Install Docker Scout

The Docker Scout CLI plugin comes pre-installed with Docker Desktop.

If you run Docker Engine without Docker Desktop, Docker Scout doesn't come pre-installed, but you can install it as a standalone binary.

Installation script#

To install the latest version of the plugin, run the following commands:

$ curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/docker/scout-cli/main/install.sh -o install-scout.sh
$ sh install-scout.sh

[!NOTE]

Always examine scripts downloaded from the internet before running them locally. Before installing, make yourself familiar with potential risks and limitations of the convenience script.

Manual installation#

{{< tabs >}} {{< tab name="Linux" >}}

1. Download the latest release from the releases page.
2. Create a subdirectory under $HOME/.docker called scout.

console $ mkdir -p $HOME/.docker/scout

3. Extract the archive and move the docker-scout binary to the $HOME/.docker/scout directory.
4. Make the binary executable: chmod +x $HOME/.docker/scout/docker-scout.
5. Add the scout subdirectory to your .docker/config.json as a plugin directory:

json { "cliPluginsExtraDirs": [ "/home/<USER>/.docker/scout" ] }

Substitute <USER> with your username on the system.

[!NOTE] The path for cliPluginsExtraDirs must be an absolute path.

{{< /tab >}} {{< tab name="macOS" >}}

1. Download the latest release from the releases page.
2. Create a subdirectory under $HOME/.docker called scout.

console $ mkdir -p $HOME/.docker/scout

3. Extract the archive and move the docker-scout binary to the $HOME/.docker/scout directory.
4. Make the binary executable:

console $ chmod +x $HOME/.docker/scout/docker-scout

5. Authorize the binary to be executable on macOS:

console xattr -d com.apple.quarantine $HOME/.docker/scout/docker-scout

6. Add the scout subdirectory to your .docker/config.json as a plugin directory:

json { "cliPluginsExtraDirs": [ "/Users/<USER>/.docker/scout" ] }

Substitute <USER> with your username on the system.

[!NOTE] The path for cliPluginsExtraDirs must be an absolute path.

{{< /tab >}} {{< tab name="Windows" >}}

1. Download the latest release from the releases page.
2. Create a subdirectory under %USERPROFILE%/.docker called scout.

console % mkdir %USERPROFILE%\.docker\scout

3. Extract the archive and move the docker-scout.exe binary to the %USERPROFILE%\.docker\scout directory.
4. Add the scout subdirectory to your .docker\config.json as a plugin directory:

json { "cliPluginsExtraDirs": [ "C:\Users\<USER>\.docker\scout" ] }

Substitute <USER> with your username on the system.

[!NOTE] The path for cliPluginsExtraDirs must be an absolute path.

{{< /tab >}} {{< /tabs >}}

Container image#

The Docker Scout CLI plugin is also available as a container image. Use the docker/scout-cli to run docker scout commands without installing the CLI plugin on your host.

$ docker run -it \
  -e DOCKER_SCOUT_HUB_USER=<your Docker Hub user name> \
  -e DOCKER_SCOUT_HUB_PASSWORD=<your Docker Hub PAT>  \
  docker/scout-cli <command>

GitHub Action#

The Docker Scout CLI plugin is also available as a GitHub action. You can use it in your GitHub workflows to automatically analyze images and evaluate policy compliance with each push.

Docker Scout also integrates with many more CI/CD tools, such as Jenkins, GitLab, and Azure DevOps. Learn more about the integrations available for Docker Scout.