Debian

How to Install Docker on Debian 12?

How to Install Docker on Debian 12

Docker is a fundamental tool in the current software development era to deploy and manage applications. It is a containerization technique that helps users to package and run their necessary applications within an isolated environment i.e. containers. It can be used and run on various platforms, i.e. Windows, MacOS, and Linux distributions including Debian.

This guide will illustrate all the possible approaches for Docker installation on the Debian 12 system.

Quick Outline

How to Install Docker on Debian 12?

In the Debian 12 system, Docker can be installed from:

Method 1: Install Docker on Debian 12 From Default Debian Repository

The default Debian repository contains a collection of software packages including Docker. It is the easiest Docker installation method but it provides the outdated version of Docker. Go through the given instructions to install Docker on your Debian 12 using this method.

Step 1: Update Debian System

Before installing Docker, make sure to update your system’s packages using the given commands:

sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade

This will refresh the Debian’s repository packages.

Step 2: Install Docker on Debian 12

Then, use the given command to install the Docker package i.e. “docker.io” from the official Debian repository:

sudo apt install docker.io -y

Step 3: Ensure Installation

To ensure that Docker has been installed on your Debian system, check its version:

docker --version

The output displays Docker’s outdated version that is installed on the system:

Method 2: Install Docker on Debian 12 From Official Docker Repository

If you want to install the most up-to-date (latest) version of Docker, you can install it from the official Docker repository. This method provides the latest Docker packages with the newest updates and features. Moreover, it also automatically fetches and installs Docker’s latest version via the package manager whenever it is available from the official repository.

Here are the steps to install Docker on your Debian 12 system from the official Docker repository:

Step 1: Install Required Dependencies

First, install the following necessary dependencies for the installation of Docker on the Debian 12 system:

sudo apt install gnupg apt-transport-https ca-certificates curl

Step 2: Import Docker GPG Key

Next, utilize the provided command and import the Docker GPG key to ensure the reliability of Docker packages:

curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/debian/gpg | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/docker.gpg

Step 3: Add Docker Repository to Debian 12

Then, add/import the Docker’s official repository to the Debian 12 system:

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

Step 4: Refresh System’s Packages

After that, update your system to implement new changes:

sudo apt update

Step 5: Install Docker on Debian 12 System

Now, install the essential latest Docker packages i.e. the “docker-ce” (Docker engine’s community edition), “docker-ce-cli” (a command-line interface to communicate with Docker). and “containerd.io” (container runtime) by typing out the given command:

sudo apt install docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io

Step 6: Verification

Finally, check out the Docker’s version to ensure its installation on your system:

docker --version

It can be observed that the Docker’s latest has been successfully installed:

Method 3: Install Docker on Debian 12 From the Deb Package File

You can also get Docker’s latest version by downloading its Deb package file from the official Docker website and install manually. Follow the given steps to install Docker on Debian 12 via the Deb package file.

Step 1: Download Docker Package Files on Debian 12

First, visit the official Docker website, copy the link of the required latest Docker deb files, and download them on your system through the “wget” command. Here, we are downloading the Deb package files of “containered.io”, “docker-ce”, and “docker-ce-cli”.

For “containerd.io”:

wget https://download.docker.com/linux/debian/dists/bookworm/pool/stable/amd64/containerd.io_1.6.28-1_amd64.deb

For “docker-ce”:

wget https://download.docker.com/linux/debian/dists/bookworm/pool/stable/amd64/docker-ce_25.0.3-1~debian.12~bookworm_amd64.deb

For “docker-ce-cli”:

wget https://download.docker.com/linux/debian/dists/bookworm/pool/stable/amd64/docker-ce-cli_25.0.3-1~debian.12~bookworm_amd64.deb

Alternatively, you can download the desired Docker deb files directly from the website by clicking on them as seen below:

Step 2: Install Docker on Debian 12

Then, install the downloaded deb package files using the following command to get Docker’s latest version on your system:

sudo apt install ./containerd.io_1.6.28-1_amd64.deb ./docker-ce_25.0.3-1~debian.12~bookworm_amd64.deb ./docker-ce-cli_25.0.3-1~debian.12~bookworm_amd64.deb

Step 3: Verify Installation

Lastly, display the Docker’s version to confirm its installation on the system:

docker --version

The below output displays the latest version of Docker installed on the system:

Method 4: Install Docker on Debian 12 From the Snap Store

The Snap store also contains the Docker snap package that can be simply installed on Debian 12 through the “snap” package manager. You can install Docker on Debian 12 from the Snap Store by following the given steps.

