Docker Management

Docker Container Management

This guide explains how to manage Docker containers on your Unraid server through Home Assistant.

Available Controls

The Unraid integration provides the following Docker container controls:

• View container status
• Start/Stop containers
• Execute commands within containers
• Monitor container states

Entity Types

Each Docker container appears as a switch entity in Home Assistant:

switch.unraid_docker_[container_name]

Example entities:

• switch.unraid_docker_plex
• switch.unraid_docker_homeassistant
• switch.unraid_docker_nginx

Basic Controls

Start Container

# Using switch entity
service: switch.turn_on
target:
  entity_id: switch.unraid_docker_plex

# Using service call
service: unraid.execute_command
data:
  entry_id: "1234abcd5678efgh"
  command: "docker start plex"

Stop Container

# Using switch entity
service: switch.turn_off
target:
  entity_id: switch.unraid_docker_plex

# Using service call
service: unraid.execute_command
data:
  entry_id: "1234abcd5678efgh"
  command: "docker stop plex"

Advanced Container Management

Execute Commands in Container

service: unraid.execute_in_container
data:
  entry_id: "1234abcd5678efgh"
  container: "plex"
  command: "ls -l /config"
  detached: false

Example Use Cases

1. Restart Container on Issues

alias: "Restart Plex When Frozen"
description: "Restart Plex container if it becomes unresponsive"
trigger:
  - platform: state
    entity_id: binary_sensor.plex_available
    to: "off"
    for:
      minutes: 2
action:
  - service: switch.turn_off
    target:
      entity_id: switch.unraid_docker_plex
  - delay:
      seconds: 30
  - service: switch.turn_on
    target:
      entity_id: switch.unraid_docker_plex

2. Schedule Container Updates

alias: "Update Docker Containers"
trigger:
  - platform: time
    at: "03:00:00"
condition:
  - condition: time
    weekday:
      - mon
action:
  - service: unraid.execute_command
    data:
      entry_id: "1234abcd5678efgh"
      command: "docker container ls -q | xargs -r docker update"

3. Container Maintenance

alias: "Docker Maintenance"
trigger:
  - platform: time
    at: "04:00:00"
action:
  - service: unraid.execute_command
    data:
      entry_id: "1234abcd5678efgh"
      command: "docker system prune -f"

Monitoring Containers

Container Status Sensor

Monitor container status through the switch entity's state:

• on = Container is running
• off = Container is stopped

Container Logs

service: unraid.execute_in_container
data:
  entry_id: "1234abcd5678efgh"
  container: "plex"
  command: "tail -n 100 /config/Plex Media Server/Logs/Plex Media Server.log"

Best Practices

1. Graceful Shutdown

   • Allow sufficient time for containers to stop
   • Use appropriate stop signals
   • Monitor shutdown completion

2. Resource Management

   • Monitor container resource usage
   • Schedule maintenance during off-peak hours
   • Clean up unused containers/images

3. Error Handling

   • Implement retry logic
   • Add notification on failures
   • Log important events

4. Security

   • Use specific commands instead of shell access
   • Limit command execution privileges
   • Monitor container security logs