Install docker & docker-compose on Alpine Linux

In this post, I'll explain how to install docker and docker-compose on Alpine Linux

Before we begin,

What is Alpine Linux?

Alpine Linux is an independent, non-commercial, general purpose Linux distribution designed for power users who appreciate security, simplicity and resource efficiency

if you are looking for lightweight Linux image to run your docker containers Alpine will be a good choice.

Step 1: Update Alpine community repository

Edit the repository config as root using

vi /etc/apk/repositories

It should look like this (the exact URLs will vary according to your selected mirror)

#/media/cdrom/apks
http://ftp.halifax.rwth-aachen.de/alpine/v3.13/main
#http://ftp.halifax.rwth-aachen.de/alpine/v3.13/community
#http://ftp.halifax.rwth-aachen.de/alpine/edge/main
#http://ftp.halifax.rwth-aachen.de/alpine/edge/community
#http://ftp.halifax.rwth-aachen.de/alpine/edge/testing

Now find the line that ends in /community Then remove the # at the beginning of the line. The resulting file should look like this

#/media/cdrom/apks
http://ftp.halifax.rwth-aachen.de/alpine/v3.13/main
http://ftp.halifax.rwth-aachen.de/alpine/v3.13/community
#http://ftp.halifax.rwth-aachen.de/alpine/edge/main
#http://ftp.halifax.rwth-aachen.de/alpine/edge/community
#http://ftp.halifax.rwth-aachen.de/alpine/edge/testing

Now save the file an exit the editor by pressing the Esc key, entering :wq and pressing enter.

Step 2: Install docker & docker-compose

update the repository by running below command

apk update

After that, we can install docker and docker-compose using

apk add docker docker-compose

Step 3: Start & Enable docker service at boot

Enable autostart on boot using

rc-update add docker default

then you can start the docker service by running below command

/etc/init.d/docker start

Now you have Alpine Linux installed with docker and docker-compose.

Happy Containerize ;)