Docker Load/Import : Difference between import and load in Docker?

https://pspdfkit.com/blog/2019/docker-import-export-vs-load-save/

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/36925261/what-is-the-difference-between-import-and-load-in-docker

docker save will indeed produce a tarball, but with all parent layers, and all tags + versions.

docker export does also produce a tarball, but without any layer/history.

However, once those tarballs are produced, load/import are there to:

• docker import creates one image from one tarball which is not even an image (just a filesystem you want to import as an image)

Create an empty filesystem image and import the contents of the tarball

• docker load creates potentially multiple images from a tarred repository (since docker save can save multiple images in a tarball).

To summarize what we’ve learned, we now know the following:

• save works with Docker images. It saves everything needed to build a container from scratch. Use this command if you want to share an image with others.

• load works with Docker images. Use this command if you want to run an image exported with save. Unlike pull, which requires connecting to a Docker registry, load can import from anywhere (e.g. a file system, URLs).

• export works with Docker containers, and it exports a snapshot of the container’s file system. Use this command if you want to share or back up the result of building an image.

• import works with the file system of an exported container, and it imports it as a Docker image. Use this command if you have an exported file system you want to explore or use as a layer for a new image.