Convert docker run to docker-compose: A Practical Guide

From docker run to Docker Compose

Docker Compose is a tool for defining and running multi-container Docker applications. Instead of running long docker run commands with many flags, you describe your services in a docker-compose.yml file and manage them all with simple commands.

This guide shows how to convert docker run commands to Docker Compose format.

Basic Conversion Example

A typical docker run command:

docker run -d \
  --name my-web-app \
  -p 8080:80 \
  -e NODE_ENV=production \
  -e DATABASE_URL=postgres://localhost:5432/mydb \
  -v /host/data:/app/data \
  --restart unless-stopped \
  my-web-app:latest

The equivalent docker-compose.yml:

version: '3.8'
services:
  my-web-app:
    image: my-web-app:latest
    container_name: my-web-app
    ports:
      - "8080:80"
    environment:
      - NODE_ENV=production
      - DATABASE_URL=postgres://localhost:5432/mydb
    volumes:
      - /host/data:/app/data
    restart: unless-stopped

Mapping docker run Flags to Compose

Multi-Service Example: Web + Database

version: '3.8'

services:
  web:
    build: .
    ports:
      - "3000:3000"
    environment:
      - DATABASE_URL=postgres://user:pass@db:5432/myapp
    depends_on:
      db:
        condition: service_healthy
    restart: unless-stopped

  db:
    image: postgres:15
    environment:
      POSTGRES_USER: user
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: pass
      POSTGRES_DB: myapp
    volumes:
      - postgres_data:/var/lib/postgresql/data
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD-SHELL", "pg_isready -U user"]
      interval: 5s
      timeout: 5s
      retries: 5
    restart: unless-stopped

volumes:
  postgres_data:

Docker Compose Commands

# Start all services (detached)
docker compose up -d

# Stop all services
docker compose down

# Stop and remove volumes
docker compose down -v

# View logs
docker compose logs -f

# View specific service logs
docker compose logs -f web

# Execute command in running container
docker compose exec web bash

# Rebuild images
docker compose build

# Scale a service
docker compose up -d --scale worker=3

# View running services
docker compose ps

Environment Variables in Compose

Use a .env file (automatically loaded by Compose) for secrets and environment-specific config:

# .env file
POSTGRES_PASSWORD=secretpassword
NODE_ENV=production
API_KEY=abc123

# docker-compose.yml
services:
  web:
    environment:
      - NODE_ENV=${NODE_ENV}
      - API_KEY=${API_KEY}
  db:
    environment:
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: ${POSTGRES_PASSWORD}

The .env file should be in .gitignore. Share a .env.example file instead with placeholder values.

Restart Policies

Using This Tool

Paste a docker run command to instantly get the equivalent Docker Compose YAML. The tool parses all flags and options and generates a properly formatted Compose service definition.

-> Try the Docker Run to Compose Converter