What is the difference between KILL and STOP commands?

KILL and STOP are two commands in docker used to stop a container from execution. A docker STOP command issues a SIGTERM signal to the main process running within the container, while KILL command issues a SIGKILL signal to the process.

docker STOP leads to a safe exit
docker KILL leads to an unsafe exit
if a process doesn't exit for a STOP command within a specified timeout, docker issues a KILL command implicitly.


> docker stop|kill <container_id>

docker STOP leads to a safe exit
docker KILL leads to an unsafe exit
if a process doesn’t exit for a STOP command within a specified timeout, docker issues a KILL command implicitly.