Install Compose on Windows desktop systems

Docker Desktop for Windows includes Compose along with other Docker apps, so most Windows users do not need to install Compose separately. For install instructions, see Install Docker Desktop on Windows.

If you are running the Docker daemon and client directly on Microsoft Windows Server, follow the instructions in the Windows Server tab.

Install Compose on Windows Server

Follow these instructions if you are running the Docker daemon and client directly on Microsoft Windows Server and want to install Docker Compose.

1. Start an “elevated” PowerShell (run it as administrator). Search for PowerShell, right-click, and choose Run as administrator. When asked if you want to allow this app to make changes to your device, click Yes.

2. In PowerShell, since GitHub now requires TLS1.2, run the following:

   [Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol = [Net.SecurityProtocolType]::Tls12
   

   Then run the following command to download the current stable release of Compose (v2.5.0):

   Invoke-WebRequest "https://github.com/docker/compose/releases/download/v2.5.0/docker-compose-Windows-x86_64.exe" -UseBasicParsing -OutFile $Env:ProgramFiles\Docker\docker-compose.exe
   

   Note

   On Windows Server 2019, you can add the Compose executable to $Env:ProgramFiles\Docker. Because this directory is registered in the system PATH, you can run the docker-compose --version command on the subsequent step with no additional configuration.

   To install a different version of Compose, substitute v2.5.0 with the version of Compose you want to use.

3. Test the installation.

   $ docker compose version
   Docker Compose version v2.5.0
   

Install Compose on Linux systems

You can install Docker Compose in different ways, depending on your needs:

• In testing and development environments, some users choose to use automated convenience scripts to install Docker.
• Most users set up Docker’s repositories and install from them, for ease of installation and upgrade tasks. This is the recommended approach.
• Some users download and install the binary, and manage upgrades manually.

Install using the convenience script

As Docker Compose is now part of the Docker CLI it can be installed via a convenience script with Docker Engine and the CLI.
Choose your Linux distribution and follow the instructions.

Install using the repository

If you already follow the instructions to install Docker Engine, Docker Compose should already be installed.
Otherwise, you can set up the Docker repository as mentioned in the Docker Engine installation, choose your Linux distribution and go to the Set up the repository section.

When finished

1. Update the apt package index, and install the latest version of Docker Compose, or go to the next step to install a specific version:

    $ sudo apt-get update
    $ sudo apt-get install docker-compose-plugin
   

2. To install a specific version of Docker Engine, list the available versions in the repo, then select and install:

   a. List the versions available in your repo:

   $ apt-cache madison docker-compose-plugin
   
     docker-compose-plugin | 2.3.3~ubuntu-focal | https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu focal/stable arm64 Packages
   

   b. Install a specific version using the version string from the second column, for example, 2.3.3~ubuntu-focal.

   $ sudo apt-get install docker-compose-plugin=<VERSION_STRING>
   

3. Verify that Docker Compose is installed correctly by checking the version.

   $ docker compose version
   Docker Compose version v2.3.3
   

Install the binary manually

On Linux, you can download the Docker Compose binary from the Compose repository release page on GitHub and copying it into $HOME/.docker/cli-plugins as docker-compose. Follow the instructions from the link, which involve running the curl command in your terminal to download the binaries. These step-by-step instructions are also included below.

1. Run this command to download the current stable release of Docker Compose:

   $ DOCKER_CONFIG=${DOCKER_CONFIG:-$HOME/.docker}
   $ mkdir -p $DOCKER_CONFIG/cli-plugins
   $ curl -SL https://github.com/docker/compose/releases/download/v2.5.0/docker-compose-linux-x86_64 -o $DOCKER_CONFIG/cli-plugins/docker-compose
   

   This command installs Compose for the active user under $HOME directory. To install Docker Compose for all users on your system, replace ~/.docker/cli-plugins with /usr/local/lib/docker/cli-plugins.

   To install a different version of Compose, substitute v2.5.0 with the version of Compose you want to use.

2. Apply executable permissions to the binary:

    $ chmod +x $DOCKER_CONFIG/cli-plugins/docker-compose
   

   or if you choose to install Compose for all users

    $ sudo chmod +x /usr/local/lib/docker/cli-plugins/docker-compose
   

3. Test the installation.

    $ docker compose version
    Docker Compose version v2.5.0
   

Install Compose as standalone binary on Linux systems

You can use Compose as a standalone binary without installing the Docker CLI.

1. Run this command to download the current stable release of Docker Compose:

  $ curl -SL https://github.com/docker/compose/releases/download/v2.5.0/docker-compose-linux-x86_64 -o /usr/local/bin/docker-compose

To install a different version of Compose, substitute v2.5.0 with the version of Compose you want to use.

1. Apply executable permissions to the binary:

  $ sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/docker-compose

Note:

If the command docker-compose fails after installation, check your path. You can also create a symbolic link to /usr/bin or any other directory in your path.

For example:

$ sudo ln -s /usr/local/bin/docker-compose /usr/bin/docker-compose

1. Test the installation.

    $ docker-compose --version
    Docker Compose version v2.5.0