Step 1: Install and Enable Snap

By default, the snap support is not enabled on the Debian 12 system. Thus, you have to enable it first in order to install Snap packages including Docker. Check Out This Post to see the method of installing and enabling it.

Step 2: Install Docker on Debian 12

Then, install the Docker snap package on your Debian 12 system by utilizing the following command:

sudo snap install docker

Method 5: Install Docker on Debian 12 From Docker Shell Script

Another most convenient and fastest way to install Docker on Debian 12 is using the Docker shell script. This shell script is provided by Docker to automate its installation process on the system. You can go through the given instructions to install Docker from the shell script on Debian 12:

Step 1: Download the Shell Script on Debian 12

First, download the Docker shell script on your Debian 12 system via the “curl” command with the name “get-docker.sh”:

curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com -o get-docker.sh

Step 2: Install Docker on Debian 12

Next, install and set up Docker on Debian 12 by executing the following “get-docker.sh” script file through the below-listed command:

sudo sh get-docker.sh

As you can see, this shell script has installed the Docker’s most recent version:

How to Manage Docker Service on Debian 12?

Once you have installed Docker on your Debian 12 system, you may want to manage its service to control Docker Daemon and containers. Managing Docker service includes starting, enabling, disabling, stopping, and restarting Docker services.

Here is the way to manage your Docker (daemon) services:

Start Docker Service

After installing Docker, if the Docker service is not started automatically, you can run the following command to start it on your system:

sudo systemctl start docker

Enable Docker Service

To set the Docker daemon/service to start automatically on every system bootup, use the provided command:

sudo systemctl enable docker

Disable Docker Service

To prevent Docker services from starting automatically on system bootup, write out the below-listed command:

sudo systemctl disable docker

Stop Docker Service

To stop the Docker service on your system, you can execute the following command:

sudo systemctl stop docker

Restart Docker Service

If you want to restart the Docker service, execute the given command:

sudo systemctl restart docker

Display Status of Docker Service

To view the Docker service’s status, utilize the provided command:

sudo systemctl status docker

The below output shows the information about the Docker service:

How to Configure Docker as a Non-root User on Debian 12?

On Debian systems, when you install Docker it generally runs with root privileges. As a result, running Docker commands without “sudo” gives permission errors as seen below:

In order to resolve this error and run Docker as a non-root user on Debian 12, check out the given instructions:

Step 1: Create a Docker group

First, you need to make a new Docker by utilizing the following command:

sudo groupadd docker

This has created the new Docker group named “docker”:

Step 2: Add User to Docker Group

Then, use the given command to add the current (or any new/existing) user to the docker group on your system:

sudo usermod -aG docker $USER

Step 3: Restart Debian 12 System

You have to reboot/restart the Debian system to implement changes:

sudo reboot

Step 4: Verification

Finally, run any Docker command to ensure that we can use and run Docker as a non-root user. Here we are executing the following Docker commands:

docker ps
docker images

It can be seen that the Docker commands are executing without “sudo” successfully:

How to Remove Docker From Debian 12?

There are various methods to remove Docker from Debian 12 systems because of different installation ways. You can choose the desired uninstallation method and remove Docker based on the way you installed it.

Here are the Docker removal methods:

If Installed From Debian 12/Docker Repository or Shell Script

If Docker is installed on the Debian 12 system from the default Debian repository, the official Docker repository, or the Docker shell script, you can remove it via the following command:

sudo apt autoremove docker* --purge -y

Also, remove the added Docker repository from your Debian 12 system through the provided command:

sudo rm /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list

Likewise, remove the Docker GPG key from the system using the following command:

sudo rm /usr/share/keyrings/docker.gpg

If Installed From Deb Packages Files

If you have installed Docker on your system from the deb packages files, type out the given command to remove it from the Debian 12 system:

sudo apt remove docker-ce containerd.io docker-ce-cli

If Installed From the Snap Store

You can use the provided command to remove Docker from Debian 12 if it is installed from the Snap Store:

sudo snap remove docker

That is all about installing, managing, and uninstalling Docker on Debian 12 systems.

Note: For additional information, see Docker’s official documentation.

Final Thoughts

You can install Docker on the Debian 12 system from the default Debian repository, official Docker repository, Snap Store, deb files, or Docker shell script. In these methods, the Docker official repository and the deb package file methods are most recommended as these provide the most up-to-date version of Docker with the latest features and updates. On the other hand, the default Debian repository and Docker shell script method are the simplest and fastest ways to install Docker. This article has illustrated all the potential approaches to install, configure, manage, and remove Docker on Debian 12.

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