I'm new to Docker and need some help. I want to download a Docker container on a machine that doesn't have Docker installed and then transfer it to another machine that doesn't connect to the internet. I attempted to install Docker Desktop on my MacBook Pro, but my macOS Big Sur 11.7 is too old for the installation, and I can't upgrade it further. Is there a way to download the container without having Docker installed? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
5 Answers
Check out that GitHub link for a script called download-frozen-image-v2.sh. It might help you download the Docker images you need without directly using Docker on your machine.
While Docker isn’t meant for offline downloads, you could run a Linux VM and install Docker there. Then you can pull images directly into the VM. If you don’t like using command lines, consider using Portainer to manage it.
Skopeo might be what you're looking for. It can handle container images and is designed for situations like this where you don’t have Docker installed.
You don't need a proper container CLI; you can manually download the layers and manifest, but that's a bit of a hassle. If you can find a version of Docker or Podman that works with your older macOS, you could use the CLI to pull and save the image, then transfer it. Another option is to run a Linux VM with a more modern distro, install Docker there, and pull/save the images without worrying about macOS issues.
You could use the `docker save` command to export an image to a tar file and then transfer that file to your Big Sur machine using SCP. After that, you can import it with `docker import`. If you can't get Docker Desktop to work, consider using multipass or UTM to create a Linux VM on your Mac and install the Docker engine there.
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