How to Install Docker on Ubuntu 24.04: Step-by-Step Guide for Beginners

In this tutorial, you’ll install Docker Engine on a Raff Ubuntu 24.04 VM, add Docker’s official APT repository, install the Docker Compose plugin, verify the installation with hello-world, and run a practical Nginx container test.

Docker is the standard platform for building, shipping, and running applications inside containers. Containers isolate applications and their dependencies while sharing the host operating system kernel, which makes deployments faster, more portable, and easier to reproduce across development, staging, and production environments.

Raff Technologies runs over 10,000 VMs across its compute platform in Vint Hill, Virginia, on AMD EPYC hardware with NVMe storage.

Prerequisites:

• A Raff Ubuntu 24.04 VM
• SSH access with sudo privileges
• Ports 80/tcp and 8080/tcp available for the test container step
• A clean Ubuntu environment without conflicting Docker packages installed

This tutorial was tested on a Raff VM with 2 vCPU, 2 GB RAM, running Ubuntu 24.04.4 LTS.

Tested on Raff infrastructure by Aybars Altınyay, platform engineer and technical writer at Raff Technologies.

Step 1 — Update Ubuntu and install prerequisites

Update the package index and install the packages required to add Docker’s official APT repository.

sudo apt update

sudo env DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive NEEDRESTART_MODE=a apt upgrade -y \
  -o Dpkg::Options::=--force-confdef \
  -o Dpkg::Options::=--force-confold

sudo apt install -y ca-certificates curl gnupg lsb-release ufw

📌 Note: If Ubuntu asks what to do with a modified /etc/ssh/sshd_config file, select keep the local version currently installed. This preserves your current SSH login configuration.

Verify the Ubuntu version:

lsb_release -ds

Expected output:

Ubuntu 24.04.4 LTS

Minor Ubuntu 24.04 point releases are acceptable.

Step 2 — Remove conflicting Docker packages

Before installing Docker from the official Docker repository, remove conflicting packages that may come from Ubuntu’s default repositories or previous installations.

for pkg in docker.io docker-doc docker-compose docker-compose-v2 podman-docker containerd runc; do
  sudo apt remove -y "$pkg" 2>/dev/null || true
done

This command is safe on a fresh VM. If none of the packages are installed, APT simply reports that there is nothing to remove.

Verify that the docker command is not already installed:

docker --version

Expected output on a fresh VM:

Command 'docker' not found

If Docker is already installed and you are intentionally upgrading an existing server, review your current containers and volumes before continuing.

Step 3 — Add Docker’s official APT repository

Create the APT keyring directory:

sudo install -m 0755 -d /etc/apt/keyrings

Download Docker’s official GPG key:

sudo curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu/gpg \
  -o /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc

Set the correct permissions:

sudo chmod a+r /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc

Add Docker’s APT repository:

sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.sources > /dev/null <<EOF
Types: deb
URIs: https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu
Suites: $(. /etc/os-release && echo "${UBUNTU_CODENAME:-$VERSION_CODENAME}")
Components: stable
Architectures: $(dpkg --print-architecture)
Signed-By: /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc
EOF

Update the package index again:

sudo apt update

Verify that APT can see Docker’s repository:

apt-cache policy docker-ce | sed -n '1,12p'

Expected output includes:

docker-ce:
  Candidate:
  Version table:

The candidate version may change over time as Docker releases new stable versions.

Step 4 — Install Docker Engine and Docker Compose

Install Docker Engine, the Docker CLI, containerd, Buildx, and the Docker Compose plugin.

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

Verify Docker Engine:

docker --version

Expected output:

Docker version 29.x.x, build xxxxxxx

Verify Docker Compose:

docker compose version

Expected output:

Docker Compose version v5.x.x

The exact Docker and Docker Compose versions may differ depending on the current stable packages available from Docker’s repository.

Step 5 — Verify the Docker service

Docker should start automatically after installation. Check that the service is active:

systemctl is-active docker

Expected output:

active

View the full service status:

sudo systemctl status docker

Expected output includes:

Active: active (running)

Common Docker service commands:

sudo systemctl stop docker
sudo systemctl start docker
sudo systemctl restart docker
sudo systemctl status docker
sudo systemctl enable docker

Verify that Docker can communicate with the daemon:

sudo docker ps

Expected output:

CONTAINER ID   IMAGE     COMMAND   CREATED   STATUS    PORTS     NAMES

An empty container list is expected on a fresh VM.

Step 6 — Run the Docker hello-world test

Run the official hello-world test container.

sudo docker run --rm hello-world

Expected output includes:

Hello from Docker!
This message shows that your installation appears to be working correctly.

This confirms that Docker can pull an image, create a container, run it, and print output successfully.

Verify that no hello-world container remains after using --rm:

sudo docker ps -a

Expected output does not need to show a hello-world container.

