How to install an older version of Docker on Debian

docker_debian.md

How to install an older Docker version

These instructions are only tested on installations that use the Docker apt repository.

1. Remove the existing installation

   sudo apt-get remove docker-engine

2. List the available versions

   sudo apt-cache showpkg docker-engine
   
   ...
   
   Provides:
   1.11.1-0~jessie -
   1.11.0-0~jessie -
   1.10.3-0~jessie -
   1.10.2-0~jessie -
   1.10.1-0~jessie -
   1.10.0-0~jessie -
   1.9.1-0~jessie -
   1.9.0-0~jessie -
   1.8.3-0~jessie -
   1.8.2-0~jessie -
   1.8.1-0~jessie -
   1.8.0-0~jessie -
   1.7.1-0~jessie -
   1.7.0-0~jessie -
   1.6.2-0~jessie -
   1.6.1-0~jessie -
   1.6.0-0~jessie -
   1.5.0-0~jessie -

3. Install an available version, in this case 1.9.1

   sudo apt-get install docker-engine=1.9.1-0~jessie

4. Verify the install

   docker version
   
   Client:
    Version:      1.9.1
    API version:  1.21
    Go version:   go1.4.2
    Git commit:   a34a1d5
    Built:        Fri Nov 20 12:59:02 UTC 2015
    OS/Arch:      linux/amd64
   
   Server:
    Version:      1.9.1
    API version:  1.21
    Go version:   go1.4.2
    Git commit:   a34a1d5
    Built:        Fri Nov 20 12:59:02 UTC 2015
    OS/Arch:      linux/amd64

I just tried this and it didn't work:

 apt-cache showpkg docker-engine
Package: docker-engine
Versions: 

Reverse Depends: 
  docker-ce,docker-engine
  docker-ce,docker-engine
  docker-ce,docker-engine
  docker-ce,docker-engine
  docker-ce,docker-engine
  docker-ce,docker-engine
  docker-ce,docker-engine
  docker-ce,docker-engine
  docker-ce,docker-engine
  docker-ce,docker-engine
  docker-ce,docker-engine
  docker-ce,docker-engine
  docker-ce,docker-engine
  docker-ce,docker-engine
  docker-ce,docker-engine
  docker-ce,docker-engine
  docker-ce,docker-engine
  docker-ce,docker-engine
Dependencies: 
Provides: 
Reverse Provides: 

Okay you have to use the old repos (from this page):

# apt-key adv --keyserver hkp://p80.pool.sks-keyservers.net:80 --recv-keys 58118E89F3A912897C070ADBF76221572C52609D
# echo "deb https://apt.dockerproject.org/repo debian-jessie main" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list
# apt-get update
# apt-cache madison docker-engine

I wanted to test python-docker using an older version of Docker, because the minimum supported docker API is 1.21, which shipped with Docker 1.9.

Unfortunately these old repos are now gone (as of 3/31/2020).

Nothing is ever lost on the internet. A search for an old docker-engine debian package name (docker-engine_1.9.1-0-jessie_amd64.deb) has turned up a mirror.

# apt-key adv --keyserver hkp://p80.pool.sks-keyservers.net:80 --recv-keys 58118E89F3A912897C070ADBF76221572C52609D
# echo "deb http://mirrors.aliyun.com/docker-engine/apt/repo debian-jessie main" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list
# apt-get update
# apt-cache madison docker-engine