Skip to main content
Docker is a platform for developing, shipping, and running applications in containers. It allows you to package applications with their dependencies into standardized units for software development.

​
Why Use Docker?

Docker provides several key benefits for development and deployment:
  • Consistency: Applications run the same way across different environments
  • Isolation: Each container runs independently with its own dependencies
  • Portability: Containers can run on any system that supports Docker
  • Efficiency: Containers share the host OS kernel, making them lightweight
  • Scalability: Easily scale applications by running multiple containers

​
Getting Started with Docker

To start using Docker on Ubuntu, you’ll need to install both Docker Engine and Docker Compose for managing multi-container applications.

Install Docker on Ubuntu

Set up Docker Engine on Ubuntu using apt package manager or official Docker repository

Install Docker Compose

Install Docker Compose to define and run multi-container Docker applications

​
Common Docker Workflows

​
Running Your First Container

After installing Docker, test it with a simple container: 
docker run hello-world
This downloads and runs a test image that verifies your Docker installation is working correctly.

​
Working with Docker Images

Docker images are templates used to create containers. Here are some common operations: 
# Pull an image from Docker Hub
docker pull nginx:alpine

# List downloaded images
docker images

# Remove an image
docker rmi nginx:alpine

​
Managing Containers

Containers are running instances of Docker images: 
# Run a container
docker run -d -p 80:80 nginx:alpine

# List running containers
docker ps

# Stop a container
docker stop <container_id>

# Remove a container
docker rm <container_id>

​
Using Docker Compose

Docker Compose simplifies managing multi-container applications with a YAML configuration file: 
version: '3.8'
services:
  web:
    image: nginx:alpine
    ports:
      - "80:80"
  db:
    image: postgres:13
    environment:
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: example
Manage your application stack with simple commands: 
# Start services
docker-compose up -d

# View logs
docker-compose logs

# Stop services
docker-compose down

​
Best Practices

​
Security

  • Don’t run containers as root when possible
  • Use official images from trusted sources
  • Keep images updated with security patches
  • Scan images for vulnerabilities

​
Performance

  • Use multi-stage builds to reduce image size
  • Minimize the number of layers in your Dockerfile
  • Use .dockerignore to exclude unnecessary files
  • Clean up unused images and containers regularly

​
Development

  • Use volumes for persistent data
  • Leverage build cache for faster builds
  • Use environment variables for configuration
  • Tag images with meaningful version numbers

​
Next Steps

Once you have Docker installed, you can:
  • Build custom Docker images with Dockerfiles
  • Deploy applications using Docker Compose
  • Explore container orchestration with Kubernetes
  • Integrate Docker into your CI/CD pipeline
  • Use Docker for local development environments

Git Guide

Learn version control workflows for managing your Dockerfiles and configurations

Node.js Guide

Containerize Node.js applications with Docker

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Get started for freeTalk to us