---
title: "pull"
description: "The pull command description and usage"
keywords: "pull, image, hub, docker"
---

# pull

```markdown
Usage:  docker pull [OPTIONS] NAME[:TAG|@DIGEST]

Pull an image or a repository from a registry

Options:
  -a, --all-tags                Download all tagged images in the repository
      --disable-content-trust   Skip image verification (default true)
      --help                    Print usage
  -q, --quiet                   Suppress verbose output
```

## Description

Most of your images will be created on top of a base image from the
[Docker Hub](https://hub.docker.com) registry.

[Docker Hub](https://hub.docker.com) contains many pre-built images that you
can `pull` and try without needing to define and configure your own.

To download a particular image, or set of images (i.e., a repository),
use `docker pull`.

### Proxy configuration

If you are behind an HTTP proxy server, for example in corporate settings,
before open a connect to registry, you may need to configure the Docker
daemon's proxy settings, using the `HTTP_PROXY`, `HTTPS_PROXY`, and `NO_PROXY`
environment variables. To set these environment variables on a host using
`systemd`, refer to the [control and configure Docker with systemd](https://docs.docker.com/config/daemon/systemd/#httphttps-proxy)
for variables configuration.

### Concurrent downloads

By default the Docker daemon will pull three layers of an image at a time.
If you are on a low bandwidth connection this may cause timeout issues and you may want to lower
this via the `--max-concurrent-downloads` daemon option. See the
[daemon documentation](dockerd.md) for more details.

## Examples

### Pull an image from Docker Hub

To download a particular image, or set of images (i.e., a repository), use
`docker image pull` (or the `docker pull` shorthand). If no tag is provided,
Docker Engine uses the `:latest` tag as a default. This example pulls the
`debian:latest` image:

```console
$ docker image pull debian

Using default tag: latest
latest: Pulling from library/debian
e756f3fdd6a3: Pull complete
Digest: sha256:3f1d6c17773a45c97bd8f158d665c9709d7b29ed7917ac934086ad96f92e4510
Status: Downloaded newer image for debian:latest
docker.io/library/debian:latest
```

Docker images can consist of multiple layers. In the example above, the image
consists of a single layer; `e756f3fdd6a3`.

Layers can be reused by images. For example, the `debian:bullseye` image shares
its layer with the `debian:latest`. Pulling the `debian:bullseye` image therefore
only pulls its metadata, but not its layers, because the layer is already present
locally:

```console
$ docker image pull debian:bullseye

bullseye: Pulling from library/debian
Digest: sha256:3f1d6c17773a45c97bd8f158d665c9709d7b29ed7917ac934086ad96f92e4510
Status: Downloaded newer image for debian:bullseye
docker.io/library/debian:bullseye
```

To see which images are present locally, use the [`docker images`](images.md)
command:

```console
$ docker images

REPOSITORY   TAG        IMAGE ID       CREATED        SIZE
debian       bullseye   4eacea30377a   8 days ago     124MB
debian       latest     4eacea30377a   8 days ago     124MB
```

Docker uses a content-addressable image store, and the image ID is a SHA256
digest covering the image's configuration and layers. In the example above,
`debian:bullseye` and `debian:latest` have the same image ID because they are
the *same* image tagged with different names. Because they are the same image,
their layers are stored only once and do not consume extra disk space.

For more information about images, layers, and the content-addressable store,
refer to [understand images, containers, and storage drivers](https://docs.docker.com/storage/storagedriver/).


### Pull an image by digest (immutable identifier)

So far, you've pulled images by their name (and "tag"). Using names and tags is
a convenient way to work with images. When using tags, you can `docker pull` an
image again to make sure you have the most up-to-date version of that image.
For example, `docker pull ubuntu:22.04` pulls the latest version of the Ubuntu
22.04 image.

In some cases you don't want images to be updated to newer versions, but prefer
to use a fixed version of an image. Docker enables you to pull an image by its
*digest*. When pulling an image by digest, you specify *exactly* which version
of an image to pull. Doing so, allows you to "pin" an image to that version,
and guarantee that the image you're using is always the same.

To know the digest of an image, pull the image first. Let's pull the latest
`ubuntu:22.04` image from Docker Hub:

```console
$ docker pull ubuntu:22.04

22.04: Pulling from library/ubuntu
125a6e411906: Pull complete
Digest: sha256:26c68657ccce2cb0a31b330cb0be2b5e108d467f641c62e13ab40cbec258c68d
Status: Downloaded newer image for ubuntu:22.04
docker.io/library/ubuntu:22.04
```

Docker prints the digest of the image after the pull has finished. In the example
above, the digest of the image is:

```console
sha256:26c68657ccce2cb0a31b330cb0be2b5e108d467f641c62e13ab40cbec258c68d
```

Docker also prints the digest of an image when *pushing* to a registry. This
may be useful if you want to pin to a version of the image you just pushed.

