Most teams today use both a control panel and the Docker CLI when managing servers. This mix often works well, but it also creates a common problem: you never know what you should do in the UI and what you must handle in the Docker container terminal. The result is confusion, slow work, and sometimes broken setups.
Control panels handle the “host stuff” — users, firewalls, updates, and all the basic things you want to see in a nice UI. Docker container terminal handles the real work of running apps in containers. One is comfort; the other is control.
This article will help you understand what to click in the UI and what to run in the Docker container terminal.
When you work with both a control panel and the Docker container terminal, it helps to know where each tool fits. Some tasks are safer in the UI, while others only make sense in the terminal. A clear split keeps your setup clean and avoids conflict between the panel and your containers.
Here is a simple table you can use as a guide:
|
Task |
Control Panel UI |
Docker CLI |
Reason |
|
Create system users |
Yes |
No |
Easier and safer in the UI |
|
Update server packages |
Yes |
No |
Panels show a clear status |
|
Manage firewall rules |
Yes |
No |
Visual control is better |
|
Check server metrics |
Yes |
No |
Graphs help spot issues fast |
|
Start or stop containers |
No |
Yes |
CLI is more exact |
|
View full container logs |
No |
Yes |
UI often hides details |
|
Build images |
No |
Yes |
Needs the terminal |
|
Manage volumes and networks |
No |
Yes |
Only the CLI gives full options |
|
Run an interactive shell in a container |
No |
Yes |
Needs a Docker interactive terminal |
|
Open a container shell |
No |
Yes |
Done with docker exec |
A control panel handles the parts of your server that sit outside your containers. This is why panels still matter, even if Docker is the center of your workflow.
A panel helps you manage the core parts of your server. You can update the OS, adjust firewall rules, check CPU/RAM usage, and create backups. These tasks are safer and clearer in a UI because you see everything in one place.
Panels also help you keep track of DNS settings, SSL certificates, and user accounts. These are jobs that don’t belong inside a container, so the UI makes them easier to control.
The panel is often the fastest way to see what is wrong when something breaks at night. You can check load, kill stuck processes, or reboot the server with a single click. You don’t need to open the terminal or run a long chain of commands. This saves time and helps avoid panic.
A control panel isn’t training wheels; it’s a fast, auditable way to operate the host: users, updates, firewall, DNS/SSL, and backups. Use it to keep the machine that runs your containers healthy; don’t use it to manage the containers themselves.
If you don’t live in the terminal every day, the UI reduces cognitive load and small mistakes. You get a clear status, guardrails, and a single place to see what changed — perfect for small teams and quick setups where speed and auditability matter more than full low‑level control.
Reach for the panel when you need to keep the base system in good shape:
When it’s 3 AM, and something’s off, the UI shortens time‑to‑first‑signal:
You don’t need to open the Docker terminal for these. The fix is often just one click away.
A control panel can’t replace the Docker CLI for containers. The CLI (and Compose) is the only interface that exposes all runtime options, is fully scriptable, and behaves the same on a laptop, a CI runner, and any VPS. If you want your stack to be deterministic across servers, codify it in Compose/Git and operate it via the terminal.
The terminal doesn’t hide switches or defaults. What you type is exactly what runs and what teammates can repeat.
Panels differ by provider; the CLI doesn’t. Keep container config in code (Compose files, scripts, .env) so reviews, rollbacks, and migrations stay predictable.
Because UIs rarely expose the full flag set, the following jobs belong in the Docker container terminal or Compose:
docker run -d --name web \
--restart unless-stopped \
--health-cmd='curl -fsS http://localhost:8080/health || exit 1' \
--health-interval=10s --health-retries=3 \
--read-only --cap-drop=ALL --cap-add=NET_BIND_SERVICE \
--user 1000:1000 --pids-limit=200 --memory=512m \
-p 127.0.0.1:8080:8080 \
ghcr.io/org/app:1.2.3
User interfaces rarely offer you a summary of incidents.
docker ps --format 'table \t\t\t'
docker events --since 1h | grep -E 'die|oom|health_status'
docker inspect my-app --format '' | jq
docker stats --no-stream
You need the CLI to build, tag, and pin what runs in production (by tag or digest). Panels don’t give you build flags, cache control, or the provenance you get from the Docker command line interface.
# Build locally or in CI
docker build -t ghcr.io/acme/app:1.2.3 .
