Install Docker and Docker Compose on Your Free VPS

Docker lets you run apps inside isolated containers, so you never have to fight with system-wide dependencies again. Docker Compose adds a simple YAML file for defining multi-container setups. Together, they are the fastest way to deploy pretty much anything on your Opus Host VPS.

Install Docker

Update the package index and install prerequisites

sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y ca-certificates curl gnupg

Add Docker's official GPG key and repository

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

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

Install Docker Engine and Compose

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

Verify the installation

sudo docker run hello-world
docker compose version

Run Docker without sudo

Add your user to the docker group so you can run docker commands without sudo:

sudo usermod -aG docker $USER

Log out and back in for the change to take effect.

Anyone in the docker group effectively has root access to the host. Only add trusted users.

Your first Compose stack

Create a folder for your project and a docker-compose.yml file:

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

Example: an Nginx web server exposed on port 80.

services:
  web:
    image: nginx:alpine
    ports:
      - "80:80"
    restart: unless-stopped

Start it in the background:

docker compose up -d

Common commands

docker ps                 # list running containers
docker compose logs -f    # follow logs
docker compose down       # stop and remove containers
docker compose pull       # update images
docker system prune -a    # free up disk space

Containers survive reboots when you use restart: unless-stopped in your compose file. No systemd unit required.

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Install Docker and Docker Compose on Your Free VPS

Install Docker

Run Docker without sudo

Your first Compose stack

Common commands

​Install Docker

​Run Docker without sudo

​Your first Compose stack

​Common commands

Install Docker

Run Docker without sudo

Your first Compose stack

Common commands