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docker run -d
--name app
--restart unless-stopped
--memory 512m
--memory-reservation 384m
--cpus 1.5
example-image:tagThis example keeps the container running unless you stop it, sets a 512 MB hard memory ceiling, requests a 384 MB soft reservation under memory pressure, and caps CPU use at 1.5 CPUs. Those numbers are examples, not universal sizing recommendations; choose them from observed workload demand and the capacity of the host.
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What Docker restart policies and resource limits control
Docker separates two decisions:
- Restart policy: what Docker should do when a container exits or when the Docker daemon starts again.
- Resource limits: how much memory and CPU the container may consume on its host.
Docker’s documentation describes restart policies as controlling whether containers start automatically after they exit or when Docker restarts. By default, a container has no resource constraints and can use as much of a resource as the host kernel scheduler allows. See Docker’s restart-policy documentation and the resource-constraints guide.
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These controls apply to Docker Engine containers. Swarm services have separate restart configuration, and behavior can vary with the Engine version, operating system, Docker Desktop environment, and kernel capabilities. Check the documentation for the exact Engine release you operate before depending on a version-sensitive option.
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Choose the restart policy that matches the failure you want to handle
| Setting | What it does | Use it when |
|---|---|---|
--restart no |
No automatic restart; this is the default. | Restart handling belongs to another system, or you deliberately want the container to stay stopped after exit. |
--restart on-failure[:N] |
Restarts only after a non-zero exit. The optional N limits restart attempts. |
A failed process should be retried, but a clean exit should remain stopped. |
--restart always |
Restarts the container whenever it stops, including after a daemon restart, subject to Docker’s manual-stop behavior. | You want broad automatic recovery for a continuously running service. |
--restart unless-stopped |
Behaves like always while retaining an explicit manual stop across a Docker daemon restart. |
A manually managed service should come back after host or daemon recovery, but remain stopped when an operator intentionally stopped it. |
State the intent rather than selecting a policy by habit. A batch-style process that should retry failures may fit on-failure:3; a long-running service that should recover from host maintenance may fit unless-stopped; a debugging container may be better left at no.
Restart-policy behavior that commonly surprises operators
The policy is not active immediately
Docker applies a restart policy only after the container has started successfully. Docker defines successful startup for this purpose as running for at least 10 seconds. A process that dies during a short initialization window may therefore stop without the repeated restarts you expected.
on-failure does not react to a daemon restart by itself
on-failure is tied to a non-zero container exit. It does not restart a stopped container merely because the Docker daemon restarted. If daemon or host recovery is part of the requirement, evaluate always or unless-stopped instead.
Manual stops suppress policy-driven restarts
When you manually stop a container, Docker suppresses the policy-driven restart until the daemon restarts or you manually restart the container. The unless-stopped policy additionally remembers the manual stop across a daemon restart, so the container remains stopped until you explicitly start it.
Do not layer competing process supervisors casually
Docker warns that combining a Docker restart policy with a host-level process manager can create conflicts. Decide which layer owns restart responsibility and configure one authoritative mechanism. A restart policy is also different from --live-restore: live restore addresses daemon upgrades and is not a replacement for a container restart policy. See Docker’s explanation of automatic container starts.
Create a container with restart and resource settings
Put the options before the image name in docker run. The following complete command creates a detached container named app:
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docker run -d
--name app
--restart unless-stopped
--memory 512m
--memory-reservation 384m
--cpus 1.5
example-image:tagHere, unless-stopped expresses the restart intent, --memory 512m establishes a hard maximum of 512 MB, --memory-reservation 384m supplies a lower soft threshold used under contention, and --cpus 1.5 imposes a CPU quota equivalent to up to one and a half CPUs. Replace example-image:tag with the image and tag you actually deploy.
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Change a restart policy on an existing container
Use docker update instead of recreating the container when you only need to change its restart behavior:
docker update --restart unless-stopped appThe change targets the existing container named app. A policy change does not redesign the application’s failure handling: verify whether the process exits with code zero or non-zero, whether it can recover safely after a retry, and whether a manually stopped container should remain stopped after daemon recovery.
Change resource settings on an existing container
Docker also provides docker update for changing resource settings. For example:
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docker update --memory 768m --cpus 2 appUse the current docker container update reference to confirm the exact option syntax, supported combinations, and constraints for your installed Engine version. Apply changes deliberately: raising a limit may protect the application but reduce capacity available to other containers, while lowering one can trigger allocation failures or out-of-memory handling.
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Set memory limits correctly
--memory: the hard ceiling
--memory sets the container’s hard memory maximum. Docker documents a minimum value of 6 MB. Once a container reaches its configured limit, allocations can fail and the kernel’s out-of-memory mechanisms may terminate processes. Treat this as a protection boundary, not as a target amount of memory the application is guaranteed to receive.
--memory-reservation: a soft limit under contention
--memory-reservation is a soft limit that becomes relevant when the host is under memory pressure. It does not guarantee that the container stays below that amount. If you configure both values, set the reservation below the hard maximum, as in the 384 MB reservation and 512 MB ceiling in the example command.
A reservation is useful for expressing expected operating demand while retaining a higher emergency ceiling. It should not be used as a substitute for a hard cap, capacity planning, or application-level memory controls.
--memory-swap: combined RAM plus swap
--memory-swap controls the combined allowance of memory and swap, and it only has an effect when --memory is also set. The result depends on whether the host has swap enabled and on kernel support. A configured value cannot create swap that the host does not provide, so inspect the host’s swap policy before treating this flag as available overflow capacity.
