--- description: Learn how to install Docker Engine on RHEL. These instructions cover the different installation methods, how to uninstall, and next steps. keywords: requirements, apt, installation, rhel, rpm, install, install docker engine, uninstall, upgrade, update title: Install Docker Engine on RHEL toc_max: 4 aliases: - /ee/docker-ee/rhel/ - /engine/installation/linux/docker-ce/rhel/ - /engine/installation/linux/docker-ee/rhel/ - /engine/installation/linux/rhel/ - /engine/installation/rhel/ - /install/linux/docker-ee/rhel/ - /installation/rhel/ download-url-base: https://download.docker.com/linux/rhel --- > **Experimental** > > Support for Docker Engine on RHEL x86_64 and aarch64 is experimental. { .experimental } > **Docker Desktop for Linux** is also available for RHEL. > > To get access, join the [Early Access Program](https://www.docker.com/docker-desktop-preview-program/). { .restricted } To get started with Docker Engine on RHEL, make sure you [meet the prerequisites](#prerequisites), and then follow the [installation steps](#installation-methods). ## Prerequisites ### OS requirements To install Docker Engine, you need a maintained version of one of the following RHEL versions: - RHEL 7 (s390x only) (EOL: [June 30, 2024](https://www.ibm.com/blog/announcement/ibm-is-announcing-red-hat-enterprise-linux-7-is-going-end-of-support-on-30-june-2024/)) - RHEL 8 - RHEL 9 ### Uninstall old versions Older versions of Docker went by `docker` or `docker-engine`. Uninstall any such older versions before attempting to install a new version, along with associated dependencies. Also uninstall `Podman` and the associated dependencies if installed already: ```console $ sudo yum remove docker \ docker-client \ docker-client-latest \ docker-common \ docker-latest \ docker-latest-logrotate \ docker-logrotate \ docker-engine \ podman \ runc ``` `yum` might report that you have none of these packages 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: - You can [set up Docker's repositories](#install-using-the-repository) and install from them, for ease of installation and upgrade tasks. This is the recommended approach. - You can download the RPM package, [install it manually](#install-from-a-package), and manage upgrades completely manually. This is useful in situations such as installing Docker on air-gapped systems with no access to the internet. - In testing and development environments, you can use automated [convenience scripts](#install-using-the-convenience-script) to install Docker. ### Install using the rpm repository {#install-using-the-repository} Before you install Docker Engine for the first time on a new host machine, you need to set up the Docker repository. Afterward, you can install and update Docker from the repository. #### Set up the repository Install the `yum-utils` package (which provides the `yum-config-manager` utility) and set up the repository. ```console $ sudo yum install -y yum-utils $ sudo yum-config-manager --add-repo {{% param "download-url-base" %}}/docker-ce.repo ``` #### Install Docker Engine 1. Install Docker Engine, containerd, and Docker Compose: {{< tabs >}} {{< tab name="Latest" >}} To install the latest version, run: ```console $ sudo yum install docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io docker-buildx-plugin docker-compose-plugin ``` If prompted to accept the GPG key, verify that the fingerprint matches `060A 61C5 1B55 8A7F 742B 77AA C52F EB6B 621E 9F35`, and if so, accept it. This command installs Docker, but it doesn't start Docker. It also creates a `docker` group, however, it doesn't add any users to the group by default. {{< /tab >}} {{< tab name="Specific version" >}} To install a specific version, start by listing the available versions in the repository: ```console $ yum list docker-ce --showduplicates | sort -r docker-ce.x86_64 3:27.0.3-1.el9 docker-ce-stable docker-ce.x86_64 3:27.0.2-1.el9 docker-ce-stable <...> ``` The list returned depends on which repositories are enabled, and is specific to your version of RHEL (indicated by the `.el9` suffix in this example). Install a specific version by its fully qualified package name, which is the package name (`docker-ce`) plus the version string (2nd column), separated by a hyphen (`-`). For example, `docker-ce-3:27.0.3-1.el9`. Replace `` with the desired version and then run the following command to install: ```console $ sudo yum install docker-ce- docker-ce-cli- containerd.io docker-buildx-plugin docker-compose-plugin ``` This command installs Docker, but it doesn't start Docker. It also creates a `docker` group, however, it doesn't add any users to the group by default. {{< /tab >}} {{< /tabs >}} 2. Start Docker. ```console $ sudo systemctl start docker ``` 3. Verify that the Docker Engine installation is successful by running the `hello-world` image. ```console $ sudo docker run hello-world ``` This command downloads a test image and runs it in a container. When the container runs, it prints a confirmation message and exits. You have now successfully installed and started Docker Engine. {{< include "root-errors.md" >}} #### Upgrade Docker Engine To upgrade Docker Engine, follow the [installation instructions](#install-using-the-repository), choosing the new version you want to install. ### Install from a package If you can't use Docker's `rpm` repository to install Docker Engine, you can download the `.rpm` file for your release and install it manually. You need to download a new file each time you want to upgrade Docker Engine. 1. Go to [{{% param "download-url-base" %}}/]({{% param "download-url-base" %}}/). 2. Select your RHEL version in the list. 3. Select the applicable architecture (`x86_64`, `aarch64`, or `s390x`), and then go to `stable/Packages/`. 4. Download the following `deb` files for the Docker Engine, CLI, containerd, and Docker Compose packages: - `containerd.io__.deb` - `docker-ce__.deb` - `docker-ce-cli__.deb` - `docker-buildx-plugin__.deb` - `docker-compose-plugin__.deb` 5. Install Docker Engine, changing the following path to the path where you downloaded the packages. ```console $ sudo yum install ./containerd.io__.rpm \ ./docker-ce__.rpm \ ./docker-ce-cli__.rpm \ ./docker-buildx-plugin__.rpm \ ./docker-compose-plugin__.rpm ``` Docker is installed but not started. The `docker` group is created, but no users are added to the group. 6. Start Docker. ```console $ sudo systemctl start docker ``` 7. Verify that the Docker Engine installation is successful by running the `hello-world` image. ```console $ sudo docker run hello-world ``` This command downloads a test image and runs it in a container. When the container runs, it prints a confirmation message and exits. You have now successfully installed and started Docker Engine. {{< include "root-errors.md" >}} #### Upgrade Docker Engine To upgrade Docker Engine, download the newer package files and repeat the [installation procedure](#install-from-a-package), using `yum -y upgrade` instead of `yum -y install`, and point to the new files. {{< include "install-script.md" >}} ## Uninstall Docker Engine 1. Uninstall the Docker Engine, CLI, containerd, and Docker Compose packages: ```console $ sudo yum remove docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io docker-buildx-plugin docker-compose-plugin docker-ce-rootless-extras ``` 2. Images, containers, volumes, or custom configuration files on your host aren't automatically removed. To delete all images, containers, and volumes: ```console $ sudo rm -rf /var/lib/docker $ sudo rm -rf /var/lib/containerd ``` You have to delete any edited configuration files manually. ## Next steps - Continue to [Post-installation steps for Linux](linux-postinstall.md).