How to remove all intermediate docker images that were created using the docker commit command, leaving only the very first and the very last docker image? When trying to remove, “image has dependent child images” is displayed – tell me how to fix this?

Should I save changes in a docker container using the docker commit command or is there a more convenient/suitable practice for this purpose?

I describe my actions in chronological order:

1. Downloading the docker image ‘tensorflow/tensorflow’ via the GUI in the Docker Desktop application. Then all other actions were performed on the command line.

2. Running the container:
   docker run -it IMAGE_ID /bin/bash

3. Saving changes at all stages of work using the docker commit command:

// did something inside a running container…

docker commit --message "comment 1" CONTAINER_ID test_repo_name_1:test_tag_name_1

// did something inside a running container…

docker commit --message "comment 2" CONTAINER_ID test_repo_name_2:test_tag_name_2

// did something inside a running container…

docker commit --message "comment 3" CONTAINER_ID test_repo_name_3:test_tag_name_3

// did something inside a running container…

docker commit --message "comment 4" CONTAINER_ID test_repo_name_4:test_tag_name_4

All commits (and also running the container) were done in the same docker context “desktop-linux”:

roman@roman-lenovo-ideapad:~/path/to/work_directory$ docker context list
NAME              TYPE        DESCRIPTION                               DOCKER ENDPOINT
default           moby        Current DOCKER_HOST based configuration   unix:///var/run/docker.sock
desktop-linux *   moby        Docker Desktop                            unix:///home/roman/.docker/desktop/docker.sock

4. Stopping a container:
   docker stop CONTAINER_ID

5. Removing a container:
   docker rm CONTAINER_ID

6. Viewing the list of docker images:

roman@roman-lenovo-ideapad:~/path/to/work_directory$ docker image list --all
REPOSITORY              TAG               IMAGE ID       CREATED       SIZE
test_repo_name_4        test_tag_name_4   1751814a0b9c   3 days ago    4.15GB
test_repo_name_3        test_tag_name_3   1e036ed78145   5 days ago    3.25GB
test_repo_name_2        test_tag_name_2   4f4ee9469091   4 weeks ago   2.42GB
test_repo_name_1        test_tag_name_1   9fa17c3eada6   5 weeks ago   1.9GB
tensorflow/tensorflow   latest            c157882405b4   6 weeks ago   1.84GB

7. Attempt to delete images 9fa17c3eada6, 4f4ee9469091, 1e036ed78145

docker rmi 9fa17c3eada6 --force

Error response from daemon : conflict: unable to delete 9fa17c3eada6 (cannot be forced) – image has dependent child images

I got a similar output for “docker rmi 4f4ee9469091 --force” and “docker rmi 1e036ed78145 --force“

8. Attempt to delete images 9fa17c3eada6, 4f4ee9469091, 1e036ed78145

docker rmi test_repo_name_1:test_tag_name_1 --force

docker rmi test_repo_name_2:test_tag_name_2 --force

docker rmi test_repo_name_3:test_tag_name_3 --force

docker image prune

docker system prune

Command “docker image list --all” still shows that images 9fa17c3eada6, 4f4ee9469091, 1e036ed78145 exist

roman@roman-lenovo-ideapad:~/path/to/work_directory$ docker image list --all
REPOSITORY              TAG               IMAGE ID       CREATED       SIZE
test_repo_name_4        test_tag_name_4   1751814a0b9c   3 days ago    4.15GB
<none>                  <none>            1e036ed78145   6 days ago    3.25GB
<none>                  <none>            4f4ee9469091   4 weeks ago   2.42GB
<none>                  <none>            9fa17c3eada6   5 weeks ago   1.9GB
tensorflow/tensorflow   latest            c157882405b4   6 weeks ago   1.84GB

Now “none” appears instead of “test_repo_name” (and also instead of “test_tag_name”)

Then go to point 7 and get the same result – “image has dependent child images“

Below are the conditions under which the testing was conducted

Contents of the /etc/docker/daemon.json file on the host:

{
    "default-runtime": "nvidia",
    "dns": [
        "192.168.1.1",
        "8.8.8.8"
    ],
    "exec-opts": [
        "native.cgroupdriver=cgroupfs"
    ],
    "runtimes": {
        "nvidia": {
            "args": [],
            "path": "nvidia-container-runtime"
        }
    }
}

Contents of the ~/.config/docker/daemon.json file on the host:

{
    "runtimes": {
        "nvidia": {
            "args": [],
            "path": "nvidia-container-runtime"
        }
    }
}

Output of the uname -a command on the host:

Linux roman-lenovo-ideapad 6.8.0-40-generic #40~22.04.3-Ubuntu SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Tue Jul 30 17:30:19 UTC 2 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

Output of the lsb_release -a command on the host:

LSB Version:    core-11.1.0ubuntu4-noarch:security-11.1.0ubuntu4-noarch
Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description:    Ubuntu 22.04.4 LTS
Release:        22.04
Codename:       jammy