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      • Docker Install Linux

      This chapter covers how to run common Linux distribution containers with Docker, including Ubuntu, Alpine, and CentOS.

      Ubuntu Container

      Pull and Run

      docker pull ubuntu:24.04
docker run -it --name my-ubuntu ubuntu:24.04 /bin/bash
docker run -d --name ubuntu-server ubuntu:24.04 tail -f /dev/null

      Common Operations

      docker exec -it my-ubuntu /bin/bash
apt-get update && apt-get upgrade -y
apt-get install -y curl wget vim net-tools

      Custom Ubuntu Image

      FROM ubuntu:24.04
RUN apt-get update && \
    apt-get install -y curl wget vim git net-tools && \
    apt-get clean && \
    rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
CMD ["/bin/bash"]

      Alpine Container

      Alpine Linux is an extremely lightweight distribution, ideal as a Docker base image.

      Pull and Run

      # Alpine image is only ~5MB
docker pull alpine:3.19
docker run -it --name my-alpine alpine:3.19 /bin/sh

      Package Management

      Alpine uses the apk package manager:

      apk update
apk add curl wget vim git
apk search nginx
apk del curl

      Custom Alpine Image

      FROM alpine:3.19
RUN apk update && \
    apk add --no-cache curl wget bash && \
    rm -rf /var/cache/apk/*
CMD ["/bin/bash"]

      Image Size Comparison

      ImageSize
      alpine:3.19~5 MB
      ubuntu:24.04~78 MB
      debian:12~116 MB

      CentOS Container

      ⚠️ CentOS 8 reached EOL in 2021. Consider CentOS Stream, Rocky Linux, or AlmaLinux as alternatives.

      Pull and Run

      docker pull quay.io/centos/centos:stream9
docker run -it --name my-centos quay.io/centos/centos:stream9 /bin/bash

# Or use Rocky Linux (CentOS alternative)
docker pull rockylinux:9
docker run -it --name my-rocky rockylinux:9 /bin/bash

      Package Management

      dnf update -y
dnf install -y curl wget vim git net-tools

      Practical Scenarios

      Testing Different Linux Environments

      docker run -it --rm ubuntu:24.04 bash -c "cat /etc/os-release"
docker run -it --rm alpine:3.19 sh -c "cat /etc/os-release"
docker run -it --rm rockylinux:9 bash -c "cat /etc/os-release"

      Setting Up a Development Environment

      docker run -it \
  --name dev-env \
  -v $(pwd):/workspace \
  -w /workspace \
  ubuntu:24.04 /bin/bash

      Chapter Summary

      Running Linux distribution containers with Docker is straightforward and great for development, testing, and learning. Alpine is the preferred base image for production due to its minimal size.

      Further Reading