Manage builders

Table of contents

You can create, inspect, and manage builders using docker buildx commands, or using Docker Desktop.

Create a new builder

The default builder uses the docker driver. You can't manually create new docker builders, but you can create builders that use other drivers, such as the docker-container driver, which runs the BuildKit daemon in a container.

Use the docker buildx create command to create a builder.

$ docker buildx create --name=<builder-name>

Buildx uses the docker-container driver by default if you omit the --driver flag. For more information about available drivers, see Build drivers.

List available builders

Use docker buildx ls to see builder instances available on your system, and the drivers they're using.

$ docker buildx ls
NAME/NODE       DRIVER/ENDPOINT      STATUS   BUILDKIT PLATFORMS
default *       docker
  default       default              running  v0.11.6  linux/amd64, linux/amd64/v2, linux/amd64/v3, linux/386
my_builder      docker-container
  my_builder0   default              running  v0.11.6  linux/amd64, linux/amd64/v2, linux/amd64/v3, linux/386

The asterisk (*) next to the builder name indicates the selected builder.

Inspect a builder

To inspect a builder with the CLI, use docker buildx inspect <name>. You can only inspect a builder if the builder is active. You can add the --bootstrap flag to the command to start the builder.

$ docker buildx inspect --bootstrap my_builder
[+] Building 1.7s (1/1) FINISHED                                                                  
 => [internal] booting buildkit                                                              1.7s
 => => pulling image moby/buildkit:buildx-stable-1                                           1.3s
 => => creating container buildx_buildkit_my_builder0                                        0.4s
Name:          my_builder
Driver:        docker-container
Last Activity: 2023-06-21 18:28:37 +0000 UTC

Nodes:
Name:      my_builder0
Endpoint:  unix:///var/run/docker.sock
Status:    running
Buildkit:  v0.11.6
Platforms: linux/arm64, linux/amd64, linux/amd64/v2, linux/riscv64, linux/ppc64le, linux/s390x, linux/386, linux/mips64le, linux/mips64, linux/arm/v7, linux/arm/v6

If you want to see how much disk space a builder is using, use the docker buildx du command. By default, this command shows the total disk usage for all available builders. To see usage for a specific builder, use the --builder flag.

$ docker buildx du --builder my_builder
ID                                        RECLAIMABLE SIZE        LAST ACCESSED
olkri5gq6zsh8q2819i69aq6l                 true        797.2MB     37 seconds ago
6km4kasxgsywxkm6cxybdumbb*                true        438.5MB     36 seconds ago
qh3wwwda7gx2s5u4hsk0kp4w7                 true        213.8MB     37 seconds ago
54qq1egqem8max3lxq6180cj8                 true        200.2MB     37 seconds ago
ndlp969ku0950bmrw9muolw0c*                true        116.7MB     37 seconds ago
u52rcsnfd1brwc0chwsesb3io*                true        116.7MB     37 seconds ago
rzoeay0s4nmss8ub59z6lwj7d                 true        46.25MB     4 minutes ago
itk1iibhmv7awmidiwbef633q                 true        33.33MB     37 seconds ago
4p78yqnbmgt6xhcxqitdieeln                 true        19.46MB     4 minutes ago
dgkjvv4ay0szmr9bl7ynla7fy*                true        19.24MB     36 seconds ago
tuep198kmcw299qc9e4d1a8q2                 true        8.663MB     4 minutes ago
n1wzhauk9rpmt6ib1es7dktvj                 true        20.7kB      4 minutes ago
0a2xfhinvndki99y69157udlm                 true        16.56kB     37 seconds ago
gf0z1ypz54npfererqfeyhinn                 true        16.38kB     37 seconds ago
nz505f12cnsu739dw2pw0q78c                 true        8.192kB     37 seconds ago
hwpcyq5hdfvioltmkxu7fzwhb*                true        8.192kB     37 seconds ago
acekq89snc7j6im1rjdizvsg1*                true        8.192kB     37 seconds ago
Reclaimable:  2.01GB
Total:        2.01GB

Remove a builder

Use the docker buildx remove command to remove a builder.

$ docker buildx rm <builder-name>

If you remove your currently selected builder, the default docker builder is automatically selected. You can't remove the default builder.

Local build cache for the builder is also removed.

Removing remote builders

Removing a remote builder doesn't affect the remote build cache. It also doesn't stop the remote BuildKit daemon. It only removes your connection to the builder.

Manage builders with Docker Desktop

If you have turned on the Docker Desktop Builds view, you can inspect builders in Docker Desktop settings.