How to Install and Use lazydocker in Linux for Terminal Container Management

Managing containerised environments with the Docker CLI is an everyday task for software developers and DevOps engineers. However, repeatedly executing verbose commands like docker ps -a, docker logs -f --tail=100 <container_id>, docker stats, and docker-compose down introduces noticeable friction when triaging running microservices. While web-based container dashboards (such as Portainer) exist, they require separate container deployments, network port exposure, and browser context-switching. To maintain peak terminal productivity, engineers turn to lazydocker. Written in Go, lazydocker provides an interactive, terminal-based user interface (TUI) that puts complete Docker and Docker Compose orchestration right at your fingertips.

Why lazydocker Streamlines Container Workflows

Unlike plain text CLI commands, lazydocker provides a responsive mouse- and keyboard-driven dashboard:

• Instant Log Streaming: View real-time aggregated container stdout and stderr streams with auto-scroll and pause toggles.
• Interactive Resource Monitoring: Inspect real-time ASCII graph visualisations of CPU and RAM utilisation per container without running external monitoring agents.
• One-Key Lifecycle Actions: Start, stop, restart, pause, or remove containers and images with single keystroke shortcuts.
• Volume and Image Pruning: Audit unused image layers and dangling volumes, reclaiming gigabytes of disk space with intuitive confirmation prompts.
• Docker Compose Native: Automatically detects project-level compose stacks, grouping related services and containers into visual trees.

Installing lazydocker on Linux

lazydocker is distributed as a lightweight, standalone compiled binary that requires no external runtimes beyond an active Docker daemon.

Method 1: Automated Official Shell Script

The fastest universal method to install the latest pre-built binary into ~/.local/bin or /usr/local/bin:

curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jesseduffield/lazydocker/master/scripts/install_update.sh | bash

Method 2: Package Managers (Arch, Homebrew, and Go)

On Arch Linux and Manjaro:

sudo pacman -S lazydocker

If you have the Go toolchain installed:

go install github.com/jesseduffield/lazydocker@latest

Using Linuxbrew:

brew install jesseduffield/lazydocker/lazydocker

Ensuring Docker Permissions Without Sudo

To operate lazydocker as a standard user without prepending sudo, verify that your Linux user belongs to the docker system group:

sudo usermod -aG docker $USER
newgrp docker

Confirm lazydocker can access the Docker socket:

lazydocker --version

Navigating the lazydocker User Interface

Launch the dashboard by navigating to any project directory containing containers or a docker-compose.yml file and running:

lazydocker

The interface divides cleanly into logical panels:

• Left Sidebar: Categorised navigation lists for Project, Containers, Services, Images, and Volumes.
• Right Main Panel: Displays contextual tabs for the currently selected item, including Logs, Stats, Env, Config, and Top.

Key Navigation Shortcuts

• [ and ]: Switch between sidebar categories (Containers, Images, Volumes).
• j and k (or Up / Down): Navigate through items in the active panel.
• Enter: Focus on the main panel to inspect full logs or scroll through historical stack traces.
• Esc: Return focus to the sidebar.
• q: Exit lazydocker cleanly.

Performing Everyday Container Tasks

lazydocker maps critical lifecycle commands to single keys:

1. Stopping, Restarting, and Removing Containers

Highlight any container in the list:

• Press s to stop a running container.
• Press r to trigger an immediate restart.
• Press d to remove the container (with an optional confirmation prompt).
• Press b to view bulk container actions (such as restarting or stopping all active containers simultaneously).

2. Filtering and Searching Logs

When triaging an application crash, press / while in the Logs panel to initiate a regex search. lazydocker highlights matching log statements and jumps directly to error coordinates.

3. Pruning Unused Images and Dangling Volumes

Navigate to the Images panel using ]. Press d on any untagged image to delete it. To perform a comprehensive system clean, press m (Menu) and select Prune unused images and containers to reclaim disk space instantly.