Docker run to Docker compose converter

A long docker run command with ports, volumes and environment variables is hard to read, easy to mistype and impossible to version properly. Docker Compose describes the same container in a YAML file you can commit, review and start with one command. This converter turns your existing docker run commands into a Compose service definition.

How to use it

1. Paste one or more docker run commands.
2. Copy the generated docker-compose.yml.
3. Run docker compose up -d in the same folder.

Example

Input:

docker run -d --name db -p 5432:5432 -e POSTGRES_PASSWORD=secret -v pgdata:/var/lib/postgresql/data --restart unless-stopped postgres:16

Output:

services:
  db:
    image: postgres:16
    container_name: db
    ports:
      - 5432:5432
    environment:
      - POSTGRES_PASSWORD=secret
    volumes:
      - pgdata:/var/lib/postgresql/data
    restart: unless-stopped
volumes:
  pgdata:

Flag mapping

• -p becomes ports, -v becomes volumes, -e becomes environment.
• --name becomes container_name, --restart becomes restart.
• --network becomes networks; -d is implied by docker compose up -d.

After converting

• Move secrets out of the file into an .env file or Docker secrets.
• Remove container_name if you want to scale a service.
• Add depends_on with health checks when one service needs another.
• Put services that talk to each other in the same Compose file; they can reach each other by service name.