The Complete Guide to Installing Portainer on Docker: A New World of Container Management!

Portainer is an open source tool that lets you visually manage your Docker environment! You can manage containers, images, and networks with just a click of the mouse, even if you’re not familiar with commands. In this article, we’ll walk you through everything from installing Portainer to initial setup.

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🔍 Why do you need Portainer?

1. Visual management 👀.
   • Provides a graphical interface instead of CLI commands like docker ps and docker stats.
   • Check container status, logs, and resource usage at a glance
2. Beginner friendly 🎯
   • Easy to operate without knowing Docker concepts
   • Create/delete containers in 3 clicks
3. Supports multiple environments 🌐.
   • Not only local Docker, but also remote servers, Swarm, Kubernetes, etc.

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⚙️ Prerequisites before installation

• Complete Docker Engine installation

  # Verify installation
  docker --version
  # Check Docker Compose (optional)
  docker compose version

• Configure Firewall** 🔒 Need to open ports 9443 (web UI), 8000 (agent communication)

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📥 Installation method 1: Simple installation with Docker CLI (recommended)

This is the fastest way to install.

# 1. Create a volume for storing data
docker volume create portainer_data

# 2. Run the Portainer container
docker run -d -p 8000:8000 -p 9443:9443 \
  --name portainer \
  --restart=always \
  -v /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock \
  -v portainer_data:/data \
  portainer/portainer-ce:latest

Option Description:

• -v /var/run/docker.sock: communicate with the Docker daemon (⚠️ required)
• -v portainer_data:/data: Ensure persistence of settings
• --restart=always: Automatically start on system reboot

✅ Run check:

docker ps -f name=portainer

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📂 Installation method 2: Install with Docker Compose (advanced)

If you need to reuse it, manage it as a YAML file.

1. Create a docker-compose.yml file:

   
   version: '3.8'

services: portainer: image: portainer/portainer-ce:latest container_name: portainer restart: always ports:

• “8000:8000”
• “9443:9443” volumes:
• /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock
• portainer_data:/data

volumes: portainer_data:

2. run stack:
```bash
docker compose up -d

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🌐 Initial Setup Step-by-Step

1. Access address: https://서버IP:9443 ⚠️ Enable HTTPS by default (ignore certificate warning)

2. Create an administrator account

   • Username: admin (default)
   • Password: A complex combination of at least 12 characters is recommended

3. Configure environment connection !

   • Click “Get Started” → Select “Local”
   • Connect to local Docker with Connect button

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🛠️ Required security settings

1. Enforce HTTPS (Settings > SSL/TLS)
   • Enable Let’s Encrypt or enroll a user certificate
2. Set up authentication (Settings > Authentication)
   • Control team access with LDAP/AD integration
3. Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) (Settings > Authentication) Enhance security with Google Authenticator

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💡 Collection of utilization tips

1. **Deploy quickly with templates
   • Install your favorite apps like Nginx, MySQL, etc. in 1 minute
2. **Access to Web Terminal
   • Access the CLI inside the container
3. Set up notifications
   • Slack/email notifications when a container crashes
4. **Backup/Restore
   • Export configuration file from Settings > Backup configuration

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❌ Troubleshooting Guide

Q1. “Connection refused” occurs when connecting **Q2.

• Check the firewall: sudo ufw allow 9443
• Docker daemon status: systemctl status docker

Q2. “Unable to connect to Docker” error.

• Check volume permissions:

  sudo chmod 777 /var/run/docker.sock

**Q3. If you forget your password Add to the container recreate command:

--env ADMIN_PASSWORD="New Password"

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🎯 Conclusion

Portainer is a game changer in Docker management!

• For beginners: escape CLI phobia ✅.
• Experts: centralized management of 50+ servers ✅ Install it now and you can get a dashboard like this in 5 minutes!

> 📢 If you followed along today, please share your success in the comments! > > Next time, we’ll show you how to manage a Kubernetes cluster with Portainer 😊