Docker Hub quickstart

Table of contents

Docker Hub provides a vast library of pre-built images and resources, accelerating development workflows and reducing setup time. You can build upon pre-built images from Docker Hub and then use repositories to share and distribute your own images with your team or millions of other developers.

This guide shows you how to find and run a pre-built image. It then walks you through creating a custom image and sharing it through Docker Hub.

Prerequisites

Step 1: Find an image in Docker Hub's library

You can search for content in Docker Hub itself, in the Docker Desktop Dashboard, or by using the docker search CLI command. Searching on Docker Hub itself offers the most options to explore content.

To search or browse for content on Docker Hub:

  1. Navigate to the Docker Hub Explore page.

    On the Explore page, you can browse by catalog or category, or use the search to quickly find content.

  2. Under Categories, select Web servers.

    After the results are displayed, you can further filter the results using the filters on the left side of the page.

  3. In the filters, select Docker Official Image.

    Filtering by Trusted Content ensures that you see only high-quality, secure images curated by Docker and verified publishing partners.

  4. In the results, select the nginx image.

    Selecting the image opens the image's page where you can learn more about how to use the image. On the page, you'll also find the docker pull command to pull the image.

Now that you've found an image, it's time to pull and run it on your device.

Step 2: Pull and run an image from Docker Hub

  1. In your terminal, run the following command to pull and run the Nginx image.

    $ docker run -p 8080:80 --rm nginx

    The docker run command automatically pulls and runs the image without the need to run docker pull first. To learn more about the command and its options, see the docker run CLI reference. After running the command, you should see output similar to the following.

    Unable to find image 'nginx:latest' locally
latest: Pulling from library/nginx
a480a496ba95: Pull complete
f3ace1b8ce45: Pull complete
11d6fdd0e8a7: Pull complete
f1091da6fd5c: Pull complete
40eea07b53d8: Pull complete
6476794e50f4: Pull complete
70850b3ec6b2: Pull complete
Digest: sha256:28402db69fec7c17e179ea87882667f1e054391138f77ffaf0c3eb388efc3ffb
Status: Downloaded newer image for nginx:latest
/docker-entrypoint.sh: /docker-entrypoint.d/ is not empty, will attempt to perform configuration
/docker-entrypoint.sh: Looking for shell scripts in /docker-entrypoint.d/
/docker-entrypoint.sh: Launching /docker-entrypoint.d/10-listen-on-ipv6-by-default.sh
10-listen-on-ipv6-by-default.sh: info: Getting the checksum of /etc/nginx/conf.d/default.conf
10-listen-on-ipv6-by-default.sh: info: Enabled listen on IPv6 in /etc/nginx/conf.d/default.conf
/docker-entrypoint.sh: Sourcing /docker-entrypoint.d/15-local-resolvers.envsh
/docker-entrypoint.sh: Launching /docker-entrypoint.d/20-envsubst-on-templates.sh
/docker-entrypoint.sh: Launching /docker-entrypoint.d/30-tune-worker-processes.sh
/docker-entrypoint.sh: Configuration complete; ready for start up
2024/11/07 21:43:41 [notice] 1#1: using the "epoll" event method
2024/11/07 21:43:41 [notice] 1#1: nginx/1.27.2
2024/11/07 21:43:41 [notice] 1#1: built by gcc 12.2.0 (Debian 12.2.0-14)
2024/11/07 21:43:41 [notice] 1#1: OS: Linux 6.10.11-linuxkit
2024/11/07 21:43:41 [notice] 1#1: getrlimit(RLIMIT_NOFILE): 1048576:1048576
2024/11/07 21:43:41 [notice] 1#1: start worker processes
2024/11/07 21:43:41 [notice] 1#1: start worker process 29
...

  2. Visit https://localhost:8080 to view the default Nginx page and verify that the container is running.

  3. In the terminal, press CTRL+C to stop the container.

You've now run a web server without any set up or configuration, all from a single command. Docker Hub provides instant access to pre-built, ready-to-use container images, letting you quickly pull and run applications without needing to install or configure software manually. With Docker Hub's vast library of images, you can experiment with and deploy applications effortlessly, boosting productivity and making it easy to try out new tools, set up development environments, or build on top of existing software.

