Docker is a free and open-source tool that allows you to build and run containers on your Linux system. It allows you to create lightweight and portable application images that run on any platform.

Docker Compose is a free and open-source tool that allows you to define, visualize, and run multiple applications in a containerized environment. It uses a YAML file to define different applications and services. After defining the services in the YAML file, you can start all of them using a single command.

In this post, we will show you how to install Docker and Docker Compose in Rocky Linux 10.

Step 1 – Install Docker CE

By default, the Docker package is not included in the RockyLinux default repository, so you will need to create a Docker CE repo.

You can create it using the following commands:

dnf update -y
dnf config-manager --add-repo https://download.docker.com/linux/centos/docker-ce.repo

Next, install Docker CE by running the following command:

dnf install docker-ce -y

Once Docker is installed, start the Docker service and enable it to start at system reboot.

systemctl start docker
systemctl enable docker

You can verify the status of the Docker service using the following command:

systemctl status docker

Sample output:

ā— docker.service - Docker Application Container Engine
     Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/docker.service; disabled; preset: disabled)
     Active: active (running) since Sun 2025-10-19 23:18:53 EDT; 14s ago
 Invocation: a8e3c991e424460bb982889cd8905567
TriggeredBy: ā— docker.socket
       Docs: https://docs.docker.com
   Main PID: 42672 (dockerd)
      Tasks: 9
     Memory: 22.4M (peak: 26.3M)
        CPU: 307ms
     CGroup: /system.slice/docker.service
             ā””ā”€42672 /usr/bin/dockerd -H fd:// --containerd=/run/containerd/containerd.sock

To verify the Docker version with additional information, run the following command:

docker info

You will get the following output:

Client: Docker Engine - Community
 Version:    28.5.1
 Context:    default
 Debug Mode: false
 Plugins:
  buildx: Docker Buildx (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v0.29.1
    Path:     /usr/libexec/docker/cli-plugins/docker-buildx
  compose: Docker Compose (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v2.40.1
    Path:     /usr/libexec/docker/cli-plugins/docker-compose

Server:
 Containers: 0
  Running: 0
  Paused: 0
  Stopped: 0
 Images: 0
 Server Version: 28.5.1
 Storage Driver: overlay2
  Backing Filesystem: extfs

Step 2 – Verify Docker Installation

After installing Docker, you will need to test whether it’s working.

You can use Dockerā€™s hello-world container to test Docker.

docker run hello-world

This will download the hello-world docker image to your system:

Unable to find image 'hello-world:latest' locally

latest: Pulling from library/hello-world
2db29710123e: Pull complete 
Digest: sha256:9ade9cc2e26189a19c2e8854b9c8f1e14829b51c55a630ee675a5a9540ef6ccf
Status: Downloaded newer image for hello-world:latest

Hello from Docker!
This message shows that your installation appears to be working correctly.

To generate this message, Docker took the following steps:
 1. The Docker client contacted the Docker daemon.
 2. The Docker daemon pulled the "hello-world" image from the Docker Hub.
    (amd64)
 3. The Docker daemon created a new container from that image which runs the
    executable that produces the output you are currently reading.
 4. The Docker daemon streamed that output to the Docker client, which sent it
    to your terminal.

To try something more ambitious, you can run an Ubuntu container with:
 $ docker run -it ubuntu bash

Share images, automate workflows, and more with a free Docker ID:
 https://hub.docker.com/

For more examples and ideas, visit:
 https://docs.docker.com/get-started/

You can verify the downloaded image using the following command:

docker images

You will get the following output:

REPOSITORY    TAG       IMAGE ID       CREATED       SIZE
hello-world   latest    feb5d9fea6a5   2 weeks ago   13.3kB

Step 3 – Install Docker Compose

Docker Compose is already installed with the Docker CE installation. You can verify the Docker Compose version using the following command:

docker compose version

You will get the following output:

Docker Compose version v2.40.1

Step 4 – Remove Docker and Docker Compose

If you want to remove the Docker package from your system, first stop the Docker service using the following command:

systemctl stop docker

Next, remove Docker and Docker Compose using the following command:

dnf remove docker-ce -y

Conclusion

In the above guide, we explained how to install Docker and Docker Compose on RockyLinux 10. You can now start creating a YAML for your application and deploy it in the containerized environment. Give it a try on your dedicated server from Atlantic.Net!