---
name: "docker-compose-up"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "docker-compose"
version: "2.26.1-4"
release: "Debian 13 (Trixie)"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/docker-compose-up"
---

# docker-compose-up(1)

Create and start containers

## NAME

docker-compose-up - Create and start containers

## SYNOPSIS

**docker compose up \[OPTIONS\] \[SERVICE...\]**

## DESCRIPTION

Builds, (re)creates, starts, and attaches to containers for a service.

Unless they are already running, this command also starts any linked services.

The **docker compose up** command aggregates the output of each container (like **docker compose logs --follow** does). One can optionally select a subset of services to attach to using **--attach** flag, or exclude some services using **--no-attach** to prevent output to be flooded by some verbose services.

When the command exits, all containers are stopped. Running **docker compose up --detach** starts the containers in the background and leaves them running.

If there are existing containers for a service, and the service’s configuration or image was changed after the container’s creation, **docker compose up** picks up the changes by stopping and recreating the containers (preserving mounted volumes). To prevent Compose from picking up changes, use the **--no-recreate** flag.

If you want to force Compose to stop and recreate all containers, use the **--force-recreate** flag.

If the process encounters an error, the exit code for this command is **1**. If the process is interrupted using **SIGINT** (ctrl + C) or **SIGTERM**, the containers are stopped, and the exit code is **0**.

## OPTIONS

**--abort-on-container-exit**\[=false\]\
 	Stops all containers if any container was stopped. Incompatible with -d

**--always-recreate-deps**\[=false\]\
 	Recreate dependent containers. Incompatible with --no-recreate.

**--attach**=\[\]\
 	Restrict attaching to the specified services. Incompatible with --attach-dependencies.

**--attach-dependencies**\[=false\]\
 	Automatically attach to log output of dependent services

**--build**\[=false\]\
 	Build images before starting containers

**-d**, **--detach**\[=false\]\
 	Detached mode: Run containers in the background

**--exit-code-from**=""\
 	Return the exit code of the selected service container. Implies --abort-on-container-exit

**--force-recreate**\[=false\]\
 	Recreate containers even if their configuration and image haven't changed

**-h**, **--help**\[=false\]\
 	help for up

**--no-attach**=\[\]\
 	Do not attach (stream logs) to the specified services

**--no-build**\[=false\]\
 	Don't build an image, even if it's policy

**--no-color**\[=false\]\
 	Produce monochrome output

**--no-deps**\[=false\]\
 	Don't start linked services

**--no-log-prefix**\[=false\]\
 	Don't print prefix in logs

**--no-recreate**\[=false\]\
 	If containers already exist, don't recreate them. Incompatible with --force-recreate.

**--no-start**\[=false\]\
 	Don't start the services after creating them

**--pull**="policy"\
 	Pull image before running ("always"\|"missing"\|"never")

**--quiet-pull**\[=false\]\
 	Pull without printing progress information

**--remove-orphans**\[=false\]\
 	Remove containers for services not defined in the Compose file

**-V**, **--renew-anon-volumes**\[=false\]\
 	Recreate anonymous volumes instead of retrieving data from the previous containers

**--scale**=\[\]\
 	Scale SERVICE to NUM instances. Overrides the **scale** setting in the Compose file if present.

**-t**, **--timeout**=0\
 	Use this timeout in seconds for container shutdown when attached or when containers are already running

**--timestamps**\[=false\]\
 	Show timestamps

**--wait**\[=false\]\
 	Wait for services to be running\|healthy. Implies detached mode.

**--wait-timeout**=0\
 	Maximum duration to wait for the project to be running\|healthy

**-w**, **--watch**\[=false\]\
 	Watch source code and rebuild/refresh containers when files are updated.

## OPTIONS INHERITED FROM PARENT COMMANDS

**--dry-run**\[=false\]\
 	Execute command in dry run mode

## SEE ALSO

**[docker-compose(1)](/docker-compose/1.md)**