How to Install Docker on Mac with Homebrew

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You can install Docker on Mac using Homebrew using the following command in the terminal program. You may be prompted to enter your password during the installation. It will take a minute or two to complete depending on your internet speed.

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Docker is a great way to have a consistent environment for your projects.

brew install docker --cask

Note: Because docker is a system-level package, you must install it using the --cask parameter.

Additional tools that you may also install

brew install bash-completion
brew install docker-completion
brew install docker-compose-completion

You may get this error: docker: Cannot connect to the Docker daemon at unix:///Users/user/.docker/run/docker.sock. Is the docker daemon running?.

Start the docker program (Docker Desktop)

you can use this command line

open /Applications/Docker.app

or you can search it in the apps. The docker icon should look like this.

After you start the program, you can run commands in the terminal.

Check the docker version

docker --version

Docker version 27.1.1, build 6312585

Run hello world container

docker run hello-world

you should see an output like this.

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/

If you see an output like this that means that you've installed Docker on Mac successfully.

Related Links

• https://stackoverflow.com/questions/40523307/brew-install-docker-does-not-include-docker-engine
• https://stackoverflow.com/questions/44084846/cannot-connect-to-the-docker-daemon-on-macos

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