Install Docker Compose on Rocky Linux 9 by adding Docker’s RPM repository, installing the Compose CLI plugin, and launching a private two-service test project. You can finish the setup and confirm that Compose works in about ten minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
root<\/code>, or a regular Linux account with working sudo<\/code> privileges.<\/li>\n\n\n- Outbound HTTPS access to Docker’s package repository and container registry.<\/li>\n\n\n
- A VPSLake Linux VPS<\/a> if you need a Rocky Linux server with root access.<\/li>\n\n\n
- No domain is needed for the private test. Use a domain and a TLS reverse proxy before publishing a real application.<\/li>\n\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Rocky Linux 9 uses DNF and firewalld. The commands below use sudo<\/code> for a normal SSH account; if you are logged in as root, remove sudo<\/code> but keep the same order.<\/p>\n\n\n\nStep 1: Confirm Rocky Linux 9 and update the host<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Checking the release and architecture first keeps you from applying an Enterprise Linux repository intended for another major version.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
~~~bash . \/etc\/os-release printf ‘%s\\n’ “$PRETTY_NAME” printf ‘Major release: %s\\n’ “$(rpm -E %rhel)” uname -m sudo dnf upgrade -y ~~~<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The first lines should identify Rocky Linux 9 and a 64-bit machine:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
~~~text Rocky Linux 9.x (Blue Onyx) Major release: 9 x86_64 ~~~<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The minor release and number of upgraded packages will vary. Resolve any DNS, mirror, or GPG-signature error before continuing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Step 2: Remove conflicting container packages<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Docker’s official packages can conflict with an existing Docker or Podman installation, so clear those packages on a new or disposable VPS before adding Docker’s repository.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Run this only after checking that the server does not host Podman workloads you need. DNF may say that some package names are not installed, which is harmless; Docker data under \/var\/lib\/docker<\/code> is not removed by this package operation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n~~~bash sudo dnf remove -y docker \\ docker-client \\ docker-client-latest \\ docker-common \\ docker-latest \\ docker-latest-logrotate \\ docker-logrotate \\ docker-engine \\ podman \\ runc ~~~<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Step 3: Add Docker’s RPM repository<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The RHEL-compatible Docker repository supplies Engine, Buildx, and the Compose plugin as DNF packages that can receive normal updates. This is Docker’s recommended repository approach, documented in its RHEL installation guide<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n~~~bash sudo dnf install -y dnf-plugins-core ca-certificates sudo dnf config-manager –add-repo https:\/\/download.docker.com\/linux\/rhel\/docker-ce.repo sudo dnf makecache dnf repolist –enabled | grep -i docker dnf list –showduplicates docker-ce | tail -n 5 ~~~<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The repository check should show Docker’s stable channel, and the package list should include an el9<\/code> build. If no repository or package appears, stop here and fix the repository connection before installing anything.<\/p>\n\n\n\nStep 4: Install Docker Engine and the Compose plugin<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Compose v2 is delivered as a Docker CLI plugin, so install it with the Engine rather than downloading the obsolete standalone docker-compose<\/code> binary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n~~~bash sudo dnf install -y docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io docker-buildx-plugin docker-compose-plugin sudo systemctl enable –now docker sudo systemctl is-active docker sudo docker version –format ‘Client {{.Client.Version}} \/ Server {{.Server.Version}}’ sudo docker compose version ~~~<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You should see an active service and version strings. Exact versions change as Docker publishes updates:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
~~~text active Client 29.x \/ Server 29.x Docker Compose version vX.Y.Z ~~~<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Run Docker’s disposable smoke test before creating a project:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
~~~bash sudo docker run –rm hello-world ~~~<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The final part of the response should include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
~~~text Hello from Docker! Your installation appears to be working correctly. ~~~<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Step 5: Allow your SSH account to run Docker<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The Docker socket is root-owned by default. Adding one trusted administrator to the docker<\/code> group avoids sudo<\/code>, but group membership provides effectively root-level control over the host.<\/p>\n\n\n\nReplace YOUR_LINUX_USER<\/code> with the account you use for SSH:<\/p>\n\n\n\n~~~bash sudo usermod -aG docker YOUR_LINUX_USER ~~~<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Log out of SSH completely and reconnect so the new group list is loaded. Then verify access without sudo<\/code>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n~~~bash id -nG docker info –format ‘Server {{.ServerVersion}}’ ~~~<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The group list should contain docker<\/code>, and docker info<\/code> should print the Engine version. If you do not want permanent group access, leave the account unchanged and use sudo docker compose<\/code> for the remaining commands.<\/p>\n\n\n\nStep 6: Create a private Compose test project<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
This project runs Nginx and a small BusyBox checker. The checker reaches Nginx through Compose’s internal service name, while Nginx publishes its page only on the server’s loopback address.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Create a project directory and a page for Nginx:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
~~~bash mkdir -p ~\/compose-rocky9\/site cd ~\/compose-rocky9 printf ‘%s\\n’ ‘Rocky Linux 9 Docker Compose is working.’ > site\/index.html ~~~<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Create compose.yaml<\/code>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n~~~bash tee compose.yaml >\/dev\/null <<‘EOF’ services: web: image: nginx:alpine restart: unless-stopped ports:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n- “127.0.0.1:8091:80” volumes:<\/li>\n\n\n
- .\/site:\/usr\/share\/nginx\/html:ro,Z<\/li>\n\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
checker: image: busybox:1.36 restart: unless-stopped depends_on: web: condition: service_started command: [“sh”, “-c”, “while true; do sleep 3600; done”] healthcheck: test: [“CMD-SHELL”, “wget -q -O – http:\/\/web\/ | grep -q ‘Rocky Linux 9 Docker Compose is working.'”] interval: 5s timeout: 3s retries: 12 EOF ~~~<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The :Z<\/code> suffix gives the private bind mount an SELinux label, and 127.0.0.1<\/code> prevents the test page from being reachable directly from the internet. The checker has no published port; it validates the web service over Compose’s private network. See Docker’s Compose file reference<\/a> for the service and health-check fields.<\/p>\n\n\n\nStep 7: Render and start the project<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Render the file before startup so YAML or interpolation errors are caught before containers are created.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
~~~bash docker compose config –quiet docker compose pull docker compose up -d docker compose ps ~~~<\/p>\n\n\n\n
config --quiet<\/code> should produce no output and return status 0. After the images download, both services should be running and the checker should become healthy:<\/p>\n\n\n\n~~~text NAME SERVICE STATUS PORTS compose-rocky9-web-1 web Up 127.0.0.1:8091->80\/tcp compose-rocky9-checker-1 checker Up (healthy) ~~~<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The generated names may differ if you run the project from another directory or set a Compose project name. Because port 8091 is bound to loopback, this test does not require a new firewalld rule.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Verify Docker Compose on Rocky Linux 9<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Use the host request, the internal service request, and the health table to prove that Compose can start the project and that its network works:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
~~~bash curl –fail –silent –show-error http:\/\/127.0.0.1:8091 docker compose exec -T checker wget -q -O – http:\/\/web\/ docker compose ps ~~~<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The first two commands should return the same page text, and the status table should keep the checker healthy:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
~~~text Rocky Linux 9 Docker Compose is working. ~~~<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To view the private page from your workstation, create an SSH tunnel there with ssh -L 8091:127.0.0.1:8091 YOUR_LINUX_USER@SERVER_IP<\/code>, then open http:\/\/127.0.0.1:8091<\/code> locally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n