To get started with Docker Engine on Ubuntu, make sure you meet the prerequisites, and then follow the installation steps.
https://docs.docker.com/engine/install/ubuntu/
Prerequisites
Firewall limitations
Warning
Before you install Docker, make sure you consider the following security implications and firewall incompatibilities.
- If you use ufw or firewalld to manage firewall settings, be aware that when you expose container ports using Docker, these ports bypass your firewall rules. For more information, refer to Docker and ufw.
- Docker is only compatible with
iptables-nftandiptables-legacy. Firewall rules created withnftare not supported on a system with Docker installed. Make sure that any firewall rulesets you use are created withiptablesorip6tables, and that you add them to theDOCKER-USERchain, see Packet filtering and firewalls.
OS requirements
To install Docker Engine, you need the 64-bit version of one of these Ubuntu versions:
- Ubuntu Questing 25.10
- Ubuntu Plucky 25.04
- Ubuntu Noble 24.04 (LTS)
- Ubuntu Jammy 22.04 (LTS)
Docker Engine for Ubuntu is compatible with x86_64 (or amd64), armhf, arm64, s390x, and ppc64le (ppc64el) architectures.
Note
Installation on Ubuntu derivative distributions, such as Linux Mint, is not officially supported (though it may work).
Uninstall old versions
Before you can install Docker Engine, you need to uninstall any conflicting packages.
Your Linux distribution may provide unofficial Docker packages, which may conflict with the official packages provided by Docker. You must uninstall these packages before you install the official version of Docker Engine.
The unofficial packages to uninstall are:
docker.iodocker-composedocker-compose-v2docker-docpodman-docker
Moreover, Docker Engine depends on containerd and runc. Docker Engine bundles these dependencies as one bundle: containerd.io. If you have installed the containerd or runc previously, uninstall them to avoid conflicts with the versions bundled with Docker Engine.
Run the following command to uninstall all conflicting packages:
sudo apt remove $(dpkg --get-selections docker.io docker-compose docker-compose-v2 docker-doc podman-docker containerd runc | cut -f1)
apt might report that you have none of these packages 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, read 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.
- Set up and install Docker Engine from Docker’s
aptrepository. - Install it manually and manage upgrades manually.
- Use a convenience script. Only recommended for testing and development environments.
Apache License, Version 2.0. See LICENSE for the full license.
Install using the apt repository
Before you install Docker Engine for the first time on a new host machine, you need to set up the Docker apt repository. Afterward, you can install and update Docker from the repository.
- Set up Docker’s
aptrepository.# Add Docker's official GPG key: sudo apt update sudo apt install ca-certificates curl sudo install -m 0755 -d /etc/apt/keyrings sudo curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu/gpg -o /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc sudo chmod a+r /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc # Add the repository to Apt sources: sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.sources <<EOF Types: deb URIs: https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu Suites: $(. /etc/os-release && echo "${UBUNTU_CODENAME:-$VERSION_CODENAME}") Components: stable Signed-By: /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc EOF sudo apt update - Install the Docker packages.Latest Specific versionTo install the latest version, run:
sudo apt install docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io docker-buildx-plugin docker-compose-pluginNoteThe Docker service starts automatically after installation. To verify that Docker is running, use:sudo systemctl status dockerSome systems may have this behavior disabled and will require a manual start:sudo systemctl start docker
