Confusion about updating Docker Desktop installed on Debian using apt repository

General Discussions
1

I’m using Docker desktop on Debian 12 bookworm. I used the Install using apt repository method a few weeks ago.

Today, I opened Docker Desktop, and it notified that my current version is 4.32 while 4.33 is available. However, when I do sudo apt update, it says “everything is up-to-date”.

Reading the docs carefully, I see

To upgrade Docker Engine, follow step 2 of the installation instructions, choosing the new version you want to install.

Following that instruction, I see

$ apt-cache madison docker-ce | awk '{ print $3 }'
5:27.1.1-1~debian.12~bookworm
...
// bunch of other lines with lower version numbers

Strange, the number 5.27 is different from the 4.3x I was expecting.

The docs strangely don’t say anything about apt upgrade, which is surprising; I was assuming the whole point of adding the repo to apt is so I can upgrade easily like this; that’s how most other packages like Google chrome and VSCode work.

Is the intended upgrade path for the “apt repo” method supposed to be to just install whatever is the highest version from the above apt-cache output, using

sudo apt-get install docker-ce=$VERSION_STRING <... etc etc>

and that’s supposed to update Docker desktop to the 4.33 number I see in Docker Desktop?

That can’t be, since I already have the latest version of docker-ce from that list:

$ apt list docker-ce
Listing... Done
docker-ce/bookworm,now 5:27.1.1-1~debian.12~bookworm amd64 [installed]

So is the interpretation here that because I’m using Debian stable, it’s deliberately not the latest version (because Debian stable packages only get upgraded for security updates and such?) If that’s the case, again that’s different from Google Chrome and VSCode, which provide the latest updates from the apt repo even for Debian stable

Or am I missing something else here?

2

Impossible, as this does not install Docker Desktop, it is the instruction to install docker-ce. Everything else in your post is a follow up by that confusion.

If you looked at the installation for Docker Desktop for Debian, you would have notices there is no apt repository for Docker Desktop: https://docs.docker.com/desktop/install/debian/#install-docker-desktop. You can’t upgrade the version using apt, you must download and install the deb package.

Make sure to get rid of your double installation; either remove docker-ce or docker desktop to prevent confusion. IF you use the forum search you will find plenty of posts in this forum where people had double installations and irritating behavior caused by it.

3

ah thanks for the clarification. I think what happened here is I followed the instructions for installing Docker Desktop](Install Docker Desktop on Debian | Docker Docs)

  1. Set up Docker’s apt repository. See step one of Install using the apt repository.
  2. Download latest DEB package
  3. (etc…)

The reader is supposed to click “step one of install using the apt repository”, but then come back here, which is somewhat error prone; it’s quite easy to continue to follow the rest of the instructions and install docker engine instead.

I also found the direct answer to my question of how to correct upgrade Docker Desktop here under the “Upgrade docker desktop” section:

Once a new version for Docker Desktop is released, the Docker UI shows a notification. You need to download the new package each time you want to upgrade Docker Desktop and run:
sudo apt-get install ./docker-desktop-<arch>.deb