker Compose defines and manages multi-container apps with a single docker-compose.yml. Your environment already has it installed via docker-compose-plugin in the install guide, so the command is docker compose (note the space — not the legacy hyphenated docker-compose).

Start services​

Create and start all services in the background as defined in docker-compose.yml:

Linux
docker compose up -d

For first-time debugging, run in the foreground to watch logs directly (Ctrl-C stops it):

Linux
docker compose up

Check service status​

Linux
docker compose ps

View logs​

Follow logs from all services in real time:

Linux
docker compose logs -f

A single service only (e.g. ros-master):

Linux
docker compose logs -f ros-master

Stop and clean up​

Stop and remove containers and networks (volumes and images are kept):

Linux
docker compose down

Full cleanup including volumes (data loss, use with care):

Linux
docker compose down -v

Run a command inside a service​

Linux
docker compose exec ros-node bash

Example docker-compose.yml​

A typical ROS 2 multi-node orchestration:

docker-compose.yml
services:
  talker:
    image: ros:humble
    command: ros2 run demo_nodes_cpp talker
    environment:
      - ROS_DOMAIN_ID=1
    restart: unless-stopped
  listener:
    image: ros:humble
    command: ros2 run demo_nodes_cpp listener
    environment:
      - ROS_DOMAIN_ID=1
    depends_on:
      - talker
    restart: unless-stopped

After starting, the two nodes communicate across containers automatically:

Linux
docker compose up -d
docker compose logs -f
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