How to Install Docker on RHEL

Docker Engine runs containers through the dockerd daemon, while the docker command is the CLI you use to communicate with it. Docker also installs containerd as part of its runtime stack.

This guide installs Docker Engine Community (Docker CE). The docker-ce package provides the Docker Engine daemon, while docker-ce-cli provides the docker command. On RHEL, Docker documents installation of Docker Engine from Docker's official DNF repository at download.docker.com/linux/rhel.

In this article we will add that repository, install Engine with the Compose V2 and Buildx plugins, start the service, and verify the install with hello-world. The walkthrough is tested and documented for RHEL. RHEL-compatible derivatives may also work with Docker's RHEL repository, but treat those as derivative compatibility rather than officially tested Docker platforms.

Choose an install method

Most readers should use the official repository. The walkthrough below follows Docker's supported DNF path for RHEL 8, 9, and 10.

Prerequisites

• RHEL 8, 9, or 10 on a platform Docker publishes for RHEL.
• sudo or root access and outbound HTTPS to download.docker.com.
• Enough disk under /var/lib/docker/ for images and container layers.

Confirm the major version and architecture before adding the repository:

. /etc/os-release && printf '%s (release %s)\n' "$PRETTY_NAME" "$VERSION_ID"
uname -m

On the test host:

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10.2 (Coughlan) (release 10.2)
x86_64

Install dnf-plugins-core, which provides dnf config-manager for adding the Docker repository:

sudo dnf install -y dnf-plugins-core

The package name confirms the plugin stack is present:

rpm -q dnf-plugins-core

dnf-plugins-core-4.7.0-10.el10.noarch

For broader package-manager reference beyond these steps, see the dnf command cheat sheet.

Remove conflicting packages

RHEL may have Podman, runc, or older/unofficial Docker packages installed that conflict with Docker CE. Remove conflicting packages before installing Docker CE from Docker's repository.

Check before continuing: this command can remove an existing Podman installation. If the host already uses Podman, review its containers and dependent workflows before removing packages. On a new Docker-only host, continue with the command below.

sudo dnf remove -y docker docker-client docker-client-latest docker-common \
  docker-latest docker-latest-logrotate docker-logrotate docker-engine \
  podman runc

dnf may report that none of those packages are installed. That is fine on a clean host.

Removing packages does not delete existing data under /var/lib/docker/ unless you purge volumes separately later.

Install Docker CE from the official repository

Add Docker's stable repository for RHEL. The repo file uses $releasever, so RHEL 10 hosts pull .el10 packages automatically:

sudo dnf config-manager --add-repo https://download.docker.com/linux/rhel/docker-ce.repo

List enabled repositories to confirm docker-ce-stable appears:

dnf repolist docker-ce-stable

repo id                         repo name
docker-ce-stable                Docker CE Stable - x86_64

Check which docker-ce build DNF would install:

dnf list docker-ce --showduplicates | tail -5

Example repository output at the time of testing:

docker-ce.x86_64                3:29.7.2-1.el10                docker-ce-stable
docker-ce.x86_64                3:29.8.0-1.el10                docker-ce-stable
docker-ce.x86_64                3:29.8.1-1.el10                docker-ce-stable

The command also installs two commonly used Docker plugins: Buildx for building container images and Compose V2 for managing multi-container applications with docker compose.

Now install Docker Engine, the docker CLI, Docker's containerd.io runtime package, and the Buildx and Compose plugins:

sudo dnf install -y docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io docker-buildx-plugin docker-compose-plugin

If DNF prompts to accept the Docker GPG key, verify the fingerprint matches Docker's published key (060A 61C5 1B55 8A7F 742B 77AA C52F EB6B 621E 9F35) before you accept.

Installed versions on the test host:

containerd.io-2.3.5-1.el10.x86_64
docker-buildx-plugin-0.37.1-1.el10.x86_64
docker-ce-29.8.0-1.el10.x86_64
docker-ce-cli-29.8.0-1.el10.x86_64
docker-compose-plugin-5.5.1-1.el10.x86_64

Enable and start Docker

On RPM-based systems, installing the packages does not start the daemon automatically. Enable Docker to start automatically at boot and start it immediately with the same command:

sudo systemctl enable --now docker.service

enable configures Docker to start on future boots, while --now starts the service immediately.

Confirm the unit is active with the systemctl command:

systemctl is-active docker.service
docker --version
docker compose version

active
Docker version 29.8.0, build 88096ef
Docker Compose version v5.5.1

active means the Docker daemon is running and ready for docker run.

Verify with hello-world

Pull and run Docker's test image:

sudo docker run --rm hello-world

When Docker Hub is reachable, the tail of the output includes:

Hello from Docker!
This message shows that your installation appears to be working correctly.

This verifies the basic Docker path end to end: the CLI can reach the daemon, Docker can pull an image, and the daemon can create and run a container.

Optional: run Docker without sudo

The install creates a docker group. Adding your user to that group is optional — Docker works with sudo docker without any group change. Members of the docker group can talk to the rootful daemon socket without prefixing every command with sudo:

sudo usermod -aG docker "$USER"
newgrp docker
docker ps

Log out and back in on graphical sessions so the group change applies everywhere.

Upgrade Docker CE

Install the latest builds from the enabled repository:

sudo dnf upgrade -y docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io docker-buildx-plugin docker-compose-plugin

List available versions before pinning a specific NEVRA:

dnf list docker-ce --showduplicates

Install a pinned version by passing the full package name from the version column DNF shows, for example docker-ce-3:29.8.0-1.el10, when a project requires a fixed Engine release.

Uninstall Docker CE

Stop the daemon and remove the Docker CE packages:

sudo systemctl disable --now docker.service 2>/dev/null || true
sudo dnf remove -y docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io docker-buildx-plugin docker-compose-plugin docker-ce-rootless-extras

Remove the repository file if you will not reinstall from Docker's repo:

sudo rm -f /etc/yum.repos.d/docker-ce.repo
sudo dnf clean all

sudo rm -rf /var/lib/docker
sudo rm -rf /var/lib/containerd

Confirm removal:

rpm -q docker-ce 2>&1 || echo 'docker-ce package removed'
command -v docker || echo 'docker command not found'

Troubleshooting

References

• Install Docker Engine on RHEL — official repository setup and package list
• Docker Compose plugin — Compose V2 via docker-compose-plugin
• Linux post-installation steps for Docker Engine — docker group and daemon tuning
• Docker rootless mode — optional non-root daemon

Summary

For current Docker Engine, Buildx, and Compose V2 on RHEL, add Docker's linux/rhel DNF repository, install docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io docker-buildx-plugin docker-compose-plugin, and run sudo systemctl enable --now docker.service. Verify with sudo docker run --rm hello-world, then add trusted users to the docker group only when you accept the security trade-off.

Remove conflicting podman or legacy docker RPMs before the install when they block the transaction, and use dnf upgrade to move forward on routine maintenance. Podman-only container workflows are out of scope here — this guide installs Docker CE the way Docker documents for RHEL 8, 9, and 10.