github.com/khulnasoft/cli@v0.0.0-20240402070845-01bcad7beefa/docs/reference/commandline/container_kill.md (about) 1 # kill 2 3 <!---MARKER_GEN_START--> 4 Kill one or more running containers 5 6 ### Aliases 7 8 `docker container kill`, `docker kill` 9 10 ### Options 11 12 | Name | Type | Default | Description | 13 |:---------------------------------------|:---------|:--------|:--------------------------------| 14 | [`-s`](#signal), [`--signal`](#signal) | `string` | | Signal to send to the container | 15 16 17 <!---MARKER_GEN_END--> 18 19 ## Description 20 21 The `docker kill` subcommand kills one or more containers. The main process 22 inside the container is sent `SIGKILL` signal (default), or the signal that is 23 specified with the `--signal` option. You can reference a container by its 24 ID, ID-prefix, or name. 25 26 The `--signal` flag sets the system call signal that is sent to the container. 27 This signal can be a signal name in the format `SIG<NAME>`, for instance `SIGINT`, 28 or an unsigned number that matches a position in the kernel's syscall table, 29 for instance `2`. 30 31 While the default (`SIGKILL`) signal will terminate the container, the signal 32 set through `--signal` may be non-terminal, depending on the container's main 33 process. For example, the `SIGHUP` signal in most cases will be non-terminal, 34 and the container will continue running after receiving the signal. 35 36 > **Note** 37 > 38 > `ENTRYPOINT` and `CMD` in the *shell* form run as a child process of 39 > `/bin/sh -c`, which does not pass signals. This means that the executable is 40 > not the container’s PID 1 and does not receive Unix signals. 41 42 ## Examples 43 44 45 ### Send a KILL signal to a container 46 47 The following example sends the default `SIGKILL` signal to the container named 48 `my_container`: 49 50 ```console 51 $ docker kill my_container 52 ``` 53 54 ### <a name="signal"></a> Send a custom signal to a container (--signal) 55 56 The following example sends a `SIGHUP` signal to the container named 57 `my_container`: 58 59 ```console 60 $ docker kill --signal=SIGHUP my_container 61 ``` 62 63 64 You can specify a custom signal either by _name_, or _number_. The `SIG` prefix 65 is optional, so the following examples are equivalent: 66 67 ```console 68 $ docker kill --signal=SIGHUP my_container 69 $ docker kill --signal=HUP my_container 70 $ docker kill --signal=1 my_container 71 ``` 72 73 Refer to the [`signal(7)`](https://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man7/signal.7.html) 74 man-page for a list of standard Linux signals.