Starting the Docker Daemon: A Step-by-Step Guide

Starting the Docker daemon is the first step towards managing Docker containers and images on your system. The Docker daemon (dockerd) is a background process that manages Docker objects such as containers, images, volumes, and networks. In this guide, we’ll walk through the process of starting the Docker daemon on your machine.

Checking Docker Daemon Status

Before starting the Docker daemon, it’s essential to check its current status to ensure it’s not already running. You can do this by running the following command in your terminal:

sudo systemctl status docker

If the Docker daemon is not running, you’ll see a message indicating that the service is inactive or not loaded.

Starting the Docker Daemon

To start the Docker daemon, you can use the following command:

sudo systemctl start docker

This command starts the Docker daemon as a background process.

Verifying Docker Daemon Status

After starting the Docker daemon, you should verify its status to ensure it’s running properly. You can do this by running the status command again:

sudo systemctl status docker

If the Docker daemon has started successfully, you’ll see a message indicating that the service is active and running.

Alternatively, you can use the following command to check the Docker daemon’s status:

docker info

This command provides detailed information about the Docker environment, including the status of the Docker daemon.

By following these steps, you can start the Docker daemon on your system and begin working with Docker containers and images.