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# Docker Machine

Machine lets you create Docker hosts on your computer, on cloud providers, and
inside your own data center. It automatically creates hosts, installs Docker on
them, then configures the `docker` client to talk to them. A "machine" is the
combination of a Docker host and a configured client.

Once you create one or more Docker hosts, Docker Machine supplies a number of
commands for managing them. Using these commands you can

-   start, inspect, stop, and restart a host
-   upgrade the Docker client and daemon
-   configure a Docker client to talk to your host

### Looking for the installation docs?

For Windows or Mac, you can obtain Docker Machine by installing the [Docker
Toolbox](https://www.docker.com/toolbox). To read instructions for installing
Machine on Linux or for installing Machine alone without Docker Toolbox, see the
[Machine installation instructions](install-machine.md).

## Understand Docker Machine basic concepts

Docker Machine allows you to provision Docker on virtual machines that reside either on your local system or on a cloud provider. Docker Machine creates a host on a VM and you use the Docker Engine client as needed to build images and create containers on the host.

To create a virtual machine, you supply Docker Machine with the name of the driver you want use. The driver represents the virtual environment. For example, on a local Linux, Mac, or Windows system the driver is typically Oracle Virtual Box. For cloud providers, Docker Machine supports drivers such as AWS, Microsoft Azure, Digital Ocean and many more. The Docker Machine reference includes a complete [list of the supported drivers](drivers/index.md).

Since Docker runs on Linux, each VM that Docker Machine provisions relies on a base operating system. For convenience, there are default base operating systems. For the Oracle Virtual Box driver, this base operating system is the `boot2docker.iso`. For drivers used to connect to cloud providers, the base operating system is Ubuntu 12.04+. You can change this default when you create a machine. The Docker Machine reference includes a complete [list of the supported operating systems](drivers/os-base.md).

For each machine you create, the Docker host address is the IP address of the
Linux VM. This address is assigned by the `docker-machine create` subcommand.
You use the `docker-machine ls` command to list the machines you have created.
The `docker-machine ip <machine-name>` command returns a specific host's IP address.

Before you can run a `docker` command on a machine, you configure your
command-line to point to that machine. The `docker-machine env <machine-name>`
subcommand outputs the configuration command you should use. When you run a
container on the Docker host, the container's ports map to ports on the VM.

For a complete list of the `docker-machine` subcommands, see the [Docker Machine subcommand reference](reference/index.md).

## Getting help

Docker Machine is still in its infancy and under active development. If you need
help, would like to contribute, or simply want to talk about the project with
like-minded individuals, we have a number of open channels for communication.

-   To report bugs or file feature requests: please use the [issue tracker on
    Github](https://github.com/docker/machine/issues).
-   To talk about the project with people in real time: please join the
    `#docker-machine` channel on IRC.
-   To contribute code or documentation changes: please [submit a pull request on
    Github](https://github.com/docker/machine/pulls).

For more information and resources, please visit
[our help page](https://docs.docker.com/project/get-help/).

## Where to go next

-   Install a machine on your [local system using VirtualBox](get-started.md).
-   Install multiple machines [on your cloud provider](get-started-cloud.md).
-   [Docker Machine driver reference](drivers/index.md)
-   [Docker Machine subcommand reference](reference/index.md)
