---
title: "How to install a Docker server?"
url: "https://ploi.io/documentation/docker/how-to-install-a-docker-server"
published: "2022-08-09"
last_updated: "2026-06-15"
---

# How to install a Docker server?

The Docker server type in Ploi makes managing your Docker containers a breeze. Instead of the traditional web stack (PHP, NGINX, MySQL), a Docker server is provisioned with Docker CE, the Docker CLI, containerd and the Docker Compose plugin ready to go, with the `ploi` user added to the `docker` group so it can run containers.

Creating a Docker server
------------------------

Go to the create-server page and select the **Docker server** type in the dropdown, then create the server as you normally would.

![Selecting the Docker server type](https://ploi.io/storage/A9eZfvARC3nFYU9ax3fIFNMeYQDYofQBzwPoVs3K.png)

Managing containers
-------------------

Once the server is ready, you can manage everything from the Ploi panel:

- Create and delete containers from a Docker Compose file.
- Start and stop containers — Ploi runs `docker compose up` / `docker compose down` for you.
- View container logs directly in the panel.
- Edit a container's deploy script and configuration.
- Proxy a domain to a container, so a site points at the container's port.

You also have full SSH access to the server, so you can manage Docker manually with the `docker` and `docker compose` commands whenever you need to.