---
layout: "docker"
page_title: "Provider: Docker"
sidebar_current: "docs-docker-index"
description: |-
  The Docker provider is used to interact with Docker containers and images.
---

# Docker Provider

The Docker provider is used to interact with Docker containers and images.
It uses the Docker API to manage the lifecycle of Docker containers. Because
the Docker provider uses the Docker API, it is immediately compatible not
only with single server Docker but Swarm and any additional Docker-compatible
API hosts.

Use the navigation to the left to read about the available resources.

## Example Usage

```
# Configure the Docker provider
provider "docker" {
  host = "tcp://127.0.0.1:2376/"
}

# Create a container
resource "docker_container" "foo" {
  image = "${docker_image.ubuntu.latest}"
  name  = "foo"
}

resource "docker_image" "ubuntu" {
  name = "ubuntu:latest"
}
```

## Registry Credentials

The initial (current) version of the Docker provider **doesn't** support registry authentication.
This limits any use cases to public images for now.

## Argument Reference

The following arguments are supported:

* `host` - (Required) This is the address to the Docker host. If this is
  blank, the `DOCKER_HOST` environment variable will also be read.

* `cert_path` - (Optional) Path to a directory with certificate information
  for connecting to the Docker host via TLS. If this is blank, the
  `DOCKER_CERT_PATH` will also be checked.

* `ca_material`, `cert_material`, `key_material`, - (Optional) Content of `ca.pem`, `cert.pem`, and `key.pem` files
  for TLS authentication. Cannot be used together with `cert_path`.

~> **NOTE on Certificates and `docker-machine`:**  As per [Docker Remote API
documentation](https://docs.docker.com/engine/reference/api/docker_remote_api/),
in any docker-machine environment, the Docker daemon uses an encrypted TCP
socket (TLS) and requires `cert_path` for a successful connection. As an alternative,
if using `docker-machine`, run `eval $(docker-machine env <machine-name>)` prior
to running Terraform, and the host and certificate path will be extracted from
the environment.