Docker Download Curl [updated] May 2026
The most common "download" association is using a single-line script to install the Docker Engine on a fresh Linux system. Docker provides a convenience script at get.docker.com .
In many cases, you don't actually need to install curl . Docker has built-in instructions that can handle remote files: docker download curl
You can use ADD [URL] [Destination] to download a file directly into the image. However, ADD does not support authentication and will not automatically extract files from a URL. The most common "download" association is using a
If you don't use multi-stage builds, install, use, and remove curl in a single RUN layer to prevent bloat. dockerfile Docker has built-in instructions that can handle remote
Below is a comprehensive guide on how to handle both scenarios, including best practices for your Dockerfiles. 1. Installing Docker via Curl
# Stage 1: Download FROM alpine as builder RUN apk add --no-cache curl RUN curl -L https://example.com -o /app/binary # Stage 2: Final Image FROM alpine COPY --from=builder /app/binary /usr/local/bin/binary Use code with caution. B. The "Chain and Clean" Method
RUN apt-get update && \ apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends curl && \ curl -L https://example.com -o /tmp/app.tar.gz && \ tar -xzf /tmp/app.tar.gz -C /usr/src/app && \ rm /tmp/app.tar.gz && \ apt-get purge -y --auto-remove curl && \ rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/* Use code with caution. 4. Alternatives to Curl in Docker