Install Docker Engine on Debian
To get started with Docker Engine on Debian, make sure you meet the prerequisites, then install Docker.
Prerequisites
OS requirements
To install Docker Engine, you need the 64-bit version of one of these Debian or Raspbian versions:
- Debian Bullseye 11 (stable)
- Debian Buster 10 (oldstable)
- Raspbian Bullseye 11 (stable)
- Raspbian Buster 10 (oldstable)
Docker Engine is compatible with x86_64 (or amd64 ), armhf , and arm64 architectures.
Uninstall old versions
Older versions of Docker went by the names of docker , docker.io , or docker-engine . Uninstall any such older versions before attempting to install a new version:
It’s OK if apt-get reports that none of these packages are installed.
Images, containers, volumes, and networks stored in /var/lib/docker/ aren’t automatically removed when you uninstall Docker. If you want to start with a clean installation, and prefer to clean up any existing data, refer to the uninstall Docker Engine section.
Installation methods
You can install Docker Engine in different ways, depending on your needs:
Docker Engine comes bundled with Docker Desktop for Linux. This is the easiest and quickest way to get started.
You can also set up and install Docker Engine from Docker’s apt repository.
Install it manually and manage upgrades manually.
Using a convenience scripts. Only recommended for testing and development environments. This is the only approach available for Raspbian.
Install using the repository
Before you install Docker Engine 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.
Raspbian users can’t use this method.
For Raspbian, installing using the repository isn’t yet supported. You must instead use the convenience script.
Set up the repository
Update the apt package index and install packages to allow apt to use a repository over HTTPS:
Add Docker’s official GPG key:
Use the following command to set up the repository:
Install Docker Engine
This procedure works for Debian on x86_64 / amd64 , armhf , arm64 , and Raspbian.
Update the apt package index:
Receiving a GPG error when running apt-get update ?
Your default umask may be incorrectly configured, preventing detection of the repository public key file. Try granting read permission for the Docker public key file before updating the package index:
Install Docker Engine, containerd, and Docker Compose.
To install the latest version, run:
To install a specific version of Docker Engine, start by list the available versions in the repository:
Select the desired version and install:
Verify that the Docker Engine installation is successful by running the hello-world image:
This command downloads a test image and runs it in a container. When the container runs, it prints a confirmation message and exits.
You have now successfully installed and started Docker Engine. The docker user group exists but contains no users, which is why you’re required to use sudo to run Docker commands. Continue to Linux post-install to allow non-privileged users to run Docker commands and for other optional configuration steps.
Upgrade Docker Engine
To upgrade Docker Engine, follow the installation instructions, choosing the new version you want to install.
Install from a package
If you can’t use Docker’s apt repository to install Docker Engine, you can download the deb file for your release and install it manually. You need to download a new file each time you want to upgrade Docker Engine.
Select your Debian version in the list.
Go to pool/stable/ and select the applicable architecture ( amd64 , armhf , arm64 , or s390x ).
Download the following deb files for the Docker Engine, CLI, containerd, and Docker Compose packages:
- containerd.io_<version>_<arch>.deb
- docker-ce_<version>_<arch>.deb
- docker-ce-cli_<version>_<arch>.deb
- docker-buildx-plugin_<version>_<arch>.deb
- docker-compose-plugin_<version>_<arch>.deb
Install the .deb packages. Update the paths in the following example to where you downloaded the Docker packages.
The Docker daemon starts automatically.
Verify that the Docker Engine installation is successful by running the hello-world image:
This command downloads a test image and runs it in a container. When the container runs, it prints a confirmation message and exits.
You have now successfully installed and started Docker Engine. The docker user group exists but contains no users, which is why you’re required to use sudo to run Docker commands. Continue to Linux post-install to allow non-privileged users to run Docker commands and for other optional configuration steps.
Upgrade Docker Engine
To upgrade Docker Engine, download the newer package file and repeat the installation procedure, pointing to the new file.
Install using the convenience script
Docker provides a convenience script at https://get.docker.com/ to install Docker into development environments non-interactively. The convenience script isn’t recommended for production environments, but it’s useful for creating a provisioning script tailored to your needs. Also refer to the install using the repository steps to learn about installation steps to install using the package repository. The source code for the script is open source, and can be found in the docker-install repository on GitHub.
Always examine scripts downloaded from the internet before running them locally. Before installing, make yourself familiar with potential risks and limitations of the convenience script:
- The script requires root or sudo privileges to run.
- The script attempts to detect your Linux distribution and version and configure your package management system for you.
- The script doesn’t allow you to customize most installation parameters.
- The script installs dependencies and recommendations without asking for confirmation. This may install a large number of packages, depending on the current configuration of your host machine.
- By default, the script installs the latest stable release of Docker, containerd, and runc. When using this script to provision a machine, this may result in unexpected major version upgrades of Docker. Always test upgrades in a test environment before deploying to your production systems.
- The script isn’t designed to upgrade an existing Docker installation. When using the script to update an existing installation, dependencies may not be updated to the expected version, resulting in outdated versions.
