Docker Inspect Container IP Address: Step-by-Step

Need the IP of a running container? There are several ways depending on whether you want just the IP, the full network config, or IPs across multiple networks.

TL;DR

# Quickest — just the IP
docker inspect -f '{{range.NetworkSettings.Networks}}{{.IPAddress}}{{end}}' <container>

# Full network info
docker inspect <container> | grep IPAddress

# From inside the container
docker exec <container> hostname -I

Method 1: docker inspect with Format Template

The cleanest approach — no grep, no jq needed:

docker inspect -f '{{range.NetworkSettings.Networks}}{{.IPAddress}}{{end}}' mycontainer
# Output: 172.17.0.3

For named networks, also show the network name:

docker inspect -f '{{range $net, $cfg := .NetworkSettings.Networks}}{{$net}}: {{$cfg.IPAddress}}{{"\n"}}{{end}}' mycontainer
# Output:
# bridge: 172.17.0.3
# myapp_network: 10.10.0.5

Method 2: docker inspect + grep

Fast but less precise — useful for a quick look:

docker inspect mycontainer | grep IPAddress

Output:

"SecondaryIPAddresses": null,
"IPAddress": "172.17.0.3",
        "IPAddress": "172.17.0.3",

The duplicate is from nested network config. Use method 1 for a clean single value.

Method 3: docker inspect + jq

Best for scripting:

# Install jq if needed
apt install jq

# Get IP
docker inspect mycontainer | jq -r '.[0].NetworkSettings.IPAddress'

# Get IP for a specific named network
docker inspect mycontainer | jq -r '.[0].NetworkSettings.Networks.bridge.IPAddress'

# Get all network IPs as key-value
docker inspect mycontainer | jq -r '.[0].NetworkSettings.Networks | to_entries[] | "\(.key): \(.value.IPAddress)"'

Method 4: From Inside the Container

# hostname -I (all IPs assigned to container)
docker exec mycontainer hostname -I
# Output: 172.17.0.3

# Or with ip command
docker exec mycontainer ip addr show eth0
docker exec mycontainer ip route

# On Alpine containers (no ip command)
docker exec mycontainer ifconfig eth0 2>/dev/null || docker exec mycontainer cat /proc/net/fib_trie

Real Examples

Get IPs of all running containers

docker ps -q | while read id; do
  name=$(docker inspect -f '{{.Name}}' $id | tr -d '/')
  ip=$(docker inspect -f '{{range.NetworkSettings.Networks}}{{.IPAddress}}{{end}}' $id)
  echo "$name: $ip"
done

Output:

nginx: 172.17.0.2
postgres: 172.17.0.3
redis: 172.17.0.4

Container on multiple networks

docker inspect mycontainer | jq -r '
  .[0].NetworkSettings.Networks
  | to_entries[]
  | "\(.key): \(.value.IPAddress) (gateway: \(.value.Gateway))"
'

Output:

bridge: 172.17.0.3 (gateway: 172.17.0.1)
myapp_backend: 10.10.0.5 (gateway: 10.10.0.1)

Find which container has a specific IP

docker ps -q | xargs docker inspect -f '{{.Name}} {{range.NetworkSettings.Networks}}{{.IPAddress}}{{end}}' \
  | grep "172.17.0.3"

Get IP from docker-compose service

# Using service name (not container name)
docker compose exec web hostname -I

# Or
docker inspect $(docker compose ps -q web) \
  | jq -r '.[0].NetworkSettings.Networks | to_entries[0].value.IPAddress'

Output Explanation

Full docker inspect network section:

"NetworkSettings": {
    "IPAddress": "172.17.0.3",          ← legacy field, default bridge only
    "Networks": {
        "bridge": {
            "IPAddress": "172.17.0.3",  ← use this for bridge network
            "Gateway": "172.17.0.1",
            "MacAddress": "02:42:ac:11:00:03",
            "NetworkID": "abc123..."
        }
    }
}

IPAddress at the top level is only populated for the default bridge network and is considered legacy. Use Networks.<name>.IPAddress instead — it works for all network types.

Common Mistakes

Mistake 1: Container on a custom network returns empty IP from legacy field

# Wrong — returns empty for custom network containers
docker inspect mycontainer | jq '.[0].NetworkSettings.IPAddress'
# ""

# Correct
docker inspect mycontainer | jq '.[0].NetworkSettings.Networks.myapp_network.IPAddress'
# "10.10.0.5"

Mistake 2: Using container name that doesn't match Docker container names start with /. When grepping:

docker inspect /mycontainer   # works
docker inspect mycontainer    # also works
# But programmatically, .Name returns "/mycontainer" with the slash
docker inspect -f '{{.Name}}' mycontainer
# Output: /mycontainer

Mistake 3: Expecting a stable IP Container IPs change on restart unless you assign static IPs or use DNS service discovery. Never hardcode container IPs.

# docker-compose: use service names instead of IPs
services:
  web:
    environment:
      - DATABASE_URL=postgres://db:5432/mydb  # "db" is the service name

Pro Tips

# One-liner: name + IP for all containers
docker ps --format '{{.Names}}' | \
  xargs -I{} sh -c 'echo -n "{}: "; docker inspect -f "{{range.NetworkSettings.Networks}}{{.IPAddress}}{{end}}" {}'

# Get gateway (useful when debugging container-to-host connectivity)
docker inspect -f '{{range.NetworkSettings.Networks}}{{.Gateway}}{{end}}' mycontainer

# Get full network config in readable format
docker inspect mycontainer | jq '.[0].NetworkSettings.Networks'

# Check if container is on a specific network
docker inspect mycontainer | jq '.[0].NetworkSettings.Networks | has("myapp_network")'

Conclusion

For a quick IP: docker inspect -f '{{range.NetworkSettings.Networks}}{{.IPAddress}}{{end}}' <name>. For scripting with multiple networks: jq. For inside-container inspection: docker exec <name> hostname -I.

Don't rely on container IPs for service-to-service communication in docker-compose — use service names. IPs change on restart; DNS-based service discovery doesn't.

Related: Docker Networking Demystified: bridge, host, and overlay — understand why containers get the IPs they do. Check Open Ports in Linux — verify which ports are accessible from the host.