Motivation

• Once upon a time, I was trying to install Docker and Docker Compose on my Arch Linux machine. At the time I was using Manjaro, but I think the installation process is the same for Arch Linux-based distros and Manjaro. So I decided to write this article to help me remember how to install Docker and Docker Compose on Arch Linux.
• Luckily now Docker supports Docker desktop for Linux, so the installation process is much easier than before.

Installation

• Just need to follow the official guide here.
• Small note: I don’t use GNOME, so please note this Prerequisite to install gnome-terminal before installing docker:

sudo pacman -S gnome-terminal

• Before I need to install docker and docker-compose separately, but now I just need to install Docker Desktop for Linux and it will install both Docker and Docker Compose for me.

Launch

• After installing Docker Desktop for Linux, I can launch Docker Desktop from the application menu.
• Alternatively, open a terminal and run the following command:

systemctl --user start docker-desktop

• Check version of Docker and Docker Compose:

$ docker --version
$ docker compose version # now compose is added to subcommand of docker

• To enable Docker Desktop to start on login, run:

systemctl --user enable docker-desktop

References

• Docker desktop official
• Docker - Arch Wiki