---
description: How to install Docker Compose
keywords: compose, orchestration, install, installation, docker, documentation
title: Install Docker Compose
---

You can run Compose on macOS, Windows and 64-bit Linux. To install it, you'll need to install Docker first.

To install Compose, do the following:

1.  Install Docker Engine:

    * [Mac installation](/docker-for-mac/index.md){: target="_blank" class="_"}

    * [Windows installation](/docker-for-windows/index.md){: target="_blank" class="_"}

    * [Ubuntu installation](/engine/installation/linux/ubuntu.md){: target="_blank" class="_"}

    * [Other systems](/engine/installation/index.md){: target="_blank" class="_"}

2.  **[Docker for Mac](/docker-for-mac/install.md)**, **[Docker for Windows](/docker-for-windows/install.md)**, and **[Docker Toolbox](/toolbox/overview.md)** include Docker Compose, so most Mac and Windows users do not need to install Docker Compose separately.

    If you are running the Docker daemon and client directly on
    **Microsoft Windows Server 2016** (with [Docker EE for Windows Server 2016](/docker-ee-for-windows/install.md)), you _do_ need to install Docker Compose.

    To do this, start an "elevated" PowerShell (run it as administrator). Search
    for PowerShell, right-click, and choose **Run as administrator**. When asked
    if you want to allow this app to make changes to your device, click **Yes**.

    Run the following command to download Docker Compose, replacing
`$dockerComposeVersion` with the specific version of Compose you want to use:

    ```none
    Invoke-WebRequest "https://github.com/docker/compose/releases/download/$dockerComposeVersion/docker-compose-Windows-x86_64.exe" -UseBasicParsing -OutFile $Env:ProgramFiles\docker\docker-compose.exe
    ```

    For example, to download Compose version 1.12.0, the command is:

    ```none
    Invoke-WebRequest "https://github.com/docker/compose/releases/download/1.12.0/docker-compose-Windows-x86_64.exe" -UseBasicParsing -OutFile $Env:ProgramFiles\docker\docker-compose.exe
        ```

    Now, run the executable to install Compose.

3.  On **Linux**, you can download the Docker Compose binary from the
    [Compose repository release page on GitHub](https://github.com/docker/compose/releases){: target="_blank" class="_"}.
    Follow the instructions from the link, which involve running the `curl` command in your terminal to download the binaries.

    > **Note**: If you get a "Permission denied" error, your `/usr/local/bin` directory
    > probably isn't writable and you'll need to install Compose as the superuser. Run
    > `sudo -i`, then the two commands below, then `exit`.

    The following is an example command illustrating the format:

    ```bash
    curl -L https://github.com/docker/compose/releases/download/1.12.0/docker-compose-`uname -s`-`uname -m` > /usr/local/bin/docker-compose
    ```

    If you have problems installing with `curl`, see
    [Alternative Install Options](install.md#alternative-install-options).

5.  Apply executable permissions to the binary:

    ```bash
    sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/docker-compose
    ```

6.  Optionally, install [command completion](completion.md) for the
    `bash` and `zsh` shell.

7.  Test the installation.

    ```bash
    $ docker-compose --version
    docker-compose version 1.12.0, build b31ff33
    ```

## Alternative install options

### Install using pip

Compose can be installed from [pypi](https://pypi.python.org/pypi/docker-compose)
using `pip`. If you install using `pip`, we recommend that you use a
[virtualenv](https://virtualenv.pypa.io/en/latest/) because many operating systems
have python system packages that conflict with docker-compose dependencies. See
the [virtualenv tutorial](http://docs.python-guide.org/en/latest/dev/virtualenvs/)
to get started.

```bash
pip install docker-compose
```
if you are not using virtualenv,

```bash
sudo pip install docker-compose
```

> **Note**: pip version 6.0 or greater is required.

### Install as a container

Compose can also be run inside a container, from a small bash script wrapper.
To install compose as a container run:

```bash
$ curl -L --fail https://github.com/docker/compose/releases/download/1.12.0/run.sh > /usr/local/bin/docker-compose
$ sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/docker-compose
```

## Master builds

If you're interested in trying out a pre-release build you can download a
binary from
[https://dl.bintray.com/docker-compose/master/](https://dl.bintray.com/docker-compose/master/).
Pre-release builds allow you to try out new features before they are released,
but may be less stable.


## Upgrading

If you're upgrading from Compose 1.2 or earlier, you'll need to remove or migrate
your existing containers after upgrading Compose. This is because, as of version
1.3, Compose uses Docker labels to keep track of containers, and so they need to
be recreated with labels added.

If Compose detects containers that were created without labels, it will refuse
to run so that you don't end up with two sets of them. If you want to keep using
your existing containers (for example, because they have data volumes you want
to preserve) you can use compose 1.5.x to migrate them with the following command:

```bash
docker-compose migrate-to-labels
```

Alternatively, if you're not worried about keeping them, you can remove them.
Compose will just create new ones.

```bash
docker rm -f -v myapp_web_1 myapp_db_1 ...
```

## Uninstallation

To uninstall Docker Compose if you installed using `curl`:

```bash
sudo rm /usr/local/bin/docker-compose
```

To uninstall Docker Compose if you installed using `pip`:

```bash
pip uninstall docker-compose
```

> **Note**: If you get a "Permission denied" error using either of the above
> methods, you probably do not have the proper permissions to remove
> `docker-compose`. To force the removal, prepend `sudo` to either of the above
> >commands and run again.


## Where to go next

- [User guide](index.md)
- [Getting Started](gettingstarted.md)
- [Get started with Django](django.md)
- [Get started with Rails](rails.md)
- [Get started with WordPress](wordpress.md)
- [Command line reference](/compose/reference/index.md)
- [Compose file reference](compose-file.md)