page_title: Installation on openSUSE and SUSE Linux Enterprise
page_description: Installation instructions for Docker on openSUSE and on SUSE Linux Enterprise.
page_keywords: openSUSE, SUSE Linux Enterprise, SUSE, SLE, docker, documentation, installation

# openSUSE

Docker is available in **openSUSE 12.3 and later**. Please note that due
to its current limitations Docker is able to run only **64 bit** architecture.

Docker is not part of the official repositories of openSUSE 12.3 and
openSUSE 13.1. Hence  it is neccessary to add the [Virtualization
repository](https://build.opensuse.org/project/show/Virtualization) from
[OBS](https://build.opensuse.org/) to install the `docker` package.

Execute one of the following commands to add the Virtualization repository:

    # openSUSE 12.3
    $ sudo zypper ar -f http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/Virtualization/openSUSE_12.3/ Virtualization

    # openSUSE 13.1
    $ sudo zypper ar -f http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/Virtualization/openSUSE_13.1/ Virtualization

No extra repository is required for openSUSE 13.2 and later.

# SUSE Linux Enterprise

Docker is available in **SUSE Linux Enterprise 12 and later**. Please note that
due to its current limitations Docker is able to run only on **64 bit**
architecture.

# Installation

Install the Docker package.

    $ sudo zypper in docker

Now that it's installed, let's start the Docker daemon.

    $ sudo systemctl start docker

If we want Docker to start at boot, we should also:

    $ sudo systemctl enable docker

The docker package creates a new group named docker. Users, other than
root user, need to be part of this group in order to interact with the
Docker daemon. You can add users with:

    $ sudo /usr/sbin/usermod -a -G docker <username>

To verify that everything has worked as expected:

    $ sudo docker run --rm -i -t opensuse /bin/bash

This should download and import the `opensuse` image, and then start `bash` in
a container. To exit the container type `exit`.

If you want your containers to be able to access the external network you must
enable the `net.ipv4.ip_forward` rule.
This can be done using YaST by browsing to the
`Network Devices -> Network Settings -> Routing` menu and ensuring that the
`Enable IPv4 Forwarding` box is checked.

This option cannot be changed when networking is handled by the Network Manager.
In such cases the `/etc/sysconfig/SuSEfirewall2` file needs to be edited by
hand to ensure the `FW_ROUTE` flag is set to `yes` like so:

    FW_ROUTE="yes"


**Done!**

## Custom daemon options

If you need to add an HTTP Proxy, set a different directory or partition for the
Docker runtime files, or make other customizations, read our systemd article to
learn how to [customize your systemd Docker daemon options](/articles/systemd/).

## What's next

Continue with the [User Guide](/userguide/).

