Docker Installation and Your First Container — Step-by-Step Guide for Beginners

Introduction

If you’re new to Docker and wondering how developers run applications so smoothly across different systems, this post is for you.In this first practical, we’ll walk through how to install Docker Desktop on Windows and run your very first container — the legendary “Hello World” container.

By the end of this guide, you’ll understand what Docker does and how it proves that your environment is ready for future DevOps experiments.

What is Docker?

Before jumping into the commands, let’s get the idea straight.

Docker is a tool that lets you run applications inside containers — small, isolated environments that include everything your app needs to run: code, libraries, and settings.

Think of a container as a mini-computer inside your computer — it runs consistently, no matter where you move it.

Objective

To install Docker Desktop on Windows and verify the setup by running a simple “Hello World” container.

Step 1: Check Your System Requirements

Before downloading, make sure your system is ready.

Windows 10 or 11 (64-bit)WSL 2 (Windows Subsystem for Linux) enabled

Hardware virtualization turned ON in BIOS

Tip: To check if virtualization is enabled, open Task Manager → Performance Tab → CPU.If you see “Virtualization: Enabled,” you’re good to go.

Step 2: Download Docker Desktop

1. Visit the official Docker website:👉 https://www.docker.com/products/docker-desktop

2. Click “Download for Windows (x86_64)”.

3. Wait for the installer to finish downloading.

   

   
   

Step 3: Install Docker Desktop

1. Run the installer (Docker Desktop Installer.exe).

2. Keep the option “Use WSL 2 instead of Hyper-V” checked.

3. Click Next → Install.

4. Once the installation completes, launch Docker Desktop.

You’ll notice a little whale icon 🐳 appear in your Windows taskbar — that’s Docker running successfully!

Step 4: Verify Docker Installation

Open Command Prompt or PowerShell, and type:

docker --version

You should see something like:

Docker version 27.0.2, build xxxxxxx

Next, check Docker details:

docker info

You’ll get details about your Docker client, server, containers, and images.

This confirms that Docker is correctly installed and running in the background.

🧩 Step 5: Run Your First Container

Now comes the exciting part — running your first Docker container!

Type the following command:

docker run hello-world

What happens:

• Docker looks for an image called hello-world.

• If it’s not found locally, it pulls it from Docker Hub (the official Docker image repository).

• Then it creates and runs a container that prints a message.

Output:

Hello from Docker!
This message shows that your installation appears to be working correctly.

Congratulations!You’ve just run your first Docker container.

Step 6: Explore Docker Commands

Check all running containers:

docker ps

Since the hello-world container stops immediately after running, you’ll see no active containers.

Now, check all containers (including stopped ones):

docker ps -a

Example Output:

CONTAINER ID   IMAGE          STATUS                      NAMES
1a2b3c4d5e6f   hello-world    Exited (0) 2 minutes ago    quirky_torvalds
Docker automatically assigns fun names (like quirky_torvalds) to your containers!