Complete Guide to Docker Installation: Engine, CLI & Desktop

┌───────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│              Docker Desktop                   │
│  ┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐  │
│  │             Docker CLI                  │  │
│  │  ┌───────────────────────────────────┐  │  │
│  │  │          Docker Engine            │  │  │
│  │  │  ┌─────────────┐ ┌─────────────┐  │  │  │
│  │  │  │ containerd  │ │    runc     │  │  │  │
│  │  │  └─────────────┘ └─────────────┘  │  │  │
│  │  └───────────────────────────────────┘  │  │
│  └─────────────────────────────────────────┘  │
└───────────────────────────────────────────────┘

# Update package index
sudo apt-get update
 
# Install prerequisites
sudo apt-get install ca-certificates curl gnupg
 
# Add Docker's official GPG key
sudo install -m 0755 -d /etc/apt/keyrings
curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu/gpg | \
  sudo gpg --dearmor -o /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.gpg
sudo chmod a+r /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.gpg
 
# Add the repository
echo \ 
  "deb [arch=$(dpkg --print-architecture) signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/docker.gpg] \  # [!code ++]
  https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu \  # [!code ++]
  $(. /etc/os-release && echo "$VERSION_CODENAME") stable" | \
  sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list > /dev/null
 
# Install Docker Engine
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io

# Install dnf-plugins-core
sudo dnf -y install dnf-plugins-core
 
# Add Docker repository
sudo dnf config-manager --add-repo \ 
  https://download.docker.com/linux/fedora/docker-ce.repo
 
# Install Docker Engine
sudo dnf install docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io
 
# Start and enable Docker
sudo systemctl start docker
sudo systemctl enable docker

# Install from official repositories
sudo pacman -S docker
 
# Start and enable
sudo systemctl start docker
sudo systemctl enable docker

# Add your user to the docker group (avoid using sudo)
sudo usermod -aG docker $USER  
 
# Apply the new group membership
newgrp docker
 
# Verify installation
docker run hello-world

# Enable Docker service
sudo systemctl enable docker.service
sudo systemctl enable containerd.service

# Container Lifecycle
docker run nginx              # Create and start a container
docker start <container>      # Start a stopped container
docker stop <container>       # Stop a running container  
docker rm <container>         # Remove a container
 
# Image Management
docker pull ubuntu:22.04      # Download an image
docker build -t myapp .       # Build an image from Dockerfile  
docker push myrepo/myapp      # Push to registry
docker images                 # List local images
 
# Inspection
docker ps                     # List running containers  
docker ps -a                  # List all containers  
docker logs <container>       # View container logs
docker inspect <container>    # Detailed container info

# Start services defined in docker-compose.yml
docker compose up -d
 
# Stop and remove services
docker compose down
 
# View logs
docker compose logs -f
 
# Scale services
docker compose up -d --scale web=3

# Create a context for remote Docker host
docker context create remote-server \ 
  --docker "host=ssh://user@remote-host"
 
# Switch to remote context
docker context use remote-server
 
# Run commands on remote Docker
docker ps  # Now runs on remote-server!

# Add to ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc
alias d='docker'
alias dc='docker compose'
alias dps='docker ps --format "table {{.Names}}\t{{.Status}}\t{{.Ports}}"'
alias dlog='docker logs -f'

# Check your chip architecture
uname -m
 
# Output:
# arm64 = Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3)  
# x86_64 = Intel  

# Enable WSL
wsl --install  
 
# Set WSL 2 as default
wsl --set-default-version 2
 
# Install a Linux distribution
wsl --install -d Ubuntu

# Inside WSL Ubuntu
docker ps  # Works directly!  

# Switch to Windows containers (right-click Docker icon)
# Or via CLI:
& $Env:ProgramFiles\Docker\Docker\DockerCli.exe -SwitchDaemon
 
# Check current mode
docker version --format '{{.Server.Os}}'

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt-get install ./docker-desktop-<version>-amd64.deb
 
# Fedora
sudo dnf install ./docker-desktop-<version>-x86_64.rpm

# Install via Homebrew
brew install colima docker
 
# Start Colima with Docker runtime
colima start
 
# Use Docker CLI as normal
docker ps
docker run hello-world

# Install
brew install orbstack
 
# It just works - Docker CLI is available immediately
docker run -d -p 80:80 nginx

# Inside WSL Ubuntu
# Follow Linux Docker Engine installation above
 
# Then from Windows, use WSL to run Docker
wsl docker ps

# Install Podman
sudo apt install podman  # Debian/Ubuntu
sudo dnf install podman  # Fedora
 
# Podman commands mirror Docker  
podman run hello-world
podman ps
 
# Create alias for full compatibility
alias docker=podman

# GitHub Actions example
jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - name: Build Docker image
        run: docker build -t myapp .
      - name: Run tests
        run: docker run myapp npm test

# Production: Docker Engine only
# Never install Docker Desktop on servers
 
# Security hardening
sudo systemctl enable docker
sudo usermod -aG docker deploy-user  # Specific user only  
 
# Configure logging driver
cat <<EOF | sudo tee /etc/docker/daemon.json
{
  "log-driver": "json-file",
  "log-opts": {
    "max-size": "10m",
    "max-file": "3"
  }
}
EOF
 
sudo systemctl restart docker

# Error: permission denied while trying to connect to Docker daemon
 
# Solution 1: Add user to docker group
sudo usermod -aG docker $USER  
newgrp docker
 
# Solution 2: Check Docker socket permissions
ls -la /var/run/docker.sock
# Should be: srw-rw---- 1 root docker

# Check status
sudo systemctl status docker
 
# Start if stopped
sudo systemctl start docker
 
# Check logs for errors
sudo journalctl -u docker.service -n 50

# Check resource usage
docker system df
 
# Clean up unused resources
docker system prune -a
 
# Remove all stopped containers
docker container prune
 
# Remove unused images
docker image prune -a

# Check Docker networks
docker network ls
 
# Inspect network
docker network inspect bridge
 
# If conflicts with host network, use custom network
docker network create --subnet=172.20.0.0/16 custom-net
docker run --network custom-net myapp