DOCKER(1) Docker User Manuals DOCKER(1)
NAME
docker-network-connect - Connect a container to a network
SYNOPSIS
docker network connect [OPTIONS] NETWORK CONTAINER
DESCRIPTION
Connects a container to a network. You can connect a container by name
or by ID. Once connected, the container can communicate with other con-
tainers in the same network.
$ docker network connect multi-host-network container1
You can also use the docker run --network=<network-name> option to
start a container and immediately connect it to a network.
$ docker run -itd --network=multi-host-network --ip 172.20.88.22 --ip6 2001:db8::8822 busybox
You can pause, restart, and stop containers that are connected to a
network. A container connects to its configured networks when it runs.
If specified, the container's IP address(es) is reapplied when a
stopped container is restarted. If the IP address is no longer avail-
able, the container fails to start. One way to guarantee that the IP
address is available is to specify an --ip-range when creating the net-
work, and choose the static IP address(es) from outside that range.
This ensures that the IP address is not given to another container
while this container is not on the network.
$ docker network create --subnet 172.20.0.0/16 --ip-range 172.20.240.0/20 multi-host-network
$ docker network connect --ip 172.20.128.2 multi-host-network container2
To verify the container is connected, use the docker network inspect
command. Use docker network disconnect to remove a container from the
network.
Once connected in network, containers can communicate using only an-
other container's IP address or name. For overlay networks or custom
plugins that support multi-host connectivity, containers connected to
the same multi-host network but launched from different Engines can
also communicate in this way.
You can connect a container to one or more networks. The networks need
not be the same type. For example, you can connect a single container
bridge and overlay networks.
OPTIONS
--alias=[] Add network-scoped alias for the container
--driver-opt=[] driver options for the network
--gw-priority=0 Highest gw-priority provides the default gateway.
Accepts positive and negative values.
--ip= IPv4 address (e.g., "172.30.100.104")
--ip6= IPv6 address (e.g., "2001:db8::33")
--link= Add link to another container
--link-local-ip=[] Add a link-local address for the container
SEE ALSO
docker-network(1)
Docker Community Apr 2026 DOCKER(1)
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