Can I run Docker on my VPS?

What this is#

Yes. Docker is fully supported on Linux VPS and Premium VPS, and there's nothing to enable on our side, no kernel modules to load, no compatibility files, no platform quirks. If you've read older guides mentioning .dockerenv tricks or br_netfilter workarounds for our platform, those belong to a previous generation of our stack and are no longer needed.

Installing it#

The standard method works as-is, on a fresh Ubuntu or Debian:

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

Or follow Docker's own install docs for your distro. Docker Compose (docker compose) works normally, and so does Podman if you prefer it.

Worth knowing#

• Docker Swarm works on Linux VPS with one adjustment to the service endpoint mode, see Running Docker Swarm.
• Kubernetes is its own story, k3s yes, full k8s wants Premium, see Kubernetes on VPSDime.
• Exposed container ports are real open ports. Docker publishes ports past most local firewalls, so a -p 5432:5432 puts your database on the internet. Bind to localhost when only the VPS needs it (-p 127.0.0.1:5432:5432), and note our managed firewall still shields the riskiest app ports at the network edge.
• One of our one-click Applications is Coolify, which gives you a Docker-based deploy platform without assembling it yourself.

Still need help?#

You can open a support ticket. So we can help on the first reply, it's worth mentioning:

• the VPS hostname or IP,
• the docker command that misbehaves and its exact output.

Related questions#

• "Does Docker work on your Linux VPS?"
• "Do I need to enable anything to run Docker?"
• "Does docker compose work?"
• "Is the .dockerenv workaround still needed?"