Prepare Docker manually for Gluesync

This is a do-it-yourself (DIY) reference for system administrators who must prepare and manage the Docker host themselves.

Most users do not need this guide.

Go to Get Gluesync and use the setup wizard for your operating system. The wizard provides the correct installation kit and automates the supported Docker, Docker Compose, and Gluesync setup.

Continue here only when your organization requires manual runtime provisioning, a hardened base image, custom proxy or registry controls, or formal change-control review.

Scope and responsibilities

This guide prepares the container runtime. It does not replace the Gluesync setup wizard or generate a Gluesync deployment.

If you follow the DIY path, your operations team is responsible for:

Selecting a Docker release supported by your operating system.
Applying operating-system and Docker security updates.
Configuring service startup, log retention, storage, proxies, and registry access.
Validating the runtime before starting Gluesync.
Preserving any local Docker configuration changed during installation.

Check System requirements before changing the host.

Choose the correct path

Situation	Recommended path	Next guide
Standard online installation	Use the wizard at Get Gluesync. It prepares the download and installation steps for you.	Install with the Gluesync kit
Docker is already managed by your organization	Validate the existing runtime; do not reinstall it.	Deploy manually with Docker Compose
Docker must be installed manually	Follow this page and the linked Docker or Microsoft instructions.	Continue with Validate the runtime.
Air-gapped environment	Stage Docker and Gluesync artifacts through your approved internal process.	Offline Linux or Offline Windows

Situation

Recommended path

Next guide

Standard online installation

Use the wizard at Get Gluesync. It prepares the download and installation steps for you.

Install with the Gluesync kit

Docker is already managed by your organization

Validate the existing runtime; do not reinstall it.

Deploy manually with Docker Compose

Docker must be installed manually

Follow this page and the linked Docker or Microsoft instructions.

Continue with Validate the runtime.

Air-gapped environment

Stage Docker and Gluesync artifacts through your approved internal process.

Offline Linux or Offline Windows

Install the runtime

Use vendor-maintained installation instructions instead of copying package commands from this page. Repository definitions, signing keys, package names, and supported operating-system releases change independently of Gluesync.

Linux

Install Docker Engine from the official Docker instructions for your distribution.
Install the Docker Compose plugin from the official Compose instructions.

Enable Docker and its container runtime at boot:

sudo systemctl enable --now docker.service
sudo systemctl enable --now containerd.service

Decide which operating-system account will operate Gluesync. Follow Docker’s Linux post-installation guidance if that account must run Docker without sudo.

Membership in the docker group grants root-level privileges on the host. Apply it only to approved administrative accounts.

Rootless Docker is documented by Docker at Rootless mode. Validate compatibility with every required bind mount and with Conductor before adopting it.

macOS

Install Docker Desktop using the official macOS instructions, start it, and confirm that the Docker CLI can reach the engine.

macOS is intended for evaluation and local development. Use a supported server operating system for production.

Windows Server

Gluesync on Windows Server uses Windows containers. Run all installation and configuration steps from an elevated PowerShell session.

Prepare the host by following Microsoft’s Windows container instructions.
Install Docker Compose using Docker’s Windows Server instructions.
Restart the host when Windows enables container features or requests a restart.
Confirm that the Docker service starts automatically.

For the complete Windows deployment flow and supported alternatives, see Windows Server installation.

Configure the host

Log rotation

Container logs must be bounded to prevent them from filling the host disk. Merge the following settings into the existing Docker daemon configuration; do not overwrite unrelated keys.

Linux: /etc/docker/daemon.json

{
  "log-driver": "json-file",
  "log-opts": {
    "mode": "non-blocking",
    "max-buffer-size": "4m",
    "max-size": "100m",
    "max-file": "5"
  }
}

Restart Docker after validating the JSON:

sudo systemctl restart docker

Windows Server: C:\ProgramData\docker\config\daemon.json

{
  "log-driver": "json-file",
  "log-opts": {
    "mode": "non-blocking",
    "max-buffer-size": "4m",
    "max-size": "100m",
    "max-file": "5"
  }
}

Apply the change from elevated PowerShell:

Restart-Service docker

See Docker’s JSON file logging driver reference for daemon-wide behavior and alternatives.

Registry and network access

The host must resolve and reach the container registries and endpoints listed in System requirements. Validate access through the same proxy, DNS, firewall, and service account that Docker uses.

If direct registry access is prohibited, mirror the required images into an approved internal registry and update the kit’s image references under your normal change-control process. Do not repeatedly transfer ad hoc image archives as a production update strategy.

Windows Docker Engine: `daemon.json` proxy and group

Use this section only when Windows Server requires an authenticated proxy or a non-administrator operations group.

Open or create C:\ProgramData\docker\config\daemon.json.

Merge the required settings into the existing JSON:

{
  "group": "docker-users",
  "proxies": {
    "http-proxy": "http://DOMAIN%5Cuser:password@proxy.example.com:8080",
    "https-proxy": "http://DOMAIN%5Cuser:password@proxy.example.com:8080",
    "no-proxy": "localhost,127.0.0.1,.example.com"
  }
}

Percent-encode reserved characters in proxy credentials. For example, encode \ as %5C, $ as %24, @ as %40, : as %3A, and % as %25.
Add only approved users to the group named by group.
Restart Docker:
```
Restart-Service docker
```
Sign out and back in after changing group membership, then validate with docker ps.

Do not commit proxy credentials to source control or leave them in command history. Prefer your organization’s secret-management and service-account standards.

Validate the runtime

Run these checks as the account that will operate Gluesync:

docker version
docker compose version
docker info
docker run --rm hello-world

On Windows Server, use a Windows-compatible test image approved for the host instead of hello-world when required by your container mode or registry policy.

Validation is complete only when:

The client can reach the Docker daemon without an access error.
Docker and Compose report versions.
The host can pull an approved image through its normal network path.
A container can start and exit successfully.
Docker starts again after a controlled host restart.

Start Gluesync

Return to the kit produced by the Get Gluesync setup wizard. Use the lifecycle tools supplied with that kit:

Task Linux and macOS Windows Server

Task	Linux and macOS	Windows Server
Start or restart	`./run.sh`	`.\run.ps1`
Stop	`./stop.sh`	`.\stop.ps1`
Update	`./update.sh`	`.\update.ps1`

Start or restart

./run.sh

.\run.ps1

Stop

./stop.sh

.\stop.ps1

Update

./update.sh

.\update.ps1

These tools apply the kit’s environment, Compose files, credentials, validation, and required lifecycle sequence. Do not substitute raw Docker Compose commands.

For manual Compose customization, continue with Deploy manually with Docker Compose.