Table of Contents

Docker : Install Docker on Linux

There are several ways to install Docker on Linux:

  1. Via Script – Quick and easy (recommended)
  2. Via Official Docs – Latest version with manual setup
  3. Via Ubuntu Repo – Stable but may be outdated

This method automates the installation process using Docker’s official script. This will automatically detect your OS and install the latest version. This may not support some distro.

curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com | sh
root@demo:~# curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com | sh
# Executing docker install script, commit: 4c94a56999e10efcf48c5b8e3f6afea464f9108e
+ sh -c apt-get -qq update >/dev/null
+ sh -c DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive apt-get -y -qq install ca-certificates curl >/dev/null
+ sh -c install -m 0755 -d /etc/apt/keyrings
+ sh -c curl -fsSL "https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu/gpg" -o /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc
+ sh -c chmod a+r /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc
+ sh -c echo "deb [arch=amd64 signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc] https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu noble stable" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list
+ sh -c apt-get -qq update >/dev/null
+ sh -c DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive apt-get -y -qq install docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io docker-compose-plugin docker-ce-rootless-extras docker-buildx-plugin >/dev/null
Scanning processes...                                                                                                                                                
+ sh -c docker version
Client: Docker Engine - Community
 Version:           27.5.1
 API version:       1.47
 Go version:        go1.22.11
 Git commit:        9f9e405
 Built:             Wed Jan 22 13:41:48 2025
 OS/Arch:           linux/amd64
 Context:           default
 
Server: Docker Engine - Community
 Engine:
  Version:          27.5.1
  API version:      1.47 (minimum version 1.24)
  Go version:       go1.22.11
  Git commit:       4c9b3b0
  Built:            Wed Jan 22 13:41:48 2025
  OS/Arch:          linux/amd64
  Experimental:     false
 containerd:
  Version:          1.7.25
  GitCommit:        bcc810d6b9066471b0b6fa75f557a15a1cbf31bb
 runc:
  Version:          1.2.4
  GitCommit:        v1.2.4-0-g6c52b3f
 docker-init:
  Version:          0.19.0
  GitCommit:        de40ad0
 
================================================================================
 
To run Docker as a non-privileged user, consider setting up the
Docker daemon in rootless mode for your user:
 
    dockerd-rootless-setuptool.sh install
 
Visit https://docs.docker.com/go/rootless/ to learn about rootless mode.
 
 
To run the Docker daemon as a fully privileged service, but granting non-root
users access, refer to https://docs.docker.com/go/daemon-access/
 
WARNING: Access to the remote API on a privileged Docker daemon is equivalent
         to root access on the host. Refer to the 'Docker daemon attack surface'
         documentation for details: https://docs.docker.com/go/attack-surface/
 
================================================================================

2. Install Docker via Official Documentation

For a more detailed setup, follow Docker’s official instructions.

This is the command to install Docker on Ubuntu. For installation instructions for your specific distribution, refer to the Docker documentation.
# Add Docker's official GPG key:
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install ca-certificates curl
sudo install -m 0755 -d /etc/apt/keyrings
sudo curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu/gpg -o /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc
sudo chmod a+r /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc
 
# Add the repository to Apt sources:
echo \
  "deb [arch=$(dpkg --print-architecture) signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc] https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu \
  $(. /etc/os-release && echo "${UBUNTU_CODENAME:-$VERSION_CODENAME}") stable" | \
  sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list > /dev/null
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io docker-buildx-plugin docker-compose-plugin

3. Install Docker via Packages Repository

This method installs Docker from the distribution's package repository, which may not have the latest version, but it ensures stability.

sudo apt update
sudo apt install docker.io
sudo apt install docker-compose

Post-Installation

1. Verify installation

systemctl status docker
docker --version  
docker run hello-world

2. Run Docker Without 'sudo'

To allow your user to run Docker without `sudo`:

sudo usermod -aG docker $USER

Verify installation:

docker --version  
docker run hello-world

3. To uninstall Docker (if needed)

sudo apt remove docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io docker-buildx-plugin docker-compose-plugin
sudo apt autoremove