You can also extend images from Docker Hub, letting you quickly build and customize your own images to suit specific needs.

Step 3: Build and push an image to Docker Hub

  1. Create a Dockerfile to specify your application:

    FROM nginx
RUN echo "<h1>Hello world from Docker!</h1>" > /usr/share/nginx/html/index.html

    This Dockerfile extends the Nginx image from Docker Hub to create a simple website. With just a few lines, you can easily set up, customize, and share a static website using Docker.

  2. Run the following command to build your image. Replace <YOUR-USERNAME> with your Docker ID.

    $ docker build -t <YOUR-USERNAME>/nginx-custom .

    This command builds your image and tags it so that Docker understands which repository to push it to in Docker Hub. To learn more about the command and its options, see the docker build CLI reference. After running the command, you should see output similar to the following.

    [+] Building 0.6s (6/6) FINISHED                      docker:desktop-linux
 => [internal] load build definition from Dockerfile                  0.0s
 => => transferring dockerfile: 128B                                  0.0s
 => [internal] load metadata for docker.io/library/nginx:latest       0.0s
 => [internal] load .dockerignore                                     0.0s
 => => transferring context: 2B                                       0.0s
 => [1/2] FROM docker.io/library/nginx:latest                         0.1s
 => [2/2] RUN echo "<h1>Hello world from Docker!</h1>" > /usr/share/  0.2s
 => exporting to image                                                0.1s
 => => exporting layers                                               0.0s
 => => writing image sha256:f85ab68f4987847713e87a95c39009a5c9f4ad78  0.0s
 => => naming to docker.io/mobyismyname/nginx-custom                  0.0s

  3. Run the following command to test your image. Replace <YOUR-USERNAME> with your Docker ID.

    $ docker run -p 8080:80 --rm <YOUR-USERNAME>/nginx-custom

  4. Visit https://localhost:8080 to view the page. You should see Hello world from Docker!.

  5. In the terminal, press CTRL+C to stop the container.

  6. Sign in to Docker Desktop. You must be signed in before pushing an image to Docker Hub.

  7. Run the following command to push your image to Docker Hub. Replace <YOUR-USERNAME> with your Docker ID.

    $ docker push <YOUR-USERNAME>/nginx-custom

    Note

    You must be signed in to Docker Hub through Docker Desktop or the command line, and you must also name your images correctly, as per the above steps.

    The command pushes the image to Docker Hub and automatically creates the repository if it doesn't exist. To learn more about the command, see the docker push CLI reference. After running the command, you should see output similar to the following.

    Using default tag: latest
The push refers to repository [docker.io/mobyismyname/nginx-custom]
d0e011850342: Pushed
e4e9e9ad93c2: Mounted from library/nginx
6ac729401225: Mounted from library/nginx
8ce189049cb5: Mounted from library/nginx
296af1bd2844: Mounted from library/nginx
63d7ce983cd5: Mounted from library/nginx
b33db0c3c3a8: Mounted from library/nginx
98b5f35ea9d3: Mounted from library/nginx
latest: digest: sha256:7f5223ae866e725a7f86b856c30edd3b86f60d76694df81d90b08918d8de1e3f size: 1985

Now that you've created a repository and pushed your image, it's time to view your repository and explore its options.

Step 4: View your repository on Docker Hub and explore options

  1. Go to Docker Hub and sign in.

    After signing in, you should be on the Repositories page. If not, then go to the Repositories page.

  2. Find the nginx-custom repository and select that row.

    After selecting the repository, you should see more details and options for your repository.

You've now verified that your repository exists on Docker Hub, and you've discovered more options for it. View the next steps to learn more about some of these options.

Next steps

  • Automatically build container images from code through builds.
  • Use webhooks to cause an action in another service in response to a push event in the repository.
  • Manage repository settings to set the default privacy for your repositories.