Docker

Docker+Dockge, Ubuntu 24.04

This post is about installing Docker on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS. We also utilize the Dockge instead of Portainer. Dockge has some unique features and is well suited for use in a home lab. Portainer can do more, but Dockge is fine for now

Photo by Guillaume Bolduc / Unsplash

Docker has 20B+ monthly image pulls, 20M+ monthly developers – it's truly the workhorse of IT today.

Prerequisite

Run as root sudo -s or use sudo as in the guide.

If you need to add a user, adduser <user_name> and fill in data or not.
Add the user to the sudo group, if needed, usermod -aG sudo <user_name>

Update your package list

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

Install Docker-ce

Installing Docker-ce, and it's dependable including docker-buildx-plugin, docker-ce-cli, docker-ce-rootless-extras and docker-compose-plugin.

Download GPG key and add to a specified directory:

sudo wget -qO /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu/gpg

Add the Docker CE repository:

echo "deb [arch=amd64 signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc] https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu $(lsb_release -sc) stable" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list

Install the Docker CE:

sudo apt update && sudo apt install docker-ce -y

Docker should now be installed, the daemon started, and the process enabled to start on boot. Check that it’s running:

sudo systemctl status docker

The output should be similar to the following, showing that the service is active and running:

Installing Docker installs the Docker service daemon, but also: containerd.io, docker-buildx-plugin, docker-ce-cli, docker-ce-rootless-extras, docker-compose-plugin.

Elevate a normal user's privileges. Remember the security aspect of doing so.

sudo usermod -aG docker $USER

Activate: exec su - l $USER or reboot the VM: systemctl reboot

Check if Docker is running sudo docker ps.

Install Dockge

Run as the normal user

Add the working directory mkdir -p /home/$USER/docker/. And go to it cd docker.

sudo docker run -d -p 5001:5001 --name Dockge --restart=unless-stopped -v /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock -v /home/$USER/docker/dockge/data:/app/data -v /home/$USER/docker/stacks:/home/$USER/docker/stacks -e DOCKGE_STACKS_DIR=/home/$USER/docker/stacks louislam/dockge:latest

services:
  dockge:
    ports:
      - 5001:5001
    container_name: Dockge
    restart: unless-stopped
    volumes:
      - /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock
      - /home/$USER/docker/dockge/data:/app/data
      - /home/$USER/docker/stacks:/home/$USER/docker/stacks
    environment:
      - DOCKGE_STACKS_DIR=/home/$USER/docker/stacks
    image: louislam/dockge:latest
networks: {}

Check if it's running sudo docker ps.

Connect to the Dockge in your VM <IP>:5001

Enter your preferred username and password (min. 6 letters and numbers) to start.

You can create .env entries and networks directly in the GUI.

Now you can start to creating your stacks.

Using a script

Docker supplies a script for installing docker.
To install the latest stable versions of Docker CLI, Docker Engine, and their dependencies:

Download the script curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com -o install-docker.sh
Verify the script's content by reading it cat install-docker.sh
Run the script with the --dry-run flag set, to verify the steps it executes.
Run by sh install-docker.sh --dry-run
Run the script either as root, or using sudo to perform the installation.
sudo sh install-docker.sh