Docker Engine is the industry-standard container runtime. It lets you build, ship, and run applications in isolated containers, ensuring consistent environments from development through production. This guide installs Docker Engine on Ubuntu 26.04 LTS using the official Docker repository.

Tested and valid on:

Ubuntu 26.04 LTS

Prerequisites

Ubuntu 26.04 LTS
A user with sudo privileges
Internet connectivity

Step 1 – Remove Old Docker Versions

sudo apt remove docker docker-engine docker.io containerd runc 2>/dev/null || true

Step 2 – Install Required Packages

sudo apt update
sudo apt install ca-certificates curl gnupg -y

Step 3 – Add Docker’s Official GPG Key

sudo install -m 0755 -d /etc/apt/keyrings
curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu/gpg | 
  sudo gpg --dearmor -o /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.gpg
sudo chmod a+r /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.gpg

Step 4 – Add the Docker Repository

echo 
  "deb [arch=$(dpkg --print-architecture) signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/docker.gpg] 
  https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu 
  $(. /etc/os-release && echo "$VERSION_CODENAME") stable" | 
  sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list > /dev/null
sudo apt update

Step 5 – Install Docker Engine

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

Step 6 – Verify Installation

sudo docker run hello-world

Step 7 – Manage Docker as a Non-Root User

sudo usermod -aG docker $USER
newgrp docker
docker run hello-world

Step 8 – Enable Docker on Boot

sudo systemctl enable docker
sudo systemctl enable containerd

Conclusion

Docker Engine is installed on Ubuntu 26.04 LTS. You can now build images with docker build, run containers with docker run, and use Docker Compose to orchestrate multi-container applications.

How to Install Docker Engine on Ubuntu 26.04