[How-To] Delete multiple images in k3d nodes (k3s containers) by name

[noamza]

I am trying to delete multiple images at once based on their name, I was hoping for something like

docker exec k3d-local-k3s-server-0 sh -c "ctr image rm $(ctr image list -q | grep <imageName>) "

but this doesn't work. Any ideas?

Note: my environment apparently doesn't contain xargs so

docker exec k3d-local-k3s-server-0 sh -c "ctr image list -q | grep <imageName> | xargs ctr image rm"

also doesn't work

[iwilltry42]

Hi @noamza , thanks for starting this discussion!
In fact, both of your commands work generally with minor tweaks:

1. Replace double quotes with single quotes to prevent $(ctr image list -q | grep <imageName>) from being interpreted locally instead of inside the container.

$ docker exec k3d-t-server-0 sh -c "ctr image list -q | grep coredns"
docker.io/rancher/coredns-coredns:1.8.3
docker.io/rancher/coredns-coredns@sha256:9d4f5d7968c432fbd4123f397a2d6ab666fd63d13d510d9728d717c3e002dc72

$ docker exec k3d-t-server-0 sh -c 'ctr image rm $(ctr image list -q | grep coredns)'
docker.io/rancher/coredns-coredns:1.8.3
docker.io/rancher/coredns-coredns@sha256:9d4f5d7968c432fbd4123f397a2d6ab666fd63d13d510d9728d717c3e002dc72

$ docker exec k3d-t-server-0 sh -c "ctr image list -q | grep coredns"

2. The K3s image is based on busybox, so you can use the busybox xargs.

$ docker exec k3d-t-server-0 sh -c "ctr image list -q | grep klipper"                
docker.io/rancher/klipper-helm:v0.6.6-build20211022
docker.io/rancher/klipper-helm@sha256:961459b8641aa77dae39c96ba8efba88805a8949dcaafa131d1aecc1510128bf
docker.io/rancher/klipper-lb:v0.3.4
docker.io/rancher/klipper-lb@sha256:d5ec8350ee1a80ec783effe95a2fefae371d1498ac04865cb6024499882f291c

$ docker exec k3d-t-server-0 sh -c "ctr image list -q | grep klipper | busybox xargs ctr image rm"
docker.io/rancher/klipper-helm:v0.6.6-build20211022
docker.io/rancher/klipper-helm@sha256:961459b8641aa77dae39c96ba8efba88805a8949dcaafa131d1aecc1510128bf
docker.io/rancher/klipper-lb:v0.3.4
docker.io/rancher/klipper-lb@sha256:d5ec8350ee1a80ec783effe95a2fefae371d1498ac04865cb6024499882f291c

$ docker exec k3d-t-server-0 sh -c "ctr image list -q | grep klipper"  

[noamza]

@iwilltry42 This is perfect, thank you! I am not sure if I titled this question clearly, maybe 'registry' or 'container' might be better than 'node' in my title (I am new to containers)? Let me know if I can change the title to make this post as helpful as possible. Thanks again!

[iwilltry42]

It's the local image repository inside the k3d node containers (so "node" is the k3d side of things, while "container" is the docker side).
Actually, you had "registry" in the title if I remember correctly and I changed it to node, because it's unrelated to image registries.