How to Install Docker On Debian 13

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What is docker?

Docker is basically a container engine that uses the Linux Kernel in order to create containers on top of an operating system.
Which is used to create, deploy and run the applications.

Install Docker

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update system:

apt update && apt upgrade -y

Install the required packages:

apt install -y ca-certificates curl gnupg lsb-release

Add Docker’s GPG key:

install -m 0755 -d /etc/apt/keyrings
curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/debian/gpg | \
  gpg --dearmor -o /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.gpg
chmod a+r /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.gpg

Set up the Docker repository:

echo \
  "deb [arch=$(dpkg --print-architecture) signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/docker.gpg] \
  https://download.docker.com/linux/debian \
  $(lsb_release -cs) stable" | tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list > /dev/null

Install Docker Engine:

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

Start and enable the docker:

systemctl enable --now docker

Check Docker service:

systemctl status docker

Output:

root@server:~# systemctl status docker
● docker.service - Docker Application Container Engine
     Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/docker.service; enabled; preset: e>
     Active: active (running) since Fri 2025-08-01 09:02:41 EDT; 30s ago
 Invocation: d868b06547bf425f9c04491d32ad1299
TriggeredBy: ● docker.socket
       Docs: https://docs.docker.com
   Main PID: 10344 (dockerd)
      Tasks: 9
     Memory: 23.9M (peak: 25.4M)
        CPU: 1.073s
     CGroup: /system.slice/docker.service
             └─10344 /usr/bin/dockerd -H fd:// --containerd=/run/containerd/con>

Create a group called docker,

groupadd docker

To add a user to the docker user group:

usermod -aG docker $USER

Check the docker version:

docker --version

Output:

root@server:~# docker --version
Docker version 28.3.3, build 980b856

Test docker using the hello-world container.

docker run hello-world

Output:

root@server:~# docker run hello-world

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

To generate this message, Docker took the following steps:
 1. The Docker client contacted the Docker daemon.
 2. The Docker daemon pulled the "hello-world" image from the Docker Hub.
    (amd64)
 3. The Docker daemon created a new container from that image which runs the
    executable that produces the output you are currently reading.
 4. The Docker daemon streamed that output to the Docker client, which sent it
    to your terminal.

To try something more ambitious, you can run an Ubuntu container with:
 $ docker run -it ubuntu bash

Share images, automate workflows, and more with a free Docker ID:
 https://hub.docker.com/

For more examples and ideas, visit:
 https://docs.docker.com/get-started/