Docker — Installation Guide

Install Docker Desktop (Mac & Windows)

macOS

1.Go to docker.com/products/docker-desktop

2.Click "Download for Mac" — choose Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3) or Intel

3.Open the downloaded .dmg file and drag Docker to Applications

4.Open Docker from Applications — it appears in your menu bar

5.Wait for Docker to start (whale icon stops animating)

bash

# Verify installation
docker --version          # Docker version 25.x.x
docker compose version    # Docker Compose version v2.x.x
docker run hello-world    # Pulls and runs a test container

Windows

1.Requirement: Windows 10/11 with WSL2 enabled

2.Enable WSL2: Open PowerShell as Administrator → wsl --install → restart

3.Download Docker Desktop from docker.com

4.Run the installer, ensure "Use WSL2" is checked

5.Start Docker Desktop from Start Menu

powershell

# Verify in PowerShell
docker --version
docker run hello-world

Install Docker Engine (Linux — Ubuntu/Debian)

bash

# Remove old versions
sudo apt-get remove docker docker-engine docker.io containerd runc

# Install using the convenience script (quickest)
curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com -o get-docker.sh
sudo sh get-docker.sh

# Add your user to docker group (avoid typing sudo every time)
sudo usermod -aG docker $USER

# Log out and log back in, then verify
docker run hello-world

Install Docker Engine (Linux — Amazon Linux / RHEL / CentOS)

bash

sudo yum update -y
sudo yum install -y docker
sudo systemctl start docker
sudo systemctl enable docker
sudo usermod -aG docker $USER
docker --version

Verify Everything Works

bash

# 1. Check daemon is running
docker info

# 2. Run a real container
docker run -d -p 8080:80 --name test nginx
curl http://localhost:8080   # Should return nginx HTML
docker stop test && docker rm test

# 3. Check compose works
mkdir test-compose && cd test-compose
cat > docker-compose.yml << 'EOF'
services:
  web:
    image: nginx
    ports: ["8081:80"]
EOF
docker compose up -d
curl http://localhost:8081
docker compose down

Common Installation Issues

"Cannot connect to Docker daemon"

bash

sudo systemctl start docker
# Or on Mac: open Docker Desktop application

"Permission denied" on Linux

bash

sudo usermod -aG docker $USER
newgrp docker   # Apply group without logging out

Docker Desktop slow on Mac (Apple Silicon)

Enable "Use Rosetta for x86_64/amd64 emulation" in Docker Desktop settings > General.

WSL2 not found on Windows

powershell

wsl --install
# Restart PC, then try Docker Desktop again

What's Installed

After successful installation you have:

•Docker Engine — the container runtime (daemon)

•Docker CLI — docker command

•Docker Compose — multi-container orchestration (docker compose)

•Docker Desktop (Mac/Windows) — GUI + resource management

Next Steps

Go to the Fundamentals section to learn your first Docker commands.