Step 7 — Run a practical test with Nginx

Run a temporary Nginx container and map it to port 8080 on the VM.

sudo ufw allow 8080/tcp

sudo docker rm -f test-nginx 2>/dev/null || true

sudo docker run -d --name test-nginx -p 8080:80 nginx

Verify that the container is running:

sudo docker ps

Expected output includes:

test-nginx
Up
0.0.0.0:8080->80/tcp

Test the Nginx container locally:

curl -I http://localhost:8080

Expected output includes:

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Server: nginx

Find your VM’s public IP address:

curl -4 icanhazip.com

Open your browser and visit:

http://your_server_ip:8080

Visible state check:

The browser shows the default Nginx welcome page.
The page is served from a Docker container mapped to port 8080.
The URL uses http://your_server_ip:8080.

The test is successful when the browser shows the Nginx welcome page and curl -I http://localhost:8080 returns HTTP/1.1 200 OK.

📌 Note: The browser may show “Not secure” because this test uses plain HTTP on port 8080. That is expected for this verification step.

Step 8 — Configure non-root Docker access

By default, Docker commands require sudo. If this is your personal VM and you want to run Docker commands without sudo, add your user to the docker group.

sudo usermod -aG docker "$USER"

Apply the group change in the current shell:

newgrp docker

Verify that Docker runs without sudo:

docker ps

Expected output:

CONTAINER ID   IMAGE     COMMAND   CREATED   STATUS    PORTS     NAMES

⚠️ Warning: Membership in the docker group grants root-equivalent access on the host. Only add trusted users to this group. On shared servers, keep using sudo docker instead.

If you are connected as root, this step is optional because the root user already has permission to run Docker.

Step 9 — Verify the complete Docker installation

Run a final verification sequence.

echo "Checking Docker version:"
docker --version || sudo docker --version

echo "Checking Docker Compose version:"
docker compose version || sudo docker compose version

echo "Checking Docker service:"
systemctl is-active docker

echo "Checking running containers:"
sudo docker ps

echo "Checking Nginx test container:"
curl -I http://localhost:8080

Expected output includes:

Docker version
Docker Compose version
active
test-nginx
HTTP/1.1 200 OK

The Docker installation is complete when Docker Engine is installed, Docker Compose is available, the Docker service is active, hello-world runs successfully, and the Nginx test container serves a page on port 8080.

Cleanup (Optional)

Use this section to remove only the temporary Nginx test container and close the test port.

sudo docker stop test-nginx
sudo docker rm test-nginx
sudo ufw delete allow 8080/tcp

Verify cleanup:

sudo docker ps
sudo ufw status numbered

Expected output no longer shows the test-nginx container or the 8080/tcp firewall rule.

To remove the hello-world image and Nginx image as well:

sudo docker image rm hello-world nginx

📌 Note: Do not remove Docker itself if you plan to use this VM for containerized applications.

Troubleshooting

docker: command not found

Cause: Docker Engine is not installed, or the installation did not complete.

Fix:

apt-cache policy docker-ce
sudo apt install -y docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io docker-buildx-plugin docker-compose-plugin
docker --version

Expected output includes a Docker version.

Cannot connect to the Docker daemon

Cause: The Docker service is not running, or your user does not have permission to access Docker.

Fix:

systemctl is-active docker
sudo systemctl start docker
sudo docker ps

If you configured non-root access, log out and back in or run:

newgrp docker
docker ps

The Nginx test page does not open in the browser

Cause: The container is not running, port 8080 is blocked, or the wrong IP address is being used.

Fix:

sudo docker ps
sudo ufw status numbered
curl -4 icanhazip.com
curl -I http://localhost:8080

Expected output includes:

test-nginx
8080/tcp ALLOW IN
HTTP/1.1 200 OK

Port 8080 is already in use

Cause: Another process or container is already using port 8080.

Fix:

sudo ss -tulpn | grep ':8080'
sudo docker ps

If another test container is using the port, remove it:

sudo docker rm -f test-nginx

Then start the Nginx test container again:

sudo docker run -d --name test-nginx -p 8080:80 nginx

Docker Compose is not available

Cause: The Docker Compose plugin was not installed.

Fix:

sudo apt install -y docker-compose-plugin
docker compose version

Expected output includes:

Docker Compose version

UFW blocks container traffic

Cause: Port 8080 is not allowed through UFW.

Fix:

sudo ufw allow 8080/tcp
sudo ufw status numbered

Expected output includes:

8080/tcp ALLOW IN

After testing, close the port again:

sudo ufw delete allow 8080/tcp

Conclusion

You have installed Docker Engine on a Raff Ubuntu 24.04 VM from Docker’s official APT repository, installed the Docker Compose plugin, verified Docker with hello-world, and confirmed a practical Nginx container works through port 8080.

From here, you can deploy multi-container applications with Docker Compose, self-host developer tools, run databases, or deploy web applications behind Nginx or Caddy. If you haven’t deployed your Raff VM yet, you can spin one up in 60 seconds at rafftechnologies.com.

Next: Deploy Uptime Kuma with Docker on Ubuntu 24.04 Related: Install Nginx on Ubuntu 24.04 Guide: Automate Server Backups with Cron and Rsync on Ubuntu 24.04