Installing Docker on Linux

Before deploying a Novant virtual node on Linux, you’ll need Docker and Docker Compose installed. This guide covers installation for the most common distributions.

Ubuntu / Debian

# Update package index
sudo apt update

# Install Docker and Docker Compose
sudo apt install docker.io docker-compose

# Start and enable the Docker service
sudo systemctl start docker
sudo systemctl enable docker

CentOS / RHEL

# Install Docker and Docker Compose
sudo yum install docker docker-compose

# Start and enable the Docker service
sudo systemctl start docker
sudo systemctl enable docker

Run Docker Without Sudo (Optional)

By default, Docker commands require sudo. To run them as your regular user, add yourself to the docker group:

sudo usermod -aG docker $USER

Log out and back in for the change to take effect.

Verify Installation

docker --version
docker compose version

Both commands should print version information. If the Docker service is not running, start it with:

sudo systemctl start docker

Deploy the Virtual Node

Follow the Setting Up Your Virtual Node guide for the full docker-compose.yaml configuration and options. The steps below show how to set up the directory structure and volume mapping on Linux.

Create the project directory:
```
mkdir ~/novant-node
cd ~/novant-node
```
Create your docker-compose.yaml in this folder using the template from the setup guide, setting the volume mapping to:
```
volumes:
  - ./data:/data/
```
Create the data directories:
```
mkdir -p data/secrets
```
Install the license by copying the license content from your Novant project’s Nodes tab and saving it to:
```
~/novant-node/data/secrets/node.license
```
Start the container:
```
docker compose up -d
```

Verify the container is running:

docker compose ps
docker compose logs novant-vnode

Next Steps

Once your virtual node is running, return to the Setting Up Your Virtual Node guide for post-installation verification and next steps.