How to Set Up Docker on a VPS

Docker lets you run applications in isolated containers - making deployments reproducible, portable, and easy to manage. This guide covers installing Docker and getting started with containers on Ubuntu 22.04. See VPS prices.

What Is Docker?

Docker packages an application and all its dependencies into a container - a lightweight, isolated environment that runs consistently regardless of the underlying server. Instead of installing and configuring software manually, you pull a container image and run it.

Benefits:

• Deploy apps in seconds
• No dependency conflicts between apps
• Easy to update, restart, or roll back
• Same container runs on any Docker-compatible server

Step 1: Install Docker

curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com | sh

This official install script handles everything automatically.

Verify the installation:

docker --version
docker run hello-world

Step 2: Install Docker Compose

Docker Compose lets you define and run multi-container apps with a single file.

apt install docker-compose-plugin -y
docker compose version

Step 3: Run Your First Container

Example: Run Nginx in Docker

docker run -d -p 80:80 --name my-nginx nginx

• -d - run in background (detached)
• -p 80:80 - map port 80 on the host to port 80 in the container
• --name my-nginx - give it a friendly name
• nginx - the Docker image to use

Visit http://YOUR_SERVER_IP - you'll see the Nginx welcome page.

Stop and Remove the Container

docker stop my-nginx
docker rm my-nginx

Step 4: Use Docker Compose for Multi-Container Apps

Docker Compose is the standard way to run apps with multiple services (e.g. a web app + database).

Example: WordPress + MySQL

Create a directory and a docker-compose.yml file:

mkdir ~/wordpress && cd ~/wordpress
nano docker-compose.yml

version: '3.8'

services:
  db:
    image: mysql:8.0
    restart: always
    environment:
      MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: rootpassword
      MYSQL_DATABASE: wordpress
      MYSQL_USER: wpuser
      MYSQL_PASSWORD: wppassword
    volumes:
      - db_data:/var/lib/mysql

  wordpress:
    image: wordpress:latest
    restart: always
    ports:
      - "8080:80"
    environment:
      WORDPRESS_DB_HOST: db
      WORDPRESS_DB_NAME: wordpress
      WORDPRESS_DB_USER: wpuser
      WORDPRESS_DB_PASSWORD: wppassword
    volumes:
      - wp_data:/var/www/html
    depends_on:
      - db

volumes:
  db_data:
  wp_data:

Start it:

docker compose up -d

Visit http://YOUR_SERVER_IP:8080 to complete WordPress setup.

Stop it:

docker compose down

Common Docker Commands

Step 5: Persist Data with Volumes

By default, data inside containers is lost when the container is removed. Use volumes to persist data:

docker run -d \
  -p 80:80 \
  -v /home/yourname/nginx-html:/usr/share/nginx/html \
  --name my-nginx nginx

Now your HTML files from /home/yourname/nginx-html are served by Nginx inside the container.

Step 6: Configure Nginx as a Reverse Proxy for Docker Apps

Run your app container on a local port (e.g. 8080) and let Nginx handle public traffic:

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name yourdomain.com;

    location / {
        proxy_pass http://localhost:8080;
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
    }
}

Then add SSL with Certbot as usual.

Popular Docker Images to Explore

Questions? Email us at [email protected] - we reply in under 2 hours, 7 days a week.