Skip to content

Container Runtime Setup

Choose your preferred container runtime environment. We recommend either Docker or Podman.

Docker Installation

  1. Install Docker Desktop:

    • Download Docker Desktop
    • Run the installer
    • During installation, ensure "WSL 2" option is selected

  2. Post-installation:

    docker --version
docker compose version

  3. Test Docker

    docker run hello-world

  4. Configure WSL 2 (if not already done): 

    wsl --install

  1. Install Docker Desktop using Homebrew: 

        brew install --cask docker

  2. Start Docker Desktop:

        open -a Docker

  3. Wait for Docker to start, then verify

    docker --version
docker compose version

  4. Test Docker

    docker run hello-world

  5. Optional: Add Docker completion to your shell (for zsh):

    echo 'zstyle ":completion:*:*:docker:*" option-stacking yes' >> ~/.zshrc
echo 'zstyle ":completion:*:*:docker-*:*" option-stacking yes' >> ~/.zshrc

  1. Install Docker Engine:

    # Add Docker's official GPG key
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install ca-certificates curl gnupg
sudo install -m 0755 -d /etc/apt/keyrings
curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu/gpg | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.gpg
sudo chmod a+r /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.gpg

  2. Add the repository to Apt sources

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

  3. Install Docker packages 

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

  4. Post-installation steps:

    # Add your user to the docker group
sudo usermod -aG docker $USER

  5. Apply group changes (or log out and back in) 

    newgrp

  6. Test Docker 

    docker run hello-world

Podman Installation

  1. Install Podman Desktop:

    • Download Podman Desktop
    • Run the installer - Follow the installation wizard

  2. Verify installation: 

    podman --version
podman machine init
podman machine start

  1. Install Podman using Homebrew: 

    brew install podman

  2. Initialize and start Podman:

    # Initialize Podman machine
podman machine init

# Start Podman machine
podman machine start

# Verify installation
podman --version

# Test Podman
podman run hello-world

  3. Optional: Add Podman completion to your shell (for zsh): 

    echo 'autoload -Uz compinit' >> ~/.zshrc
echo 'compinit' >> ~/.zshrc

  1. Install Podman:

    # Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y podman

  2. Verify installation 

    podman --version

  3. Test Podman 

    podman run hello-world

Container Compose Setup

Docker Compose is included with Docker Desktop for Windows and macOS.

For Linux:

# Install Docker Compose plugin
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install docker-compose-plugin

    # Verify installation
    docker compose version

# Install Podman Compose using pip
pip3 install podman-compose

# Verify installation
podman-compose version

Container Configuration

Configure Docker resources (in Docker Desktop): 1. Open Docker Desktop 2. Go to Settings (⚙️) 3. Recommended settings: - CPUs: At least 2 - Memory: At least 4 GB - Swap: At least 1 GB - Disk image size: At least 60 GB

Configure Podman machine resources:

```{ .sh .copy } # Create a new machine with custom resources podman machine init --cpus 2 --memory 4096 --disk-size 60

# Start the machine
podman machine start

```

Verify Installation

Test your container environment with a simple container:

  1. Pull and run nginx 

    docker run -d -p 8080:80 --name test-nginx nginx

  2. Check container status 

    docker ps

  3. Stop and remove the container 

        docker stop test-nginx
    docker rm test-nginx

  1. Pull and run nginx 

    podman run -d -p 8080:80 --name test-nginx nginx

  2. Check container status 

    podman ps

  3. Stop and remove the container 

    podman stop test-nginx
podman rm test-nginx

Troubleshooting

  1. Reset Docker Desktop 

    docker system prune -a

  2. Check Docker status 

    docker info

  3. View Docker logs 

    docker logs <container-name>

  1. Reset Podman Machine 

    podman machine stop
podman machine rm
podman machine init
podman machine start

  2. Check Podman status 

    podman info

  3. View Podman logs 
    podman logs <container-name>