---
title: Configure Docker to use a proxy server
description: How to configure the Docker client to use a proxy server
keywords: network, networking, proxy, client
---

If your container needs to use an HTTP, HTTPS, or FTP proxy server, you can
configure it in different ways:

- In Docker 17.07 and higher, you can
  [configure the Docker client](#configure-the-docker-client) to pass
  proxy information to containers automatically.

- In Docker 17.06 and lower, you must
  [set appropriate environment variables](#use-environment-variables)
  within the container. You can do this when you build the image (which makes
  the image less portable) or when you create or run the container.

## Configure the Docker client

1.  On the Docker client, create or edit the file `~/.docker/config.json` in the
    home directory of the user which starts containers. Add JSON such as the
    following, substituting the type of proxy with `httpsProxy` or `ftpProxy` if
    necessary, and substituting the address and port of the proxy server. You
    can configure multiple proxy servers at the same time.

    You can optionally exclude hosts or ranges from going through the proxy
    server by setting a `noProxy` key to one or more comma-separated IP
    addresses or hosts. Using the `*` character as a wildcard for hosts and using CIDR notation for IP addresses is supported as
    shown in this example.

    ```json
    {
     "proxies":
     {
       "default":
       {
         "httpProxy": "http://127.0.0.1:3001",
         "httpsProxy": "http://127.0.0.1:3001",
         "noProxy": "*.test.example.com,.example2.com,127.0.0.0/8"
       }
     }
    }
    ```

    Save the file.

 2. When you create or start new containers, the environment variables are
    set automatically within the container.


## Use environment variables

### Set the environment variables manually

When you build the image, or using the `--env` flag when you create or run the
container, you can set one or more of the following variables to the appropriate
value. This method makes the image less portable, so if you have Docker 17.07
or higher, you should [configure the Docker client](#configure-the-docker-client)
instead.

| Variable      | Dockerfile example                                | `docker run` Example                                |
|:--------------|:--------------------------------------------------|:----------------------------------------------------|
| `HTTP_PROXY`  | `ENV HTTP_PROXY="http://127.0.0.1:3001"`          | `--env HTTP_PROXY="http://127.0.0.1:3001"`          |
| `HTTPS_PROXY` | `ENV HTTPS_PROXY="https://127.0.0.1:3001"`        | `--env HTTPS_PROXY="https://127.0.0.1:3001"`        |
| `FTP_PROXY`   | `ENV FTP_PROXY="ftp://127.0.0.1:3001"`            | `--env FTP_PROXY="ftp://127.0.0.1:3001"`            |
| `NO_PROXY`    | `ENV NO_PROXY="*.test.example.com,.example2.com"` | `--env NO_PROXY="*.test.example.com,.example2.com"` |

