Install Portainer on Ubuntu 24.04 Using Docker Compose

Portainer on Ubuntu 24.04

Portainer is a lightweight management interface that simplifies Docker administration.
It allows you to manage containers, images, networks, and volumes through a clean web-based dashboard.

In this guide, you’ll learn how to install and run Portainer Community Edition (CE) on Ubuntu 24.04 using Docker Compose.
This method keeps your setup simple and organized while making future updates easy.

Prerequisites

Before installing Portainer, make sure your system is up to date and Docker is installed.

1. Update your system

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

2. Install Docker

If Docker isn’t installed yet, you can set it up with:

sudo apt install docker.io -y

3. Enable and start Docker

sudo systemctl enable docker
sudo systemctl start docker

4. Install Docker Compose

Install Docker Compose with a single command:

sudo apt install docker-compose -y

Verify the installation:

docker-compose --version

Steps to Install Portainer

Follow these steps to install Portainer using Docker Compose.

1. Create a directory for Portainer

mkdir ~/portainer && cd ~/portainer

This directory will contain your Portainer configuration file.

2. Create the docker-compose.yml file

Use a text editor like nano to create the file:

nano docker-compose.yml

Add the following content:

version: "3.9"

services:
  portainer:
    image: portainer/portainer-ce:latest
    container_name: portainer
    restart: always
    ports:
      - "8000:8000"
      - "9443:9443"
    volumes:
      - /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock
      - portainer_data:/data

volumes:
  portainer_data:

Save and exit the file (CTRL + O, ENTER, CTRL + X).

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3. Start Portainer

Run the following command to start Portainer in detached mode:

docker-compose up -d

Docker will download the latest Portainer image and start the container.

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4. Verify that Portainer is running

Check the running containers:

docker ps

You should see a line showing the Portainer container status as Up.

root@ubuntu-server:~/portainer# docker ps
CONTAINER ID   IMAGE                           COMMAND        CREATED          STATUS          PORTS                                                                                                NAMES
ceeb7e0adf93   portainer/portainer-ce:latest   "/portainer"   33 minutes ago   Up 17 minutes   0.0.0.0:8000->8000/tcp, [::]:8000->8000/tcp, 0.0.0.0:9443->9443/tcp, [::]:9443->9443/tcp, 9000/tcp   portainer

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5. Access the Portainer web interface

Open your browser and go to:

https://<your-server-ip>:9443

For example:

https://192.168.1.10:9443

When you visit the page for the first time:

• Create an admin user
• Select Local Docker Environment

That’s it! You now have a fully functional Portainer dashboard.

Conclusion

Portainer makes Docker management much easier by providing a powerful and user-friendly interface.
With this setup on Ubuntu 24.04, you can monitor containers, networks, and volumes efficiently.

Since Portainer runs as a Docker container, updating it is simple — just pull the latest image and restart the service:

cd ~/portainer
docker-compose pull
docker-compose up -d

You now have a complete web dashboard to manage your Docker environment securely and efficiently.

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