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Installation

To get started, download and install Docker from their official website: Install Docker.

For those new to Docker or working within a Windows environment, beginning with Docker Desktop is recommended for a more user-friendly experience. If you use Linux, follow one of the installation guides for Linux below.

Installing Docker on Windows

For Windows, Docker Desktop is the most straightforward way to get Docker up and running:

  1. Visit the Docker Desktop for Windows download page.
  2. Click on the "Download Docker Desktop for Windows" button to download the installer.
  3. Once the installer is downloaded, double-click on it to run the installation process.
  4. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation. You may be prompted to enable the WSL 2 feature and install a Linux kernel update package if you haven't already done so. Docker Desktop for Windows requires WSL 2 (Windows Subsystem for Linux version 2) to run.
  5. After the installation is complete, you might need to restart your computer.
  6. Once your system restarts, launch Docker Desktop from the Start menu. Docker will take a few moments to start up for the first time.
  7. When Docker is running, you will see the Docker icon in the system tray, indicating that Docker Desktop is running and accessible.
Troubleshooting
  • If Docker desktop is not starting it might be because you don't have WSL (Windows Subssytem for Linux) installed. To install WSL open Powershell as an admin and run the following command wsl --install
  • Make sure that no firewalls are blocking Docker as that can cause startup issues.
Important: Ensure Linux Containers are Used

Docker Desktop for Windows supports both Linux and Windows containers. Since our services rely on Linux containers, you must ensure Docker is set to use Linux containers during this setup:

  1. Right-click on the Docker icon in the system tray.
  2. If you see "Switch to Windows containers...", you're already set to use Linux containers, and no action is needed.
  3. If you see "Switch to Linux containers...", select it. This means Docker is currently set to use Windows containers, and you need to switch to Linux containers.
  4. Docker Desktop may require a few moments to switch between container modes. Wait for this process to complete before proceeding.

Note: After you've set up all Linux services, you can switch back to Windows containers if you want.

Installing Docker on Ubuntu

For Ubuntu and similar distributions, you can install Docker using the following commands or by following the official Docker installation guide for Linux. Open a terminal and run:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install apt-transport-https ca-certificates curl software-properties-common
curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu/gpg | sudo apt-key add -
sudo add-apt-repository "deb [arch=amd64] https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu $(lsb_release -cs) stable"
sudo apt update
sudo apt install docker-ce

Verify Docker installation:

sudo systemctl status docker

Installing Docker on CentOS

For CentOS and similar distributions, use these commands:

sudo yum check-update
curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com/ | sh
sudo systemctl start docker
sudo systemctl enable docker

Verify Docker is running:

sudo systemctl status docker