Install Docker CE on Ubuntu

Posted on By Shafiq Alibhai

OS requirements

To install Docker CE, you need the 64-bit version of one of these Ubuntu versions:

  • Bionic 18.04 (LTS)
  • Artful 17.10
  • Xenial 16.04 (LTS)
  • Trusty 14.04 (LTS)

Docker CE is supported on Ubuntu on x86_64, armhf, s390x (IBM Z), and ppc64le (IBM Power) architectures.

ppc64le and s390x limitations: Packages for IBM Z and Power architectures are only available on Ubuntu Xenial and above.

Uninstall old versions

Older versions of Docker were called docker or docker-engine. If these are installed, uninstall them:

$ sudo apt-get remove docker docker-engine docker.io

It’s OK if apt-get reports that none of these packages are installed.

The contents of /var/lib/docker/, including images, containers, volumes, and networks, are preserved. The Docker CE package is now called docker-ce.

Supported storage drivers

Docker CE on Ubuntu supports overlay2 and aufs storage drivers.

  • For new installations on version 4 and higher of the Linux kernel, overlay2 is supported and preferred over aufs.
  • For version 3 of the Linux kernel, aufs is supported because overlay or overlay2 drivers are not supported by that kernel version.

If you need to use aufs, you need to do additional preparation as outlined below.

Install Docker CE

Install using the repository

Before you install Docker CE for the first time on a new host machine, you need to set up the Docker repository. Afterward, you can install and update Docker from the repository.

Set up the repository

  1. Update the apt package index: $ sudo apt-get update
  2. Install packages to allow apt to use a repository over HTTPS: $ sudo apt-get install \ apt-transport-https \ ca-certificates \ curl \ software-properties-common
  3. Add Docker’s official GPG key: $ curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu/gpg | sudo apt-key add - Verify that you now have the key with the fingerprint 9DC8 5822 9FC7 DD38 854A E2D8 8D81 803C 0EBF CD88, by searching for the last 8 characters of the fingerprint. $ sudo apt-key fingerprint 0EBFCD88 pub 4096R/0EBFCD88 2017-02-22 Key fingerprint = 9DC8 5822 9FC7 DD38 854A E2D8 8D81 803C 0EBF CD88 uid Docker Release (CE deb) <docker@docker.com> sub 4096R/F273FCD8 2017-02-22
  4. Use the following command to set up the stable repository. You always need the stable repository, even if you want to install builds from the edge or test repositories as well. To add the edge or test repository, add the word edge or test (or both) after the word stable in the commands below. Note: The lsb_release -cs sub-command below returns the name of your Ubuntu distribution, such as xenial. Sometimes, in a distribution like Linux Mint, you might need to change $(lsb_release -cs) to your parent Ubuntu distribution. For example, if you are using Linux Mint Rafaela, you could use trusty. $ sudo add-apt-repository \ "deb [arch=amd64] https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu \ $(lsb_release -cs) \ stable" Note: Starting with Docker 17.06, stable releases are also pushed to the edge and test repositories. Learn about stable and edge channels.

Install Docker CE

  1. Update the apt package index. $ sudo apt-get update
  2. Install the latest version of Docker CE, or go to the next step to install a specific version: $ sudo apt-get install docker-ce Got multiple Docker repositories?If you have multiple Docker repositories enabled, installing or updating without specifying a version in the apt-get install or apt-get update command always installs the highest possible version, which may not be appropriate for your stability needs.
  3. To install a specific version of Docker CE, list the available versions in the repo, then select and install: a. List the versions available in your repo: $ apt-cache madison docker-ce docker-ce | 18.03.0~ce-0~ubuntu | https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu xenial/stable amd64 Packages b. Install a specific version by its fully qualified package name, which is package name (docker-ce) “=” version string (2nd column), for example, docker-ce=18.03.0~ce-0~ubuntu. $ sudo apt-get install docker-ce=<VERSION> The Docker daemon starts automatically.
  4. Verify that Docker CE is installed correctly by running the hello-world image. $ sudo docker run hello-world This command downloads a test image and runs it in a container. When the container runs, it prints an informational message and exits.

Docker CE is installed and running. The docker group is created but no users are added to it. You need to use sudo to run Docker commands. Continue to Linux postinstall to allow non-privileged users to run Docker commands and for other optional configuration steps.