docs/get-started/index.md

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---
title: "Overview"
keywords: docker basics, how to start a docker container, container settings, setup docker, how to setup docker, setting up docker, docker container guide, how to get started with docker
description: Get started with the Docker basics in this comprehensive overview, You'll learn about containers, images, and how to containerize your first application.
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---
Welcome! We're excited that you want to learn Docker.
This guide contains step-by-step instructions on how to get started with Docker. Some of the things you'll learn and do in this guide are:
- Build and run an image as a container.
- Share images using Docker Hub.
- Deploy Docker applications using multiple containers with a database.
- Run applications using Docker Compose.
Before you get to the hands on part of the guide, you should learn about containers and images.
## What is a container?
Simply put, a container is a sandboxed process on your machine that is isolated from all other processes on the host machine. That isolation leverages [kernel namespaces and cgroups](https://medium.com/@saschagrunert/demystifying-containers-part-i-kernel-space-2c53d6979504),
features that have been in Linux for a long time. Docker has worked to make these capabilities approachable and easy to use. To summarize, a container:
- Is a runnable instance of an image. You can create, start, stop, move, or delete a container using the DockerAPI or CLI.
- Can be run on local machines, virtual machines or deployed to the cloud.
- Is portable (can be run on any OS).
- Is isolated from other containers and runs its own software, binaries, and configurations.
## What is a container image?
When running a container, it uses an isolated filesystem. This custom filesystem is provided by a container image. Since the image contains the container's filesystem, it must contain everything needed to run an application - all dependencies, configurations, scripts, binaries, etc. The image also contains other configuration for the container, such as environment variables, a default command to run, and other metadata.
You'll dive deeper into images later on in this guide, covering topics such as layering, best practices, and more.
> **Note**
>
> If you're familiar with `chroot`, think of a container as an extended version of `chroot`. The filesystem is simply coming from the image. But, a container adds additional isolation not available when simply using chroot.
## Next steps
In this section, you learned about containers and images.
In the next section, you'll containerize your first application.
[Containerize an application](02_our_app.md){: .button .primary-btn}