Docker is a popular open-source containerization platform that makes it easy to package and deploy applications in a portable, lightweight container. Docker is supported on many operating systems, including Linux. In this article, we’ll walk you through the steps to install Docker on a Linux machine.
Step 1: Update the system
Before we begin the installation, it’s important to make sure the system is up-to-date. Run the following command to update the system:
sudo apt-get update
Step 2: Install Docker
Once the system is updated, we can begin the installation of Docker. To install Docker on Ubuntu or Debian, run the following commands:
sudo apt-get install docker.io
This command will download and install the Docker engine, which is the core component of Docker.
Step 3: Verify the installation
After the installation is complete, verify that Docker is installed correctly by running the following command:
docker --version
This command should output the version number of Docker that was installed.
Step 4: Add the user to the Docker group
By default, only the root user can run Docker commands. To allow other users to use Docker, we need to add them to the Docker group. To do this, run the following command:
sudo usermod -aG docker $USER
This command adds the current user to the Docker group, allowing them to run Docker commands without using sudo.
Step 5: Test Docker
To test Docker, we can run a simple command to pull and run a Docker container:
docker run hello-world
This command will download a small Docker container that prints a message and then exits. If the installation was successful, you should see a message that says “Hello from Docker!”.
Conclusion
Docker is a powerful tool for containerizing applications, and it’s easy to install on Linux. By following the steps outlined in this article, you should be able to install Docker and start using it to deploy and manage your applications.
