How to Install Docker on Ubuntu 26.04

Docker is an open-source container platform that lets you build, test, and run applications as portable containers. Containers package the application code together with its dependencies, which makes it easier to run the same workload across development machines, test environments, and servers.

Docker is widely used in development workflows and DevOps pipelines because it keeps application environments predictable.

This tutorial explains how to install Docker on Ubuntu 26.04.

Supported Ubuntu Versions #

Docker is available from the standard Ubuntu repositories, but those packages are often outdated. To ensure you get the latest stable version, we will install Docker from the official Docker repository.

At the time of writing, the Docker repository provides packages for current supported Ubuntu releases, including Ubuntu 26.04 LTS, Ubuntu 25.10, Ubuntu 24.04 LTS, and Ubuntu 22.04 LTS.

Prerequisites #

Before you begin, make sure that:

• You are running a 64-bit supported Ubuntu version
• You have a user account with sudo privileges
• Your system is connected to the internet and up to date

Uninstall any old or conflicting Docker packages first to avoid potential issues:

sudo apt remove docker.io docker-doc docker-compose docker-compose-v2 podman-docker containerd runc

Installing Docker on Ubuntu 26.04 #

Installing Docker on Ubuntu is relatively straightforward. We will enable the Docker repository, import the repository GPG key, and install the Docker packages.

Step 1: Update the Package Index and Install Dependencies #

First, update the package index and install packages required to use repositories over HTTPS :

sudo apt update
sudo apt install ca-certificates curl

Step 2: Import Docker’s Official GPG Key #

Add Docker’s official GPG key so your system can verify package authenticity:

sudo install -m 0755 -d /etc/apt/keyrings
sudo curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu/gpg -o /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc
sudo chmod a+r /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc

Step 3: Add the Docker APT Repository #

Add the Docker repository to your system:

sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.sources <<EOF
Types: deb
URIs: https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu
Suites: $(. /etc/os-release && echo "${UBUNTU_CODENAME:-$VERSION_CODENAME}")
Components: stable
Architectures: $(dpkg --print-architecture)
Signed-By: /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc
EOF

$(. /etc/os-release && echo "${UBUNTU_CODENAME:-$VERSION_CODENAME}") reads your Ubuntu codename from the OS release file. On Ubuntu 26.04 it returns resolute.

Step 4: Install Docker Engine #

Now that the Docker repository is enabled, update the package index and install Docker:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io docker-buildx-plugin docker-compose-plugin

Installing a Specific Docker Version (Optional) #

If you want to install a specific Docker version instead of the latest one, first list the available versions:

sudo apt update
apt list --all-versions docker-ce

The available Docker versions are printed in the second column:

docker-ce/resolute 5:29.4.0-1~ubuntu.26.04~resolute amd64
docker-ce/resolute 5:29.3.1-1~ubuntu.26.04~resolute amd64
docker-ce/resolute 5:29.3.0-1~ubuntu.26.04~resolute amd64
...

Install a specific version by adding =<VERSION> after the package name:

DOCKER_VERSION="<VERSION>"
sudo apt install docker-ce=$DOCKER_VERSION docker-ce-cli=$DOCKER_VERSION containerd.io docker-buildx-plugin docker-compose-plugin

Replace <VERSION> with the exact version string returned by apt list --all-versions docker-ce.

Verify the Docker Installation #

On most Ubuntu systems, the Docker service starts automatically after installation. If it does not, start it manually:

sudo systemctl start docker

Check the service status:

sudo systemctl status docker

The output will look something like this:

● docker.service - Docker Application Container Engine
   Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/docker.service; enabled)
   Active: active (running)
...

You can also confirm that the client and daemon are responding:

sudo docker version

To verify that Docker can pull and run containers correctly, run the test image:

sudo docker run hello-world

If the image is not found locally, Docker will download it from Docker Hub, run the container, print a “Hello from Docker” message, and exit.

The container stops after printing the message because it has no long-running process.

Run Docker Commands Without sudo (Highly Recommended) #

By default, only root and a user with sudo privileges can run Docker commands.

To allow a non-root user to execute Docker commands, add the user to the docker group:

sudo usermod -aG docker $USER

$USER is an environment variable that holds the currently logged-in username. If you want to execute commands with another user, replace $USER with that username.

Run newgrp docker or log out and log back in for the group membership changes to take effect.

After that, you can rerun the test container without sudo :

docker run hello-world

Updating Docker #

When a new Docker version is released, update it using standard system commands:

sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade

To prevent Docker from being updated automatically, mark it as held:

sudo apt-mark hold docker-ce

Uninstalling Docker #

Before uninstalling Docker, it is recommended to remove all containers, images, volumes, and networks :

Run the following commands to stop all running containers and remove all Docker objects:

docker container stop $(docker container ls -aq)
docker system prune -a --volumes -f

Remove Docker packages:

sudo apt purge docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io \
docker-buildx-plugin docker-compose-plugin docker-ce-rootless-extras
sudo apt autoremove

To completely remove Docker data from your system, delete the directories that were created during the installation process:

sudo rm -rf /var/lib/{docker,containerd}

Troubleshooting #

Permission denied while trying to connect to the Docker daemon socket
Your user is not yet in the docker group, or the group membership has not taken effect. Run sudo usermod -aG docker $USER, then log out and back in (or run newgrp docker).

Cannot connect to the Docker daemon. Is the daemon running?
The Docker service is not running. Start it with sudo systemctl start docker and check its status with sudo systemctl status docker.

Package ‘docker-ce’ has no installation candidate
The Docker repository was not added correctly. Re-run Steps 2 and 3, then run sudo apt update before installing.

Containers fail to start after an OS or Docker upgrade
Check the Docker daemon status, the installed Docker version, and your container runtime configuration. If the host or Docker Engine was upgraded recently, review the Docker release notes and verify that your workloads are using a supported configuration before restarting them.

Conclusion #

Installing Docker from the official repository ensures you always have access to the latest stable releases and security updates. For post-install steps such as configuring log drivers or setting up rootless mode, see the official post-install guide .

About the authors

Dejan Panovski

Dejan Panovski is the founder of Linuxize, an RHCSA-certified Linux system administrator and DevOps engineer based in Skopje, Macedonia. Author of 800+ Linux tutorials with 20+ years of experience turning complex Linux tasks into clear, reliable guides.

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