Docker Compose + Engine Compatibility

Docker Compose v1 (docker-compose) vs v2 (docker compose plugin) across Docker Engine versions and operating systems. Compose v1 reached end of life in May 2024. 10 combinations verified against official release notes.

Docker Compose v1 (docker-compose) + Any Docker Engine

The `docker-compose` CLI (Compose v1, written in Python) reached end of life in May 2024. …

✗ Incompatible

Docker Compose v2 + Docker Engine 23.0+

Docker Engine 23.0+ includes Docker Compose v2 as a built-in plugin accessible via `docker…

✓ Works

Docker Compose v2 + Docker Engine 20.10

Docker Engine 20.10.13 was the first release to support Compose v2 as a plugin, but it is …

⚠ Partial

Docker Compose v2 + Ubuntu 22.04 LTS

Docker Compose v2 works on Ubuntu 22.04 when Docker Engine is installed from the official …

✓ Works

Docker Compose v2 + Ubuntu 24.04 LTS

Docker Compose v2 works on Ubuntu 24.04 (Noble). Use the official Docker apt repository — …

✓ Works

Docker Compose v2 + macOS (Docker Desktop)

Docker Desktop for macOS (Intel and Apple Silicon) bundles Docker Compose v2 — `docker com…

✓ Works

Docker Compose v2 + Windows + WSL2 (Docker Desktop)

Docker Desktop for Windows with WSL2 backend includes Docker Compose v2. The `docker compo…

✓ Works

docker-compose (v1) vs docker compose (v2) + Script compatibility

Compose v2 uses `docker compose` (space, no hyphen). The YAML file format is fully backwar…

⚠ Partial

Docker Compose v2 + ARM64 (Apple Silicon / AWS Graviton)

Docker Compose v2 itself runs natively on ARM64. The issue is that images referenced in `c…

⚠ Partial

Docker Compose v2 + Healthcheck configuration

The `healthcheck` key in compose.yml has identical syntax in v1 and v2 (`test`, `interval`…

✓ Works