Tip: preview script steps before running
You can run the script with the —dry-run option to learn what steps the script will run when invoked:
This example downloads the script from https://get.docker.com/ and runs it to install the latest stable release of Docker on Linux:
You have now successfully installed and started Docker Engine. The docker service starts automatically on Debian based distributions. On RPM based distributions, such as CentOS, Fedora, RHEL or SLES, you need to start it manually using the appropriate systemctl or service command. As the message indicates, non-root users can’t run Docker commands by default.
Use Docker as a non-privileged user, or install in rootless mode?
The installation script requires root or sudo privileges to install and use Docker. If you want to grant non-root users access to Docker, refer to the post-installation steps for Linux. You can also install Docker without root privileges, or configured to run in rootless mode. For instructions on running Docker in rootless mode, refer to run the Docker daemon as a non-root user (rootless mode).
Install pre-releases
Docker also provides a convenience script at https://test.docker.com/ to install pre-releases of Docker on Linux. This script is equal to the script at get.docker.com , but configures your package manager to use the test channel of the Docker package repository. The test channel includes both stable and pre-releases (beta versions, release-candidates) of Docker. Use this script to get early access to new releases, and to evaluate them in a testing environment before they’re released as stable.
To install the latest version of Docker on Linux from the test channel, run:
Upgrade Docker after using the convenience script
If you installed Docker using the convenience script, you should upgrade Docker using your package manager directly. There’s no advantage to re-running the convenience script. Re-running it can cause issues if it attempts to re-install repositories which already exist on the host machine.
Uninstall Docker Engine
Uninstall the Docker Engine, CLI, containerd, and Docker Compose packages:
Images, containers, volumes, or custom configuration files on your host aren’t automatically removed. To delete all images, containers, and volumes:
Debian
Docker is supported on the following versions of Debian:
Note: If you previously installed Docker using APT , make sure you update your APT sources to the new APT repository.
Prerequisites
Docker requires a 64-bit installation regardless of your Debian version. Additionally, your kernel must be 3.10 at minimum. The latest 3.10 minor version or a newer maintained version are also acceptable.
Kernels older than 3.10 lack some of the features required to run Docker containers. These older versions are known to have bugs which cause data loss and frequently panic under certain conditions.
To check your current kernel version, open a terminal and use uname -r to display your kernel version:
Additionally, for users of Debian Wheezy, backports must be available. To enable backports in Wheezy:
Log into your machine and open a terminal with sudo or root privileges.
Open the /etc/apt/sources.list.d/backports.list file in your favorite editor.
If the file doesn’t exist, create it.
Remove any existing entries.
Add an entry for backports on Debian Wheezy.
An example entry:
Update package information:
Update your apt repository
Docker’s APT repository contains Docker 1.7.1 and higher. To set APT to use from the new repository:
If you haven’t already done so, log into your machine as a user with sudo or root privileges.
Open a terminal window.
Purge any older repositories.
Update package information, ensure that APT works with the https method, and that CA certificates are installed.
Add the new GPG key.
Open the /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list file in your favorite editor.
If the file doesn’t exist, create it.
Remove any existing entries.
Add an entry for your Debian operating system.
The possible entries are:
On Debian Wheezy
On Debian Jessie
On Debian Stretch/Sid
Note: Docker does not provide packages for all architectures. To install docker on a multi-architecture system, add an [arch=. ] clause to the entry. Refer to the Debian Multiarch wiki for details.
Save and close the file.
Update the APT package index.
Verify that APT is pulling from the right repository.
From now on when you run apt-get upgrade , APT pulls from the new apt repository.
Install Docker
Before installing Docker, make sure you have set your APT repository correctly as described in the prerequisites.
Update the APT package index.
Start the docker daemon.
Verify docker is installed correctly.
This command downloads a test image and runs it in a container. When the container runs, it prints an informational message. Then, it exits.
Giving non-root access
The docker daemon always runs as the root user and the docker daemon binds to a Unix socket instead of a TCP port. By default that Unix socket is owned by the user root , and so, by default, you can access it with sudo .
If you (or your Docker installer) create a Unix group called docker and add users to it, then the docker daemon will make the ownership of the Unix socket read/writable by the docker group when the daemon starts. The docker daemon must always run as the root user, but if you run the docker client as a user in the docker group then you don’t need to add sudo to all the client commands. From Docker 0.9.0 you can use the -G flag to specify an alternative group.
Warning: The docker group (or the group specified with the -G flag) is root -equivalent; see Docker Daemon Attack Surface details.
Example:
Upgrade Docker
To install the latest version of Docker with apt-get :
Uninstall
To uninstall the Docker package:
To uninstall the Docker package and dependencies that are no longer needed:
The above commands will not remove images, containers, volumes, or user created configuration files on your host. If you wish to delete all images, containers, and volumes run the following command:
You must delete the user created configuration files manually.
What next?
Continue with the User Guide.
Feedback? Questions? Suggestions?
Edit this page, file a ticket, or rate this page:
(Debian 9 Stretch)
For this specific guide, we’ll be installing 17.03.2.
