Docker: Up & Running

Chapter 3. Installing Docker

The steps required to install Docker vary depending on the primary platform you use for development and the Linux distribution that you use to host your applications in production. Since Docker is a technology built around Linux containers, people developing on non-Linux platforms will need to use some form of virtual machine or remote server for many parts of the process.

In this chapter, we discuss the steps required to get a fully working Docker development environment set up on most modern desktop operating systems. First we’ll install the Docker client on your native development platform, then we’ll get a Docker server running on Linux. Finally we’ll test out the installation to make sure it works as expected.

Although the Docker client can run on Windows and Mac OS X to control a Docker Server, Docker containers can only be built and launched on Linux. Therefore, non-Linux systems will require a virtual machine or remote server to host the Linux-based Docker server.

Important Terminology

Below are a few terms that we will continue to use throughout the book and whose meanings you should become familiar with.

Docker client

The docker command used to control most of the Docker workflow and talk to remote Docker servers.

Docker server

The docker command run in daemon mode. This turns a Linux system into a Docker server that can have containers deployed, launched, and torn down via a remote client.

Docker images

Docker images consist of one ...