Docker install on Linux Mint 19 Tara

Question

I tried to install docker on Linux Details as below -

    Mint version 19, 
    Code name : Tara,
    PackageBase : Ubuntu Bionic
    Cinnamon (64-bit)

Referenced link: https://docs.docker.com/install/linux/docker-ce/ubuntu/

Steps:

1. sudo apt-get remove docker docker-engine docker.io

2. sudo apt-get update

3. sudo apt-get install apt-transport-https ca-certificates curl software-properties-common

4. curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu/gpg | sudo apt-key add -

5. sudo apt-key fingerprint 0EBFCD88

6. sudo add-apt-repository "deb [arch=amd64] https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu \
$(lsb_release -cs) \
stable"

7. sudo apt-get update

8. sudo apt-get install docker-ce

For step 6 I checked lsb_release -cs

xxxxxxxxx:~$ lsb_release -cs
tara

I see issue at step 7.

xxxxxxxxxxx:~$ sudo apt-get update
Ign:1 http://packages.linuxmint.com tara InRelease
Hit:2 http://packages.linuxmint.com tara Release                                                                                                                        
Hit:3 http://la-mirrors.evowise.com/ubuntu bionic InRelease                                                                                                             
Hit:4 http://la-mirrors.evowise.com/ubuntu bionic-updates InRelease                                                                                                     
Ign:5 http://dl.google.com/linux/chrome/deb stable InRelease                                                                                                            
Hit:7 http://la-mirrors.evowise.com/ubuntu bionic-backports InRelease                                                                                                   
Hit:8 http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu bionic InRelease                                                                                                              
Get:9 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-security InRelease [83.2 kB]                    
Hit:10 http://dl.google.com/linux/chrome/deb stable Release                                                
Ign:11 https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu tara InRelease                                             
Err:13 https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu tara Release                         
  404  Not Found [IP: 2600:9000:2045:3c00:3:db06:4200:93a1 443]
Reading package lists... Done                      
E: The repository 'https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu tara Release' does not have a Release file.
N: Updating from such a repository can't be done securely, and is therefore disabled by default.
N: See apt-secure(8) manpage for repository creation and user configuration details.

As an effect for step 8 I see below error.

xxxxxxxx:~$ sudo apt-get install docker-ce
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
Package docker-ce is not available, but is referred to by another package.
This may mean that the package is missing, has been obsoleted, or
is only available from another source

E: Package 'docker-ce' has no installation candidate

Looks like there is some issue with linux mint Tara or Ubuntu Bionic with Docker.

Can someone tell me how to resolve the issue and install docker?

Solution

The Docker repository at https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu doesn't know about Linux Mint's code name tara. Use Ubuntu's codename, bionic.

That is, your step 6 above should be this instead:

sudo add-apt-repository "deb [arch=amd64] https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu $(. /etc/os-release; echo "$UBUNTU_CODENAME") stable"

This works because Linux Mint is built on top of Ubuntu. In this step, we are simply replacing the Linux Mint codename (returned by lsb_release -cs) with the Ubuntu base codename (returned by . /etc/os-release; echo "$UBUNTU_CODENAME").

---

Because you already ran the incorrect command (with the Linux Mint codename), you might find that you continue to see warnings with apt-get update. To fix these, you can delete the corresponding file (the one that says tara from /etc/apt/sources.list.d/, or use another GUI or command line tool to do this for you.

Comments

[AtachiShadow]

Use "$(. /etc/os-release; echo "$UBUNTU_CODENAME")" instead of "$(lsb_release -cs)". It works I checked))

[mkasberg]

Great info! I'll add that to the answer above.

[nnov]

This doesn't work in linux mint 19.2. I've found the solution here: stackoverflow.com/questions/57402923/…