(Manual version selection via package manager is at top, and if you’d like to install from source, then scroll down)
Installing With Package Manager
Install dependencies and add the gpg key for the Docker repo (and add the repo itself)
Now, let’s see a list of available versions of docker-ce
You should get a list of verisons, one of which should be 17.03.2
Now, install the correct version.
Now, let’s create a docker user group.
And then add our current use to it.
I’m getting an error when trying to start the Daemon!
If you get an error similar to below when trying to start the docker daemon
Then we most likely upgraded the kernel. The easiest way to resolve this error is to reboot your machine (this is not the only reason you’d get this error, but if you do, try rebooting the host).
Installing from Source
Pull down the desired package from the above link
(run the above as one command)
Once we have the package downloaded, extract it.
Once it is extracted, we want to copy it to our /usr/bin/ so that we can run the docker commands from the terminal.
Name already in use
docs / engine / install / debian.md
- Go to file T
- Go to line L
- Copy path
- Copy permalink
- Open with Desktop
- View raw
- Copy raw contents Copy raw contents
Copy raw contents
Copy raw contents
To get started with Docker Engine on Debian, make sure you meet the prerequisites, then install Docker.
To install Docker Engine, you need the 64-bit version of one of these Debian or Raspbian versions:
- Debian Bullseye 11 (stable)
- Debian Buster 10 (oldstable)
- Raspbian Bullseye 11 (stable)
- Raspbian Buster 10 (oldstable)
Docker Engine is compatible with x86_64 (or amd64 ), armhf , and arm64 architectures.
Uninstall old versions
Older versions of Docker went by the names of docker , docker.io , or docker-engine . Uninstall any such older versions before attempting to install a new version:
It’s OK if apt-get reports that none of these packages are installed.
Images, containers, volumes, and networks stored in /var/lib/docker/ aren’t automatically removed when you uninstall Docker. If you want to start with a clean installation, and prefer to clean up any existing data, refer to the uninstall Docker Engine section.
You can install Docker Engine in different ways, depending on your needs:
Docker Engine comes bundled with Docker Desktop for Linux. This is the easiest and quickest way to get started.
You can also set up and install Docker Engine from Docker’s apt repository.
Install it manually and manage upgrades manually.
Using a convenience scripts. Only recommended for testing and development environments. This is the only approach available for Raspbian.
Install using the repository
Before you install Docker Engine 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.
Raspbian users can’t use this method.
For Raspbian, installing using the repository isn’t yet supported. You must instead use the convenience script.
Set up the repository
Update the apt package index and install packages to allow apt to use a repository over HTTPS:
Add Docker’s official GPG key:
Use the following command to set up the repository:
Install Docker Engine
This procedure works for Debian on x86_64 / amd64 , armhf , arm64 , and Raspbian.
Update the apt package index:
Receiving a GPG error when running apt-get update ?
Your default umask <: target="blank" rel="noopener" >may be incorrectly configured, preventing detection of the repository public key file. Try granting read permission for the Docker public key file before updating the package index:
Install Docker Engine, containerd, and Docker Compose.
- Latest
- Specific version
To install the latest version, run:
To install a specific version of Docker Engine, start by list the available versions in the repository:
Select the desired version and install:
Verify that the Docker Engine installation is successful by running the hello-world image:
This command downloads a test image and runs it in a container. When the container runs, it prints a confirmation message and exits.
You have now successfully installed and started Docker Engine. The docker user group exists but contains no users, which is why you’re required to use sudo to run Docker commands. Continue to Linux post-install to allow non-privileged users to run Docker commands and for other optional configuration steps.
Upgrade Docker Engine
To upgrade Docker Engine, follow the installation instructions, choosing the new version you want to install.
Install from a package
If you can’t use Docker’s apt repository to install Docker Engine, you can download the deb file for your release and install it manually. You need to download a new file each time you want to upgrade Docker Engine.
Select your Debian version in the list.
Go to pool/stable/ and select the applicable architecture ( amd64 , armhf , arm64 , or s390x ).
Download the following deb files for the Docker Engine, CLI, containerd, and Docker Compose packages:
- containerd.io_<version>_<arch>.deb
- docker-ce_<version>_<arch>.deb
- docker-ce-cli_<version>_<arch>.deb
- docker-buildx-plugin_<version>_<arch>.deb
- docker-compose-plugin_<version>_<arch>.deb
Install the .deb packages. Update the paths in the following example to where you downloaded the Docker packages.
The Docker daemon starts automatically.
Verify that the Docker Engine installation is successful by running the hello-world image:
This command downloads a test image and runs it in a container. When the container runs, it prints a confirmation message and exits.
You have now successfully installed and started Docker Engine. The docker user group exists but contains no users, which is why you’re required to use sudo to run Docker commands. Continue to Linux post-install to allow non-privileged users to run Docker commands and for other optional configuration steps.
Upgrade Docker Engine
To upgrade Docker Engine, download the newer package file and repeat the installation procedure, pointing to the new file.
Uninstall Docker Engine
Uninstall the Docker Engine, CLI, containerd, and Docker Compose packages:
Images, containers, volumes, or custom configuration files on your host aren’t automatically removed. To delete all images, containers, and volumes: