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Updating a Container Optimized Image VM

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Updated at May 5, 2026

Change the Docker container settings on the VM you created from a Container Optimized Image.

  1. In the management console, select the folder where you created the VM.
  2. Navigate to Compute Cloud.
  3. Click the row with the VM you want to update.
  4. In the top panel, click Edit VM
  5. Modify the Docker container settings section as required.
  6. Click Save changes.

  1. View the description of the CLI command for updating VMs:

    yc compute instance update-container --help

  2. Get the unique VM ID. To do this, click the row with the VM name under Compute Cloud in the management console or use this CLI command:

    yc compute instance list

    Result:

    +----------------------+-------+-------------------+---------+----------------------------------+-------------+
|          ID          | NAME  |      ZONE ID      | STATUS  |           EXTERNAL IP            | INTERNAL IP |
+----------------------+-------+-------------------+---------+----------------------------------+-------------+
| epdbf646ge5q******** | my-vm | ru-central1-b     | RUNNING | 84.201.155.117                   | 172.18.0.21 |
+----------------------+-------+-------------------+---------+----------------------------------+-------------+

  3. Update the VM.

    Depending on how you created the VM, there are several ways to update it:

    Creation method Update the VM using
    --container-image    		 Update the VM using
    --docker-compose-file
    Using the --container-* parameters The system deletes the old Docker container and creates a new one. The system deletes the old Docker container and creates new containers as per the docker-compose.yaml file.
    Using the docker-compose.yaml file specification The system deletes the old Docker containers as per docker-compose.yaml and creates a new container described using the --container-* parameters. The system only creates either new Docker containers, i.e., those added to docker-compose.yaml, or modified containers. The system deletes the Docker containers missing from the new docker-compose.yaml file.

    • Update the VM by setting new parameters:

      yc compute instance update-container epdbf646ge5q******** \
  --container-name=my_vm_new_version \
  --container-image=cr.yandex/mirror/ubuntu:18.04 \
  --container-env=KEY1=VAL1,KEY2=VAL2 \
  --remove-container-env=KEY3 \
  --container-stdin=false \
  --container-restart-policy=Never

      Where:

      • --container-name: Docker container name.
      • --container-image: Name of the Docker image used to run the Docker container.
      • --container-env: Environment variables available in the Docker container.
      • --remove-container-env: Exclude the environment variables whose keys are specified in the parameter.
      • --container-command: Command to run when you start the Docker container.
      • --container-stdin: Allocate the buffer for the input stream while running the Docker container.
      • --container-restart-policy: Parameters for the command specified in --container-command.
      • --container-privileged: Run the Docker container in privileged mode.

      Result:

      done (2s)
id: epdbf646ge5q********
folder_id: b1g88tflru0e********
created_at: "2023-03-13T09:44:03Z"
name: my-vm
...

    • Update the VM by setting the specifications of multiple Docker containers:

      yc compute instance update-container epdbf646ge5q******** --docker-compose-file=<path_to_file>

      Where --docker-compose-file is the path to the Docker container spec file.

      Result:

      done (2s)
id: fhma9omhj2e7********
folder_id: b1g88tflru0e********
created_at: "2023-03-13T17:08:48Z"
name: coi-vm
...
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