Docker Engine allows you to build, run, and manage containerised applications. This guide installs the latest Docker Engine (25.x) on Ubuntu 24.04 LTS using the official Docker repository.

Tested and valid on:

  • Ubuntu 24.04 LTS

Prerequisites

  • Ubuntu 24.04 LTS server
  • A user with sudo privileges

Step 1 – Remove Old Docker Versions

Remove any unofficial Docker packages:

for pkg in docker.io docker-doc docker-compose docker-compose-v2 podman-docker containerd runc; do sudo apt-get remove $pkg; done

Step 2 – Add Docker’s Official GPG Key and Repository

Install prerequisites and add the Docker repo:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install ca-certificates curl -y
sudo install -m 0755 -d /etc/apt/keyrings
sudo curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu/gpg -o /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc
sudo chmod a+r /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc
echo "deb [arch=$(dpkg --print-architecture) signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc] https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu $(. /etc/os-release && echo $VERSION_CODENAME) stable" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list

Step 3 – Install Docker Engine

Update and install Docker packages:

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

Step 4 – Verify the Installation

Run the hello-world test container:

sudo docker run hello-world

Step 5 – Manage Docker as a Non-Root User

Add your user to the docker group:

sudo usermod -aG docker $USER

Log out and back in for the change to take effect. Then test:

docker run hello-world

Step 6 – Start Docker on Boot

Enable Docker and containerd:

sudo systemctl enable docker.service
sudo systemctl enable containerd.service

Step 7 – Check the Version

Verify Docker Engine version:

docker --version
docker compose version

Conclusion

Docker Engine is now installed on Ubuntu 24.04 LTS. You can pull images from Docker Hub, build custom images with Dockerfiles, and orchestrate multi-container applications with Docker Compose.