Install Docker Desktop on Linux Distros

Let's walk through the installation steps for docker desktop in Ubuntu.

System Requirements#

• Ubuntu Version: Docker Desktop is officially supported on Ubuntu 20.04 and later. Make sure your Ubuntu system meets the minimum requirements.
• At least 4GB of RAM and 10GB of HDD space.
• Skip this step if you are already using gnome-terminal otherwise you must install gnome-terminal to enable terminal access from Docker Desktop.

 $ sudo apt install gnome-terminal

Installation Steps#

1. Download the latest DEB package.

2. Install the package using apt, go to the downloaded directory and run the command:

$ sudo apt-get update
$ sudo apt install ./<package-name>.deb

By default, Docker Desktop is installed at /opt/docker-desktop.

Note: At the end of the installation process, apt displays an error due to installing a downloaded package. You can ignore this error message.

N: Download is performed unsandboxed as root, as file '/home/user/Downloads/docker-desktop.deb' couldn't be accessed by user '_apt'. - pkgAcquire::Run (13: Permission denied)

Launch Docker Desktop#

To start Docker Desktop for Linux:

1. Navigate to the Docker Desktop application in your applications.
2. Select Docker Desktop to start Docker.
3. The Docker Subscription Service Agreement displays.
4. Select Accept to continue. Docker Desktop starts after you accept the terms.
5. Note that Docker Desktop won't run if you do not agree to the terms. You can choose to accept the terms at a later date by opening Docker Desktop.

Alternatively, open a terminal and run:

 systemctl --user start docker-desktop

After you’ve successfully installed Docker Desktop, you can check the versions of these binaries by running the following commands:

$ docker compose version
Docker Compose version v2.39.4

$ docker --version
Docker version 28.4.0, build d8eb465

$ docker version
Client:
 Version:           28.4.0
 API version:       1.51
 Go version:        go1.24.7
<...>

Conclusion#

Installing Docker Desktop on Ubuntu is a straightforward process when system requirements are met. Once installed and launched, Docker Desktop provides a complete local container development environment with Docker Engine and Docker Compose ready to use. Verifying the installation through version commands ensures that your setup is correctly configured and operational. Follow Linux | Docker Docs to know about the installation steps for other Linux distros.