page_title: Installation on Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard
page_description: Please note this project is currently under heavy development. It should not be used in production.
page_keywords: Docker, Docker documentation, requirements, virtualbox, ssh, linux, os x, osx, mac

# Mac OS X

> **Note**:
> These instructions are available with the new release of Docker (version
> 0.8). However, they are subject to change.

> **Note**:
> Docker is still under heavy development! We don't recommend using it in
> production yet, but we're getting closer with each release. Please see
> our blog post, [Getting to Docker 1.0](
> http://blog.docker.io/2013/08/getting-to-docker-1-0/)

Docker is supported on Mac OS X 10.6 "Snow Leopard" or newer.

## How To Install Docker On Mac OS X

### VirtualBox

Docker on OS X needs VirtualBox to run. To begin with, head over to
[VirtualBox Download Page](https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads)
and get the tool for `OS X hosts x86/amd64`.

Once the download is complete, open the disk image, run the set up file
(i.e. `VirtualBox.pkg`) and install VirtualBox. Do
not simply copy the package without running the installer.

### Manual Installation
#### boot2docker

[boot2docker](https://github.com/boot2docker/boot2docker) provides a
handy script to manage the VM running the `docker`
daemon. It also takes care of the installation for the OS
image that is used for the job.

Open up a new terminal window, if you have not already.

Run the following commands to get boot2docker:

    # Enter the installation directory
    $ cd ~/bin

    # Get the file
    $ curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/boot2docker/boot2docker/master/boot2docker > boot2docker

    # Mark it executable
    $ chmod +x boot2docker

#### Docker OS X Client

The `docker` daemon is accessed using the `docker` client.

Run the following commands to get it downloaded and set up:

    # Get the docker client file
    $ DIR=$(mktemp -d ${TMPDIR:-/tmp}/dockerdl.XXXXXXX) && \
      curl -f -o $DIR/ld.tgz https://get.docker.io/builds/Darwin/x86_64/docker-latest.tgz && \
      gunzip $DIR/ld.tgz && \
      tar xvf $DIR/ld.tar -C $DIR/ && \
      cp $DIR/usr/local/bin/docker ./docker

    # Set the environment variable for the docker daemon
    $ export DOCKER_HOST=tcp://127.0.0.1:4243

    # Copy the executable file
    $ sudo mkdir -p /usr/local/bin
    $ sudo cp docker /usr/local/bin/

### (OR) With Homebrew

If you are using Homebrew on your machine, simply run the following
command to install `boot2docker`:

    $ brew install boot2docker

Run the following command to install the `docker`
client:

    $ brew install docker

And that's it! Let's check out how to use it.

## How To Use Docker On Mac OS X

### The `docker` daemon (via boot2docker)

Inside the `~/bin` directory, run the following
commands:

    # Initiate the VM
    $ ./boot2docker init

    # Run the VM (the docker daemon)
    $ ./boot2docker up

    # To see all available commands:
    $ ./boot2docker
    Usage ./boot2docker {init|start|up|pause|stop|restart|status|info|delete|ssh|download}

### The `docker` client

Once the VM with the `docker` daemon is up, you can
use the `docker` client just like any other
application.

    $ docker version
    Client version: 0.10.0
    Client API version: 1.10
    Server version: 0.10.0
    Server API version: 1.10
    Last stable version: 0.10.0


### Forwarding VM Port Range to Host

If we take the port range that docker uses by default with the -P option
(49000-49900), and forward same range from host to vm, we'll be able to
interact with our containers as if they were running locally:

    # vm must be powered off
    for i in {49000..49900}; do
     VBoxManage modifyvm "boot2docker-vm" --natpf1 "tcp-port$i,tcp,,$i,,$i";
     VBoxManage modifyvm "boot2docker-vm" --natpf1 "udp-port$i,udp,,$i,,$i";
    done

### SSH-ing The VM

If you feel the need to connect to the VM, you can simply run:

    $ ./boot2docker ssh

    # User: docker
    # Pwd:  tcuser

You can now continue with the [*Hello
World*](/examples/hello_world/#hello-world) example.

## Learn More

### boot2docker:

See the GitHub page for
[boot2docker](https://github.com/boot2docker/boot2docker).

### If SSH complains about keys:

    $ ssh-keygen -R '[localhost]:2022'

### Upgrading to a newer release of boot2docker

To upgrade an initialised VM, you can use the following 3 commands. Your
persistence disk will not be changed, so you won't lose your images and
containers:

    $ ./boot2docker stop
    $ ./boot2docker download
    $ ./boot2docker start

### About the way Docker works on Mac OS X:

Docker has two key components: the `docker` daemon and the `docker` client.
The tool works by client commanding the daemon. In order to work and do its
magic, the daemon makes use of some Linux Kernel features (e.g. LXC, name
spaces etc.), which are not supported by OS X. Therefore, the solution of
getting Docker to run on OS X consists of running it inside a lightweight
virtual machine. In order to simplify things, Docker comes with a bash
script to make this whole process as easy as possible (i.e.
boot2docker).