Docker Remote API via SSH

#Docker Remote API via SSH

After this lesson you'll know:

• how to run Docker commands on a remote server
• docker context for seamless switching
• using remote containers in VS Code

#Docker over SSH — no extra SSH session needed

Docker can communicate directly over SSH. No clunky logging in.

# One command, everything remote
docker -H ssh://user@server ps

# Or set a context (recommended)
docker context create remote --docker "host=ssh://user@server"
docker use context remote

# Every command now runs on the server
docker ps
docker compose up -d

# Back to local
docker use context default

# Remove context
docker context rm remote

#VS Code Integration

Once you've set the context, the Docker extension in VS Code displays remote containers. You can view logs, stop containers, open shells — all directly from VS Code.

#SSH Config for convenience

# ~/.ssh/config
Host dockerserver
    HostName 94.249.186.26
    User ian
    ForwardAgent yes

# Then simply:
docker -H ssh://dockerserver ps

#✋ Try it out

• Set up an SSH key (ssh-keygen, ssh-copy-id user@server) and connect Docker remotely: docker -H ssh://user@server ps
• Create a Docker Context and switch between remote and local: docker context create remote --docker "host=ssh://user@server"
• Start a container remotely (in the context), verify it's running on the server (docker ps), switch back to local context

#📌 Summary

• docker -H ssh://user@server executes commands remotely
• docker context create + docker use context = seamless switching
• VS Code Docker Extension shows remote containers