---
description: Controlling and configuring Docker using systemd
keywords: docker, daemon, systemd, configuration
redirect_from:
- /engine/articles/systemd/
- /articles/systemd/
- /engine/admin/systemd/
title: Control Docker with systemd
---

Many Linux distributions use systemd to start the Docker daemon. This document
shows a few examples of how to customize Docker's settings.

## Start the Docker daemon

### Start manually

Once Docker is installed, you need to start the Docker daemon.
Most Linux distributions use `systemctl` to start services.

```console
$ sudo systemctl start docker
```

### Start automatically at system boot

If you want Docker to start at boot, see
[Configure Docker to start on boot](../../engine/install/linux-postinstall.md#configure-docker-to-start-on-boot).

## Custom Docker daemon options

There are a number of ways to configure the daemon flags and environment variables
for your Docker daemon. The recommended way is to use the platform-independent
`daemon.json` file, which is located in `/etc/docker/` on Linux by default. See
[Daemon configuration file](../../engine/reference/commandline/dockerd.md#daemon-configuration-file).

You can configure nearly all daemon configuration options using `daemon.json`. The following
example configures two options. One thing you cannot configure using `daemon.json` mechanism is
a [HTTP proxy](#http-proxy).

### Runtime directory and storage driver

You may want to control the disk space used for Docker images, containers,
and volumes by moving it to a separate partition.

To accomplish this, set the following flags in the `daemon.json` file:

```json
{
    "data-root": "/mnt/docker-data",
    "storage-driver": "overlay2"
}
```

### HTTP/HTTPS proxy

The Docker daemon uses the `HTTP_PROXY`, `HTTPS_PROXY`, and `NO_PROXY` environmental variables in
its start-up environment to configure HTTP or HTTPS proxy behavior. You cannot configure
these environment variables using the `daemon.json` file.

This example overrides the default `docker.service` file.

If you are behind an HTTP or HTTPS proxy server, for example in corporate settings,
you need to add this configuration in the Docker systemd service file.

> **Note for rootless mode**
>
> The location of systemd configuration files are different when running Docker
> in [rootless mode](../../engine/security/rootless.md). When running in rootless
> mode, Docker is started as a user-mode systemd service, and uses files stored
> in each users' home directory in `~/.config/systemd/user/docker.service.d/`.
> In addition, `systemctl` must be executed without `sudo` and with the `--user`
> flag. Select the _"rootless mode"_ tab below if you are running Docker in rootless mode.


<ul class="nav nav-tabs">
  <li class="active"><a data-toggle="tab" data-target="#rootful">regular install</a></li>
  <li><a data-toggle="tab" data-target="#rootless">rootless mode</a></li>
</ul>
<div class="tab-content">
<div id="rootful" class="tab-pane fade in active" markdown="1">

1.  Create a systemd drop-in directory for the docker service:

    ```console
    $ sudo mkdir -p /etc/systemd/system/docker.service.d
    ```

2.  Create a file named `/etc/systemd/system/docker.service.d/http-proxy.conf`
    that adds the `HTTP_PROXY` environment variable:

    ```systemd
    [Service]
    Environment="HTTP_PROXY=http://proxy.example.com:80"
    ```

    If you are behind an HTTPS proxy server, set the `HTTPS_PROXY` environment
    variable:

    ```systemd
    [Service]
    Environment="HTTPS_PROXY=https://proxy.example.com:443"
    ```
    
    Multiple environment variables can be set; to set both a non-HTTPS and
    a HTTPs proxy;

    ```systemd
    [Service]
    Environment="HTTP_PROXY=http://proxy.example.com:80"
    Environment="HTTPS_PROXY=https://proxy.example.com:443"
    ```
     
3.  If you have internal Docker registries that you need to contact without
    proxying you can specify them via the `NO_PROXY` environment variable.

