Portainer-CE Ubuntu

Below is a clean, reliable outline for installing Portainer Community Edition (CE) on Ubuntu using Docker. This is the standard, production-safe approach and works on Ubuntu 20.04, 22.04, and 24.04.

What you’ll install

• Docker Engine (container runtime)
• Portainer CE (web-based Docker management UI)

1. Prepare Ubuntu

Update the system and install basic prerequisites:

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y
sudo apt install -y ca-certificates curl gnupg lsb-release

(Optional but recommended)

sudo reboot

2. Install Docker Engine

Portainer runs inside Docker, so Docker must come first.

Add Docker’s official GPG key

sudo mkdir -p /etc/apt/keyrings
curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu/gpg | \
sudo gpg --dearmor -o /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.gpg

Add Docker repository

echo \
"deb [arch=$(dpkg --print-architecture) \
signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/docker.gpg] \
https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu \
$(lsb_release -cs) stable" | \
sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list > /dev/null

Install Docker

sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io

Verify Docker

docker --version
sudo systemctl status docker

3. (Recommended) Run Docker without sudo

Add your user to the docker group:

sudo usermod -aG docker $USER
newgrp docker

Verify:

docker run hello-world

4. Create Portainer Data Volume

This keeps Portainer settings safe across upgrades.

docker volume create portainer_data

5. Install Portainer CE

Pull and run the official Portainer CE container:

docker run -d \
  --name=portainer \
  --restart=always \
  -p 8000:8000 \
  -p 9443:9443 \
  -v /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock \
  -v portainer_data:/data \
  portainer/portainer-ce:latest

What these ports do

• 9443 → Portainer Web UI (HTTPS)
• 8000 → Agent tunnel (safe to leave enabled)

6. Access Portainer

Open a browser and go to:

https://<server-ip>:9443

First-time setup:

1. Create admin user/password
2. Choose Local Docker
3. Done — Portainer is live

7. Basic Health Checks

docker ps
docker logs portainer

You should see Portainer running and listening on 9443.

8. Updating Portainer (Later)

Portainer updates are container-based, not in-app:

docker stop portainer
docker rm portainer
docker pull portainer/portainer-ce:latest

Re-run the same docker run command — your data remains intact.

Best Practices (Quick Hits)

• ✔ Use HTTPS (9443) only
• ✔ Put Portainer behind a reverse proxy (Nginx Proxy Manager / Traefik) if exposed
• ✔ Do not delete portainer_data
• ✔ Avoid running random containers as root unless needed