# Pull by immutable digest and run exactly that artifact
docker pull ghcr.io/acme/app@sha256:<digest>
docker run -d ghcr.io/acme/app@sha256:<digest>
Compose can also reference digests (image: ghcr.io/acme/app@sha256:<digest>), which makes rollbacks exact and auditable.
Some failures are only visible from inside the container or its network namespace.
# Focused logs
docker logs --since=10m --tail=0 -f my-app
# Safe interactive shell for probes
docker exec -it my-app sh
# Network forensics using the app’s network namespace
docker run --rm --net container:my-app nicolaka/netshoot tcpdump -i any -c 50 port 443
exec creates a new shell inside the container. This is the safe choice for debugging. It’s not the same as attach, which connects you to the main process. That is why Docker exec vs. attach matters. One is for debugging, the other is for watching the process directly.
Data‑touching tasks require ordered commands and explicit scopes — volumes, environment variables, and one‑off jobs.
# Run a one-off migration in an isolated, reproducible container
docker compose run --rm app ./manage.sh migrate
# Quick volume backup before risky changes
docker run --rm -v pgdata:/data -v "$PWD":/backup alpine \
tar czf /backup/pgdata-$(date +%F).tgz -C / data
These operations must live in code/CLI to avoid drift and “works on one server only” surprises.
Fine‑grained isolation lives in the CLI/Compose: capabilities, seccomp, users, read‑only filesystems, and resource limits.
docker run -d --name web \
--read-only --user 1000:1000 \
--cap-drop=ALL --cap-add=NET_BIND_SERVICE \
--security-opt no-new-privileges \
--pids-limit=200 --memory=512m \
ghcr.io/acme/app:1.2.3
Panels rarely show these, but without them, you leave excess privileges in place and increase the blast radius.
Attaching services to user‑defined networks, binding to loopback by default, and inspecting flows are all tasks for the Docker container terminal.
docker network create --subnet 172.30.0.0/24 app_net
docker run -d --network app_net -p 127.0.0.1:8080:8080 ghcr.io/acme/app:1.2.3
docker network inspect app_net | jq '.[0].Containers'
This prevents accidental exposure and keeps ingress rules predictable.
With the CLI/Compose, you see the full state of your containers, change it deterministically, and script it for every environment. That’s why — even with a panel — the terminal remains the core tool for running Docker at scale.
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Some specialized UIs exist specifically for managing Docker containers. Tools like Portainer or Rancher give you a visual interface for containers, networks, and volumes, while still letting you run commands in the Docker container terminal when needed.
These Docker-specific UIs are an exception to the general rule that most panels focus on the host, not the containers.
Most teams mix a control panel with the Docker CLI. The key is to pick one integration pattern and stick to it. Mixing ingress and ownership leads to drift and 3 AM incidents.
Assume a classic VPS with a control panel on the host and Docker/Compose for apps. The goal is to avoid split-brain between “what the panel thinks runs here” and “what Docker actually runs”.
Use this approach when you want the panel to own :80/:443, issue or renew certificates, and proxy to internal container ports. The panel runs on the host, terminates TLS, and forwards traffic to Docker.
Note that Docker’s NAT rules require firewall awareness: Docker can bypass host-level rules, unless you enforce policy in DOCKER-USER. There is also a real risk of port contention if the panel ships its own nginx or Apache and tries to “help” with vhosts.
So the setup becomes:
If you want per-service routing via Traefik, Caddy, or nginx inside Docker, then follow this pattern. Here, releases go through CI/CD, and the UI is only for a quick glance at the host (resources, backups, updates), not for app routing.
Ensure that the panel does not bind :80/:443 and does not manage vhosts for these domains. ACME and renewals live inside containers (Traefik, Caddy, certbot), and container configs are the only source of truth.
Use this pattern when:
This path is great for clean separation of duties (ops and dev) and automated, audit-friendly releases. It’s a “gold standard” where the panel is used for host hygiene and visibility, Docker CLI/Compose plus Git are the source of truth, and CI/CD pipelines deploy headlessly across environments.
To follow this pattern:
Decide who owns :80/:443 and TLS, keep container configuration in code, and never split one responsibility across UI and CLI. That’s how hybrids stay stable.
Use both, but split concerns cleanly:
This keeps the host safe and observable in the UI while your app stack remains reproducible across laptops, CI runners, and servers.
Why does this pair well with is*hosting? You can choose a KVM NVMe VPS or a dedicated server, add (or skip) a panel at checkout — ispmanager, DirectAdmin, HestiaCP, aaPanel, FastPanel, or cPanel — and still keep full root access for Docker.