    The `NO_PROXY` variable specifies a string that contains comma-separated
    values for hosts that should be excluded from proxying. These are the
    options you can specify to exclude hosts: 
    * IP address prefix (`1.2.3.4`)   
    * Domain name, or a special DNS label (`*`)
    * A domain name matches that name and all subdomains. A domain name with
      a leading "." matches subdomains only. For example, given the domains
      `foo.example.com` and `example.com`:
      * `example.com` matches `example.com` and `foo.example.com`, and
      * `.example.com` matches only `foo.example.com`
    * A single asterisk (`*`) indicates that no proxying should be done
    * Literal port numbers are accepted by IP address prefixes (`1.2.3.4:80`)
      and domain names (`foo.example.com:80`)
    
    Config example:

    ```systemd
    [Service]
    Environment="HTTP_PROXY=http://proxy.example.com:80"
    Environment="HTTPS_PROXY=https://proxy.example.com:443"
    Environment="NO_PROXY=localhost,127.0.0.1,docker-registry.example.com,.corp"
    ```

4.  Flush changes and restart Docker

    ```console
    $ sudo systemctl daemon-reload
    $ sudo systemctl restart docker
    ```

5.  Verify that the configuration has been loaded and matches the changes you
    made, for example:

    ```console
    $ sudo systemctl show --property=Environment docker
    
    Environment=HTTP_PROXY=http://proxy.example.com:80 HTTPS_PROXY=https://proxy.example.com:443 NO_PROXY=localhost,127.0.0.1,docker-registry.example.com,.corp
    ```

</div>
<div id="rootless" class="tab-pane fade in" markdown="1">

1.  Create a systemd drop-in directory for the docker service:

    ```console
    $ mkdir -p ~/.config/systemd/user/docker.service.d
    ```

2.  Create a file named `~/.config/systemd/user/docker.service.d/http-proxy.conf`
    that adds the `HTTP_PROXY` environment variable:

    ```systemd
    [Service]
    Environment="HTTP_PROXY=http://proxy.example.com:80"
    ```

    If you are behind an HTTPS proxy server, set the `HTTPS_PROXY` environment
    variable:

    ```systemd
    [Service]
    Environment="HTTPS_PROXY=https://proxy.example.com:443"
    ```
    
    Multiple environment variables can be set; to set both a non-HTTPS and
    a HTTPs proxy;

    ```systemd
    [Service]
    Environment="HTTP_PROXY=http://proxy.example.com:80"
    Environment="HTTPS_PROXY=https://proxy.example.com:443"
    ```
     
3.  If you have internal Docker registries that you need to contact without
    proxying, you can specify them via the `NO_PROXY` environment variable.

    The `NO_PROXY` variable specifies a string that contains comma-separated
    values for hosts that should be excluded from proxying. These are the
    options you can specify to exclude hosts: 
    * IP address prefix (`1.2.3.4`)   
    * Domain name, or a special DNS label (`*`)
    * A domain name matches that name and all subdomains. A domain name with
      a leading "." matches subdomains only. For example, given the domains
      `foo.example.com` and `example.com`:
      * `example.com` matches `example.com` and `foo.example.com`, and
      * `.example.com` matches only `foo.example.com`
    * A single asterisk (`*`) indicates that no proxying should be done
    * Literal port numbers are accepted by IP address prefixes (`1.2.3.4:80`)
      and domain names (`foo.example.com:80`)
    
    Config example:

    ```systemd
    [Service]
    Environment="HTTP_PROXY=http://proxy.example.com:80"
    Environment="HTTPS_PROXY=https://proxy.example.com:443"
    Environment="NO_PROXY=localhost,127.0.0.1,docker-registry.example.com,.corp"
    ```

4.  Flush changes and restart Docker

    ```console
    $ systemctl --user daemon-reload
    $ systemctl --user restart docker
    ```

5.  Verify that the configuration has been loaded and matches the changes you
    made, for example:

    ```console
    $ systemctl --user show --property=Environment docker

    Environment=HTTP_PROXY=http://proxy.example.com:80 HTTPS_PROXY=https://proxy.example.com:443 NO_PROXY=localhost,127.0.0.1,docker-registry.example.com,.corp
    ```

</div>
</div> <!-- tab-content -->


## Configure where the Docker daemon listens for connections

See
[Configure where the Docker daemon listens for connections](../../engine/install/linux-postinstall.md#control-where-the-docker-daemon-listens-for-connections).

## Manually create the systemd unit files

When installing the binary without a package, you may want
to integrate Docker with systemd. For this, install the two unit files
(`service` and `socket`) from [the github repository](https://github.com/moby/moby/tree/master/contrib/init/systemd)
to `/etc/systemd/system`.
