LibraHostDocumentation

Documentation

Complete guides for all our hosting services

Navigation

🐳 Install Docker on a VPS#

Learn how to install and configure Docker and Docker Compose on your VPS to deploy your applications in containers simply and efficiently.

🎯 Objectives#

  • 🐳 Install Docker Engine on Ubuntu/Debian
  • 📦 Install Docker Compose
  • 🛠️ Master essential commands
  • 🌐 Understand networks and volumes
  • 🔧 Solve common problems

🧰 Prerequisites#

  • VPS running Ubuntu 20.04+ or Debian 11+
  • Root or sudo access
  • Active SSH connection
  • At least 2 GB RAM recommended
  • 10 GB free disk space minimum

1️⃣ System preparation#

📦 Update and cleanup#

# Complete system update
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

# Remove old Docker versions (if present)
for pkg in docker.io docker-doc docker-compose podman-docker containerd runc; do sudo apt-get remove $pkg; done

2️⃣ Docker installation#

📥 Installation with official script#

# Download official installation script
curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com -o get-docker.sh

# Execute installation script
sh get-docker.sh

# Installation verification
sudo systemctl status docker

✅ Installation test#

# Test with a Hello World container
sudo docker run hello-world

# Version verification
sudo docker --version
sudo docker compose version

👥 User configuration#

# Add your user to Docker group (avoids sudo)
sudo usermod -aG docker $USER

# Apply changes (logout/login or)
newgrp docker

# Test without sudo
docker run hello-world

3️⃣ Docker Compose installation and usage#

📦 Docker Compose verification#

Docker Compose is now included as a plugin:

# Installation verification
docker compose version

# Docker Compose help
docker compose --help

🚀 First practical test#

Let's test Docker with a simple web server:

# Launch an Nginx server
docker run -d --name my-nginx -p 8080:80 nginx

# Verify the container is working
docker ps

# Test in browser: http://your-ip:8080
# You should see the Nginx welcome page

# Stop and remove the container
docker stop my-nginx
docker rm my-nginx

📝 Simple Docker Compose example#

Let's create a basic docker-compose.yml file:

# Create a test directory
mkdir ~/test-docker && cd ~/test-docker

# Create docker-compose.yml file
cat > docker-compose.yml << 'EOF'
version: "3.8"
services:
  web:
    image: nginx
    ports:
      - "8080:80"
EOF

# Launch with Docker Compose
docker compose up -d

# Verification
docker compose ps

# Stop and cleanup
docker compose down

4️⃣ Essential Docker commands#

📦 Container management#

# List active containers
docker ps

# List all containers (active and stopped)
docker ps -a

# Start a container
docker start container_name

# Stop a container
docker stop container_name

# Restart a container
docker restart container_name

# Remove a container
docker rm container_name

# Remove all stopped containers
docker container prune

🖼️ Image management#

# List images
docker images

# Download an image
docker pull nginx:latest

# Remove an image
docker rmi nginx:latest

# Remove unused images
docker image prune

📊 Monitoring and logs#

# Container logs
docker logs container_name

# Real-time logs
docker logs -f container_name

# Container statistics
docker stats

# Docker system information
docker system info

# Used disk space
docker system df

🔧 Container access#

# Execute a command in a container
docker exec -it container_name bash

# Copy files to/from a container
docker cp file.txt container_name:/path/to/destination
docker cp container_name:/path/to/file.txt ./

🐙 Docker Compose commands#

# Start services
docker compose up -d

# View service status
docker compose ps

# View logs
docker compose logs

# Stop services
docker compose down

# Rebuild and start
docker compose up --build -d

5️⃣ Docker networks and volumes#

🌐 Network management#

# List networks
docker network ls

# Create a network
docker network create my-network

# Connect a container to a network
docker network connect my-network container_name

# Inspect a network
docker network inspect my-network

# Remove a network
docker network rm my-network

💾 Volume management#

# List volumes
docker volume ls

# Create a volume
docker volume create my-volume

# Inspect a volume
docker volume inspect my-volume

# Remove a volume
docker volume rm my-volume

# Remove unused volumes
docker volume prune

6️⃣ Troubleshooting#

🔍 Common problems#

Error: "Cannot connect to Docker daemon"

# Service verification
sudo systemctl status docker

# Restart if necessary
sudo systemctl restart docker

# Permission verification
groups $USER

Error: "No space left on device"

# Disk space verification
df -h

# Docker cleanup
docker system prune -a

# Check bulky logs
sudo du -sh /var/lib/docker/containers/*/

Container won't start

# Log verification
docker logs container_name

# Configuration verification
docker inspect container_name

# Interactive mode test
docker run -it --entrypoint /bin/bash image_name

📋 Logs and diagnostics#

# Docker daemon logs
sudo journalctl -fu docker.service

# Detailed system information
docker system info

# Real-time Docker events
docker events

# Detailed container inspection
docker inspect container_name

✅ Installation summary#

Your Docker installation is now complete with:

  • 🐳 Docker Engine + Docker Compose installed and operational
  • 🚀 First tests completed successfully
  • 🔧 Essential commands mastered
  • 🌐 Network and volume management configured
Contact support