Memory and swap settings are easy to misread because the swap value is not an additional standalone RAM limit; it describes the combined memory-plus-swap allowance. Consult Docker’s resource-constraints documentation and the container run option reference for the behavior of the exact combination you plan to use.
Do not disable OOM killing casually
Docker advises using --oom-kill-disable only when a memory limit is also set. Disabling the kernel’s ability to kill a container process without a carefully bounded memory limit can move the failure to the host, where unrelated services or Docker itself may be affected. Establish a tested hard memory limit first, and use this option only when you understand the application’s recovery behavior.
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Set CPU limits and understand CPU shares
--cpus: a straightforward quota
--cpus expresses a CPU ceiling as a number of CPUs. For example, --cpus="1.5" allows the container to use up to one and a half CPUs worth of scheduled time. It limits peak consumption; it does not promise that those CPUs will always be available when the host is busy.
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--cpu-shares assigns a relative weight used when containers compete for CPU. A container with more shares receives more of the available CPU time than a container with fewer shares under contention, but shares do not cap usage, reserve a fixed fraction, or guarantee a minimum CPU allocation. Use --cpus when you need a ceiling and shares when you need relative priority among competing workloads.
Docker’s Linux implementation uses kernel control groups and the Completely Fair Scheduler. The documented default CFS period is 100,000 microseconds. Resource controls that depend on kernel features may not behave identically on every operating system or Docker Desktop configuration, so validate them on the platform where the container will run.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Measure before choosing limits
Docker recommends testing an application’s memory needs before production. The runtime metrics command provides a live view:
docker stats appThe output includes CPU usage, memory usage, and the configured memory limit. Use it while the application handles representative traffic, startup, scheduled jobs, cache warm-up, and expected concurrency. A single quiet snapshot cannot establish a safe limit.
- Run the image with a provisional limit that leaves host headroom.
- Exercise normal and peak workflows, including the largest expected requests and background tasks.
- Watch the memory usage and limit columns in
docker statsover the full workload period. - Look for sustained growth, sudden peaks, CPU throttling symptoms, failed allocations, or process restarts.
- Set the hard memory ceiling above the measured peak with an explicit margin, then retest after deployment changes.
- Choose a CPU ceiling that preserves capacity for the host and other services; use shares only to express priority during contention.
For production sizing, repeat the exercise after changing application versions, traffic patterns, concurrency, or host capacity. The Docker runtime-metrics documentation explains the metrics that docker stats reports.
Decision guide for common container roles
| Operational intent | Typical starting choice | Reason to verify it |
|---|---|---|
| Interactive debugging | --restart no |
Unexpected restarts can hide the original failure and interfere with investigation. |
| Retry a worker that fails | --restart on-failure:N |
Confirm that non-zero exits are recoverable and that the retry cap prevents an endless crash loop. |
| Continuously available service | --restart always or unless-stopped |
Choose based on whether an operator’s manual stop should survive a daemon restart. |
| Memory-sensitive service on a shared host | A tested --memory cap, optionally paired with a lower reservation |
Too low a cap causes application failure; too high a cap leaves less protection for the host. |
| CPU-intensive workload sharing a host | --cpus for a ceiling, with shares only if relative priority is needed |
Check throughput and latency under contention instead of assuming a quota maps to a guaranteed performance level. |
Troubleshoot restart and limit problems
The container exits and does not restart
- Check whether the process exited with code zero.
on-failureresponds only to non-zero exits. - Consider whether the container ran for at least 10 seconds; Docker does not apply the policy before successful startup reaches that threshold.
- Check for a manual stop. Docker suppresses policy-driven restarts until a daemon or manual container restart, while
unless-stoppedpreserves the stop across daemon restarts. - Confirm that the policy was actually applied with
docker updateor at creation time, and verify option support in your Engine release.
The container restarts repeatedly
A crash loop can indicate a bad image configuration, a dependency that is unavailable, or a memory limit that is too low. Use a bounded on-failure:N policy for retryable jobs, inspect application logs, and test initialization without an aggressive restart loop. Do not add a second host process manager to compete with Docker.
The process is killed or allocations fail
- Compare observed usage with the hard
--memorylimit usingdocker stats. - Remember that
--memory-reservationis not a guaranteed ceiling and cannot prevent the container from exceeding that soft value. - Check host memory and swap availability. A
--memory-swapsetting cannot provide swap absent on the host. - Increase the limit only after confirming that the host has capacity and that other services remain protected.
CPU performance is lower than expected
A --cpus quota can intentionally throttle a busy container once it reaches its allowance. CPU shares affect only relative distribution during contention; increasing shares does not reserve a fixed CPU fraction. Measure under realistic concurrent load and adjust the quota or workload placement accordingly.
An option behaves differently on another platform
Resource controls rely on kernel and cgroup support. Docker’s resource documentation focuses on Linux kernel behavior, and the available controls can differ across Engine versions, Docker Desktop environments, and operating systems. Validate the exact deployment target rather than assuming a Linux test transfers unchanged.
Operational boundaries to keep clear
Restart policies apply to individual containers. Docker documents separate restart behavior for Swarm services, so do not transfer a container command directly into a Swarm deployment model. Likewise, a restart policy is not the same as live restore during a Docker upgrade.
Finally, limits protect a host only when they are realistic and tested. Unconstrained containers may consume resources as the host scheduler permits, and host-wide out-of-memory conditions can kill critical processes. Combine container limits with workload testing, host capacity planning, and a clear owner for restart behavior.
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