Skip to main content

Installing Docker on Debian 13 (Trixie)

Step 1: Update the Package Index and Install Dependencies

sudo apt update
sudo apt install ca-certificates curl

Step 2: Import Docker’s Official GPG Key

sudo install -m 0755 -d /etc/apt/keyrings
sudo curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/debian/gpg -o /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc
sudo chmod a+r /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc

Step 3: Add the Docker APT Repository

echo \
  "deb [arch=$(dpkg --print-architecture) signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc] https://download.docker.com/linux/debian trixie stable" | \
  sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list

Step 4: Install Docker Engine

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

Verify the Docker Installation

sudo systemctl status docker

The output will look something like this:

● docker.service - Docker Application Container Engine
   Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/docker.service; enabled)
   Active: active (running)
...

Run Docker Commands Without sudo

By default, only root and users with sudo privileges can run Docker commands.
To allow a non-root user to execute Docker commands, add the user to the docker group:

sudo usermod -aG docker $USER

$USER is an environment variable that holds the currently logged-in username. To add a different user, replace $USER with the username.

Run newgrp docker or log out and log back in for the group membership change to take effect.

Verifying Docker with a Test Container

To verify that Docker is installed correctly and works without sudo , run a test container :

docker container run hello-world

If the image is not found locally, Docker will download it from Docker Hub, run the container, print a “Hello from Docker” message, and exit.

Unable to find image 'hello-world:latest' locally
latest: Pulling from library/hello-world
...
Hello from Docker!
This message shows that your installation appears to be working correctly.
...

The container stops after printing the message because it has no long-running process.

Conclusion

Installing Docker on Debian 13 from the official Docker repository ensures you always have access to the latest stable releases and security updates. Once installed, add your user to the docker group to run commands without sudo.

For advanced configuration, check the official Docker post-install guide .

Back to top