🚀 How to Set Up Docker on Windows, Linux, and macOS

Docker is a powerful tool that lets you run applications inside lightweight containers. Whether you’re a developer, sysadmin, or just curious, setting up Docker on your system is the first step to working with containers. This guide walks you through installing Docker on Windows, Linux, and macOS.

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🔹 Prerequisites

• A machine running Windows, Linux, or macOS.
• Admin (root) privileges on your system.
• Internet access to download Docker packages.

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🪟 Installing Docker on Windows

Docker Desktop for Windows is the easiest way to get started.

1. Download Docker Desktop

   • Go to Docker Desktop for Windows.
   • Download the installer.

2. Run Installer

   • Double-click the .exe file and follow the installation wizard.
   • Make sure WSL 2 (Windows Subsystem for Linux) is enabled. The installer can do this automatically.

3. Start Docker Desktop

   • After installation, open Docker Desktop from the Start Menu.
   • You’ll see the Docker whale icon in your system tray.

4. Verify Installation

   docker --version
   docker run hello-world
   

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🐧 Installing Docker on Linux

Docker provides official packages for most Linux distributions. Here’s how to install it on Ubuntu/Debian (adjust for your distro).

1. Uninstall old versions (if any)

   sudo apt-get remove docker docker-engine docker.io containerd runc
   

2. Update package index

   sudo apt-get update
   

3. Install required packages

   sudo apt-get install ca-certificates curl gnupg lsb-release
   

4. Add Docker’s official GPG key

   sudo mkdir -m 0755 -p /etc/apt/keyrings
   curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu/gpg | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.gpg
   

5. Set up repository

   echo \
   "deb [arch=$(dpkg --print-architecture) signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/docker.gpg] https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu \
   $(lsb_release -cs) stable" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list > /dev/null
   

6. Install Docker Engine

   sudo apt-get update
   sudo apt-get install docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io docker-buildx-plugin docker-compose-plugin
   

7. Verify Installation

   docker --version
   sudo docker run hello-world
   

💡 Optional: Add your user to the docker group so you don’t need sudo every time:

sudo usermod -aG docker $USER

Log out and back in for this to take effect.

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🍎 Installing Docker on macOS

Docker Desktop for macOS provides a simple way to run Docker.

1. Download Docker Desktop

   • Visit Docker Desktop for Mac.
   • Download the .dmg file.

2. Install

   • Open the .dmg and drag Docker.app into Applications.

3. Run Docker

   • Open Docker from Applications.
   • You’ll see the whale icon in the menu bar.

4. Verify Installation

   docker --version
   docker run hello-world
   

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✅ Verifying Everything Works

Run a simple test container:

docker run hello-world

You should see a message confirming that Docker is working correctly on your system.

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🎯 Conclusion

You now have Docker installed on Windows, Linux, and macOS! With Docker up and running, you can:

• Pull and run containers from Docker Hub.
• Build your own images with Dockerfile.
• Orchestrate multi-container apps using Docker Compose.

Docker opens up a world of development and deployment possibilities. 🚢