Quick Start Guide and sign in

Quick Start Guide

Once Docker Desktop is installed, the Quick Start Guide launches. It includes a simple exercise to build an example Docker image, run it as a container, push and save the image to Docker Hub.

Docker Quick Start tutorial

To run the Quick Start Guide on demand, select the Docker menu whale menu and then choose Quick Start Guide.

For a more detailed guide, see Get started.

Sign in to Docker Desktop

We recommend that you authenticate using the Sign in/Create ID option in the top-right corner of Docker Desktop.

Once logged in, you can access your Docker Hub repositories directly from Docker Desktop.

Authenticated users get a higher pull rate limit compared to anonymous users. For example, if you are authenticated, you get 200 pulls per 6 hour period, compared to 100 pulls per 6 hour period per IP address for anonymous users. For more information, see Download rate limit.

In large enterprises where admin access is restricted, administrators can create a registry.json file and deploy it to the developers’ machines using a device management software as part of the Docker Desktop installation process. Enforcing developers to authenticate through Docker Desktop also allows administrators to set up guardrails using features such as Image Access Management which allows team members to only have access to Trusted Content on Docker Hub, and pull only from the specified categories of images. For more information, see Configure registry.json to enforce sign-in.

Two-factor authentication

Docker Desktop lets you to sign in to Docker Hub using two-factor authentication. Two-factor authentication provides an extra layer of security when accessing your Docker Hub account.

You must turn on two-factor authentication in Docker Hub before signing into your Docker Hub account through Docker Desktop. For instructions, see Enable two-factor authentication for Docker Hub.

After two-factor authentication is turned on:

  1. Go to the Docker Desktop menu and then select Sign in / Create Docker ID.

  2. Enter your Docker ID and password and select Sign in.

  3. After you have successfully signed in, Docker Desktop prompts you to enter the authentication code. Enter the six-digit code from your phone and then select Verify.

Credentials management for Linux users

Docker Desktop relies on pass to store credentials in gpg2-encrypted files. Before signing in to Docker Hub from the Docker Dashboard or the Docker menu, you must initialize pass. Docker Desktop displays a warning if you’ve not initialized pass.

You can initialize pass by using a gpg key. To generate a gpg key, run:

$ gpg --generate-key

Below is an example similar to what you see once you run the above command:

...
GnuPG needs to construct a user ID to identify your key.

Real name: Molly
Email address: molly@example.com
You selected this USER-ID:
    "Molly <molly@example.com>"

Change (N)ame, (E)mail, or (O)kay/(Q)uit? O
...
pub   rsa3072 2022-03-31 [SC] [expires: 2024-03-30]
      <generated gpg-id public key>
uid                      Molly <molly@example.com>
sub   rsa3072 2022-03-31 [E] [expires: 2024-03-30]

To initialize pass, run the following command using the public key generated from the previous command:

$ pass init <generated gpg-id public key>

Below is an example similar to what you see once you run the above command:

mkdir: created directory '/home/molly/.password-store/'
Password store initialized for <generated gpg-id public key>

Once pass is initialized, you can sign in on the Docker Dashboard and pull your private images. When credentials are used by the Docker CLI or Docker Desktop, a user prompt may pop up for the password you set during the gpg key generation.

$ docker pull molly/privateimage
Using default tag: latest
latest: Pulling from molly/privateimage
3b9cc81c3203: Pull complete 
Digest: sha256:3c6b73ce467f04d4897d7a7439782721fd28ec9bf62ea2ad9e81a5fb7fb3ff96
Status: Downloaded newer image for molly/privateimage:latest
docker.io/molly/privateimage:latest

What’s next?