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Docker Installation & Setup

Setting up Docker is the first step to start containerizing your applications. This guide covers installation on all major operating systems.

System Requirements​

Windows​

  • Windows 10 64-bit: Pro, Enterprise, or Education (Build 15063 or later)
  • Windows 11 64-bit: Home or Pro version 21H2 or higher
  • WSL 2 feature enabled
  • Hyper-V and Containers Windows features enabled

macOS​

  • macOS 10.15 or newer
  • 4 GB RAM minimum
  • VirtualBox prior to version 4.3.30 must be uninstalled

Linux​

  • 64-bit kernel and CPU support for virtualization
  • KVM virtualization support
  • QEMU version 5.2 or newer
  • systemd init system

Windows Installation​

Step 1: Download Docker Desktop

  1. Visit Docker Desktop for Windows
  2. Click "Download for Windows"
  3. Run the installer Docker Desktop Installer.exe

Step 2: Installation Process

  1. Follow the installation wizard
  2. Ensure "Use WSL 2 instead of Hyper-V" is checked
  3. Complete the installation and restart your computer

Step 3: Enable WSL 2

# Run in PowerShell as Administrator
dism.exe /online /enable-feature /featurename:Microsoft-Windows-Subsystem-Linux /all /norestart
dism.exe /online /enable-feature /featurename:VirtualMachinePlatform /all /norestart

# Restart your computer, then set WSL 2 as default
wsl --set-default-version 2

Step 4: Verify Installation

docker --version
docker run hello-world

macOS Installation​

Docker Desktop for Mac​

Step 1: Download

  1. Visit Docker Desktop for Mac
  2. Choose your chip type:
    • Apple Silicon (M1/M2): Mac with Apple chip
    • Intel: Mac with Intel chip

Step 2: Install

  1. Open the downloaded .dmg file
  2. Drag Docker to Applications folder
  3. Launch Docker from Applications
  4. Follow the setup assistant

Step 3: Verify Installation

docker --version
docker run hello-world

Alternative: Homebrew Installation​

# Install Docker using Homebrew
brew install --cask docker

# Start Docker Desktop
open /Applications/Docker.app

Linux Installation​

Ubuntu/Debian​

Step 1: Update Package Index

sudo apt update
sudo apt install apt-transport-https ca-certificates curl software-properties-common

Step 2: Add Docker's GPG Key

curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu/gpg | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/docker-archive-keyring.gpg

Step 3: Add Docker Repository

echo "deb [arch=amd64 signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/docker-archive-keyring.gpg] https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu $(lsb_release -cs) stable" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list > /dev/null

Step 4: Install Docker

sudo apt update
sudo apt install docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io docker-compose-plugin

Step 5: Add User to Docker Group

sudo usermod -aG docker $USER
newgrp docker

CentOS/RHEL/Fedora​

Step 1: Install Required Packages

sudo yum install -y yum-utils

Step 2: Add Docker Repository

sudo yum-config-manager --add-repo https://download.docker.com/linux/centos/docker-ce.repo

Step 3: Install Docker

sudo yum install docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io docker-compose-plugin

Step 4: Start Docker Service

sudo systemctl start docker
sudo systemctl enable docker
sudo usermod -aG docker $USER

Verification & Testing​

Basic Verification​

# Check Docker version
docker --version

# Check Docker Compose version
docker compose version

# View system information
docker system info

# Test with hello-world
docker run hello-world

Advanced Testing​

# Run a simple web server
docker run -d -p 8080:80 --name test-nginx nginx

# Check if it's running
docker ps

# Test in browser: http://localhost:8080

# Clean up
docker stop test-nginx
docker rm test-nginx

Docker Desktop Features​

Dashboard​

  • Visual container management
  • Image browsing and management
  • Volume and network management
  • Extension marketplace

Settings Configuration​

  1. Resources: Adjust CPU, Memory, Swap, Disk usage
  2. File Sharing: Configure shared directories
  3. Proxies: Set up corporate proxy settings
  4. Docker Engine: Advanced daemon configuration

Useful Commands​

# Start Docker Desktop
# Windows: Start from Start Menu
# macOS: Open from Applications
# Linux: systemctl start docker

# Check Docker Desktop status
docker system info

# Update Docker Desktop
# Use built-in updater or download latest version

Troubleshooting Common Issues​

Windows Issues​

WSL 2 Installation Failed

# Enable Windows features manually
Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName Microsoft-Windows-Subsystem-Linux
Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName VirtualMachinePlatform

# Download and install WSL 2 kernel update
# https://aka.ms/wsl2kernel

Docker Desktop Won't Start

  • Ensure Hyper-V is enabled
  • Check Windows version compatibility
  • Restart Docker Desktop service

macOS Issues​

Permission Denied

# Fix Docker socket permissions
sudo chown $USER /var/run/docker.sock

Resource Allocation

  • Increase memory allocation in Docker Desktop settings
  • Close other resource-intensive applications

Linux Issues​

Permission Denied

# Add user to docker group
sudo usermod -aG docker $USER
# Log out and log back in

Docker Daemon Not Running

# Start Docker service
sudo systemctl start docker
sudo systemctl enable docker

# Check status
sudo systemctl status docker

Next Steps​

Now that Docker is installed and running:

  1. ✅ Learn Docker Commands - Master essential Docker CLI commands
  2. ✅ Create Your First Dockerfile - Build custom images
  3. ✅ Explore Docker Hub - Find and use existing images
  4. ✅ Try Docker Compose - Manage multi-container applications

Congratulations! 🎉 You now have Docker running on your system. Ready to start containerizing applications!

Quick Reference​

Installation Commands Summary​

Ubuntu/Debian:

curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com -o get-docker.sh
sudo sh get-docker.sh
sudo usermod -aG docker $USER

CentOS/RHEL:

curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com -o get-docker.sh
sudo sh get-docker.sh
sudo systemctl start docker
sudo usermod -aG docker $USER

Verification:

docker --version && docker run hello-world