Linode-Article-Template.md

author	contributor	description	keywords	license	published	modified	modified_by	title	external_resources
name email Linode Community [email protected]	name link Jack Wallen https://twitter.com/jlwallen	An introduction to using Docker, containers, and dockerfiles on your Linode.	docker,container,dockerfile,install docker	[CC BY-ND 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0)	Monday, July 17, 2017	Monday, October 23, 2017	name Linode	How to Install Docker and Pull Images for Container Deployment	[Docker Docs](http://docs.docker.com/) [Docker Try it Tutorial](https://www.docker.com/tryit/) [Docker Hub](https://hub.docker.com/)

In this guide, you'll install Docker and pull down images that can be deployed as containers.

Before You Begin

1. Familiarize yourself with our Getting Started guide and complete the steps for setting your Linode's hostname and timezone.

2. Update your system (this example uses Ubuntu 16.04):

   apt update && apt upgrade
   

{: .note}

The steps in this guide require root privileges. Be sure to run the steps below as root or with the sudo prefix. For more information on privileges, see our Users and Groups guide.

Install Docker

1. As of this writing, the recommended Docker installation is Docker CE. Remove any older installations of Docker that may be on your system:

   apt remove docker docker-engine docker.io
   

2. Make sure you have the necessary packages to allow the use of Docker's repository:

   apt install apt-transport-https ca-certificates curl software-properties-common
   

3. Add Docker's GPG key:

   curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu/gpg | sudo apt-key add -
   

4. Verify the fingerprint of the GPG key:

   apt-key fingerprint 0EBFCD88
   

   You should see output similar to the following:

   {:.output}

   pub   4096R/0EBFCD88 2017-02-22
         Key fingerprint = 9DC8 5822 9FC7 DD38 854A  E2D8 8D81 803C 0EBF CD88
   uid                  Docker Release (CE deb) <[email protected]>
   sub   4096R/F273FCD8 2017-02-22
   

5. Add the stable Docker repository:

   add-apt-repository "deb [arch=amd64] https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu $(lsb_release -cs) stable"
   

6. Update your package indesx and install Docker CE:

   apt update
   apt install docker-ce
   

7. Add your limited user account to the docker group:

   usermod -aG docker exampleuser
   

   You will need to restart your shell session for this change to take effect.

8. Check that the installation was successful by running the built-in "Hello World" program:

   docker run hello-world
   

Start and Enable Docker

Start and enable the Docker process to run on boot:

systemctl start docker
systemctl enable docker

Pull Docker Images

The first thing you are going to want to do is pull down an image to be used as the basis for your Docker containers. Docker Hub is the default registry from which to pull images.

1. Use the images command to check what images already exist on your Linode. This example shows that no images are installed:

   docker images
   

   

2. Pull the nginx web server, using the docker pull command:

    docker pull nginx
   

   This will pull the latest official nginx Docker image

   

3. If you run docker images again, you'll see the nginx image:

   

Find Unofficial nginx Images

Alternatively, if you don't want to install the official nginx image, use docker search to find other nginx images:

docker search nginx

This command will list all variant images, along with a respective description, and whether or not they are official.

Use docker pull to pull one of the other images:

docker pull blacklabelops/nginx

Ready to Keep Going?

At this point, you should know how to install Docker and pull down images with which you can then deploy containers. Use man docker to dive into the manual or visit our other Docker Guides to learn more.