A digest takes the place of the tag when pulling an image, for example, to
pull the above image by digest, run the following command:

```console
$ docker pull ubuntu@sha256:26c68657ccce2cb0a31b330cb0be2b5e108d467f641c62e13ab40cbec258c68d

docker.io/library/ubuntu@sha256:26c68657ccce2cb0a31b330cb0be2b5e108d467f641c62e13ab40cbec258c68d: Pulling from library/ubuntu
Digest: sha256:26c68657ccce2cb0a31b330cb0be2b5e108d467f641c62e13ab40cbec258c68d
Status: Image is up to date for ubuntu@sha256:26c68657ccce2cb0a31b330cb0be2b5e108d467f641c62e13ab40cbec258c68d
docker.io/library/ubuntu@sha256:26c68657ccce2cb0a31b330cb0be2b5e108d467f641c62e13ab40cbec258c68d
```

Digest can also be used in the `FROM` of a Dockerfile, for example:

```dockerfile
FROM ubuntu@sha256:26c68657ccce2cb0a31b330cb0be2b5e108d467f641c62e13ab40cbec258c68d
LABEL org.opencontainers.image.authors="some maintainer <maintainer@example.com>"
```

> **Note**
>
> Using this feature "pins" an image to a specific version in time.
> Docker does therefore not pull updated versions of an image, which may include
> security updates. If you want to pull an updated image, you need to change the
> digest accordingly.


### Pull from a different registry

By default, `docker pull` pulls images from [Docker Hub](https://hub.docker.com). It is also possible to
manually specify the path of a registry to pull from. For example, if you have
set up a local registry, you can specify its path to pull from it. A registry
path is similar to a URL, but does not contain a protocol specifier (`https://`).

The following command pulls the `testing/test-image` image from a local registry
listening on port 5000 (`myregistry.local:5000`):

```console
$ docker image pull myregistry.local:5000/testing/test-image
```

Registry credentials are managed by [docker login](login.md).

Docker uses the `https://` protocol to communicate with a registry, unless the
registry is allowed to be accessed over an insecure connection. Refer to the
[insecure registries](dockerd.md#insecure-registries) section for more information.


### <a name="all-tags"></a> Pull a repository with multiple images (-a, --all-tags)

By default, `docker pull` pulls a *single* image from the registry. A repository
can contain multiple images. To pull all images from a repository, provide the
`-a` (or `--all-tags`) option when using `docker pull`.

This command pulls all images from the `ubuntu` repository:

```console
$ docker image pull --all-tags ubuntu

Pulling repository ubuntu
ad57ef8d78d7: Download complete
105182bb5e8b: Download complete
511136ea3c5a: Download complete
73bd853d2ea5: Download complete
....

Status: Downloaded newer image for ubuntu
```

After the pull has completed use the `docker image ls` command (or the `docker images`
shorthand) to see the images that were pulled. The example below shows all the
`ubuntu` images that are present locally:

```console
$ docker image ls --filter reference=ubuntu
REPOSITORY   TAG       IMAGE ID       CREATED        SIZE
ubuntu       18.04     c6ad7e71ba7d   5 weeks ago    63.2MB
ubuntu       bionic    c6ad7e71ba7d   5 weeks ago    63.2MB
ubuntu       22.04     5ccefbfc0416   2 months ago   78MB
ubuntu       focal     ff0fea8310f3   2 months ago   72.8MB
ubuntu       latest    ff0fea8310f3   2 months ago   72.8MB
ubuntu       jammy     41ba606c8ab9   3 months ago   79MB
ubuntu       20.04     ba6acccedd29   7 months ago   72.8MB
```

### Cancel a pull

Killing the `docker pull` process, for example by pressing `CTRL-c` while it is
running in a terminal, will terminate the pull operation.

```console
$ docker pull ubuntu

Using default tag: latest
latest: Pulling from library/ubuntu
a3ed95caeb02: Pulling fs layer
236608c7b546: Pulling fs layer
^C
```

The Engine terminates a pull operation when the connection between the daemon
and the client (initiating the pull) is cut or lost for any reason or the
command is manually terminated.