Procédure

The Docker CE template installs Docker CE, Docker Compose, and Buildx on your LWS KVM VPS, with no package to add manually. This guide shows you how to reinstall your server with this template, then use it day to day with Docker Compose. You will see how to launch a site, follow its logs, keep its data, update it, and expose it on the Internet.

Install Docker with the Docker CE template

1. Access the management interface for the KVM VPS server

   Log in to your LWS customer area and open the Servers tab. Find your VPS, then click Manage to open its interface.

   

2. Open the reinstallation tool

   In the left-hand side menu, click Reinstallation. The catalog of systems and applications is displayed.

   

3. Select the Docker CE template

   In the applications section, under the Docker category, choose for example Docker CE ubuntu-24-04.

   

4. Select your SSH key and start the reinstallation

   Under SSH keys to install (optional), check your SSH key. Then click Reinstall the server at the bottom right.

   

5. Confirm the system reinstallation

   In the warning window, enter your server's exact name, then click the red Reinstallation button.

   

6. Wait during deployment

   The system creates your environment with Docker CE, Docker Compose, and Buildx. The operation usually takes between 3 and 5 minutes.

   

Connect and verify the installation

1. Retrieve the IP address and connect via SSH

   When the server switches back to ON with the Docker CE label, note its IPv4 address in the Server IPs block. Open a terminal on your machine and connect as root, replacing the example IP with yours.

   ⌨ CommandCopy

   ssh root@203.0.113.10

   

2. Check that Docker works

   Display the Docker and Docker Compose versions. Then run the hello-world test container: it displays a message and then stops.

   ⌨ On the serverCopy

   docker --version
   docker compose version
   docker run --rm hello-world

   Expected result

   Hello from Docker!
   This message shows that your installation appears to be working correctly.

Use Docker day to day

1. Create a project folder and a compose.yaml file

   A compose.yaml file describes your containers. Create a project folder with a subfolder for the site pages and a home page. Then create the compose.yaml file: it starts Nginx, publishes server port 8080 to container port 80, mounts the local folder read-only, and restarts the container unless manually stopped.

   ⌨ On the serverCopy

   mkdir -p /root/my-site/html
   cd /root/my-site
   echo '
   Hello from Docker
   ' > html/index.html
   nano compose.yaml

   📄 /root/my-site/compose.yamlCopy

   services:
     web:
       image: nginx:stable
       ports:
         - "8080:80"
       volumes:
         - ./html:/usr/share/nginx/html:ro
       restart: unless-stopped

2. Start the project

   From the project folder, start the services in the background. Docker downloads the image the first time, then creates the container. Then test the site's response from the server.

   ⌨ On the serverCopy

   cd /root/my-site
   docker compose up -d
   curl http://localhost:8080

   Expected result

   Hello from Docker

3. View the containers and their logs

   List the project's containers to check their status. Then follow their logs live to spot an error or see the requests received. Exit the follow mode with Ctrl+C: the containers keep running.

   ⌨ On the serverCopy

   docker compose ps
   docker compose logs -f

4. Keep your data with volumes

   The contents of a container disappear when it is removed. To keep data, store it in a volume. In the example, the html folder is mounted into the container: your pages remain on the server. For a database, use instead a named volume, declared in the compose.yaml file. The commands below list the volumes and show the location of one of them.

   ⌨ On the serverCopy

   docker volume ls
   docker volume inspect volume_name

5. Update images

   To switch to a newer version of the image, download it then recreate the container. Docker only replaces the services whose image has changed. Your volumes are preserved.

   ⌨ On the serverCopy

   cd /root/my-site
   docker compose pull
   docker compose up -d

6. Automatically restart when the server starts

   With restart: unless-stopped in the compose.yaml file, the container restarts after a server reboot. It remains stopped if you stopped it yourself. The Docker service starts automatically with the system: check it with the command below.

   ⌨ On the serverCopy

   systemctl is-enabled docker

   Expected result

   enabled

7. Stop and clean up

   The first command stops and removes the project's containers, but keeps your files and volumes. The second removes stopped containers, unused networks, and orphaned images (untagged). Docker asks for confirmation before running it.

   ⌨ On the serverCopy

   docker compose down
   docker system prune

8. Expose an application on the Internet

   The ports line in the compose.yaml file publishes a server port. With 8080:80, the site responds on port 8080 of the server IP, for example http://203.0.113.10:8080. If the firewall is active on your VPS, open this port in the Firewall menu of the KVM panel. To use a domain name such as example.com, point it to the server IP through your DNS manager.

   ⌨ CommandCopy

   curl http://203.0.113.10:8080

   Expected result

   Hello from Docker

Glossary

compose.yaml

File that describes a project's containers (image, ports, volumes, restart) and that Docker Compose reads to launch them.

Volume

Storage space kept outside the container, which makes it possible to retain data even if the container is deleted or recreated.

Image

Fixed template containing an application’s code and dependencies, from which Docker creates containers.

Container

Running instance of an image, isolated from the rest of the server.

Frequently asked questions