Install Docker Engine on RHEL¶

To get started with Docker Engine on RHEL, ensure you meet the prerequisites and follow the installation steps.

Prerequisites¶

OS Requirements¶

To install Docker Engine, you need a maintained version of one of the following RHEL versions: - RHEL 8 - RHEL 9

Uninstall Old Versions¶

Before installing Docker Engine, uninstall any conflicting packages. Your Linux distribution may provide unofficial Docker packages that conflict with the official ones. Remove them using the following command:

sudo dnf remove docker \
                  docker-client \
                  docker-client-latest \
                  docker-common \
                  docker-latest \
                  docker-latest-logrotate \
                  docker-logrotate \
                  docker-engine \
                  podman \
                  runc

Note: dnf might report that none of these packages are installed. Images, containers, volumes, and networks stored in /var/lib/docker/ aren't automatically removed when you uninstall Docker.

Installation Methods¶

You can install Docker Engine in different ways, depending on your needs:

Using Docker's Repositories (Recommended): Set up Docker's repositories for easier installation and upgrades.
Manual RPM Installation: Download and install the RPM package manually, useful for air-gapped systems.
Automated Convenience Scripts: Use scripts for quick installation in testing and development environments.

Install Using the RPM Repository¶

Step 1: Set Up the Repository¶

Install the dnf-plugins-core package and add the Docker repository:

sudo dnf -y install dnf-plugins-core
sudo dnf config-manager --add-repo https://download.docker.com/linux/rhel/docker-ce.repo

Step 2: Install Docker Engine¶

To install the latest version:

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

Verify the GPG key fingerprint matches 060A 61C5 1B55 8A7F 742B 77AA C52F EB6B 621E 9F35 before accepting it.

Start Docker and enable it to start on boot:

sudo systemctl enable --now docker

Verify the installation:

sudo docker run hello-world

Tip: If you encounter permission errors, refer to the Linux post-installation steps to allow non-root users to run Docker commands.

Install from a Package¶

If you can't use Docker's repository, download the .rpm files for your RHEL version from Docker's download page. Install them using:

sudo dnf install ./containerd.io-<version>.<arch>.rpm \
  ./docker-ce-<version>.<arch>.rpm \
  ./docker-ce-cli-<version>.<arch>.rpm \
  ./docker-buildx-plugin-<version>.<arch>.rpm \
  ./docker-compose-plugin-<version>.<arch>.rpm

Start Docker:

sudo systemctl enable --now docker

Verify the installation:

sudo docker run hello-world

Install Using the Convenience Script¶

Docker provides a script for non-interactive installation. Use it for development environments only:

curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com -o get-docker.sh
sudo sh get-docker.sh

Tip: Use the --dry-run option to preview the script's steps before running it.

Install Pre-Releases¶

To install pre-releases of Docker, use the test channel script:

curl -fsSL https://test.docker.com -o test-docker.sh
sudo sh test-docker.sh

Upgrade Docker Engine¶

To upgrade Docker, follow the installation instructions for the desired version. If using manual RPM installation, replace dnf install with dnf upgrade.

Uninstall Docker Engine¶

Remove Docker packages:

sudo dnf remove docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io docker-buildx-plugin docker-compose-plugin docker-ce-rootless-extras

To delete all images, containers, and volumes:

sudo rm -rf /var/lib/docker
sudo rm -rf /var/lib/containerd

Note: Manually delete any edited configuration files.

Next Steps¶

Continue to Post-installation steps for Linux.