Disclosure: this page contains affiliate links. If you buy through them we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

Docker lets you ship any app as a self-contained container, and a VPS is the natural home for it. This covers Ubuntu 24.04.

Step 1: Install Docker Engine

Use Docker’s official convenience script, then add your user to the docker group:

curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com | sudo sh
sudo usermod -aG docker $USER

Log out and back in for the group change to apply.

Step 2: Install Docker Compose

sudo apt install -y docker-compose-plugin

Step 3: Run a container

docker run -d --name hello -p 8080:80 nginx

Visit http://your-vps-ip:8080 — you should see the Nginx welcome page.

Step 4: Keep it tidy

  • Set restart policies (--restart unless-stopped) so containers survive reboots.
  • Use a docker-compose.yml to define multi-service stacks as code.
  • Keep images updated and avoid running containers as root where possible.

Docker itself is light, but running containers need RAM. RackNerd’s 2 GB plan at $35.99/yr comfortably runs several small containers with full root and a dedicated IPv4.

See RackNerd's current deals