🚀 How to Fix “docker-ce-cli is not installable” While Installing Docker Desktop on Ubuntu 24.04 / Linux Mint 21.3+

Many developers face the error

E: Package 'docker-ce-cli' has no installation candidate

while trying to install Docker Desktop on Ubuntu 24.04 (Noble Numbat) or Linux Mint 21.3 'Xia'. This guide will walk you through a working solution that resolves broken dependencies and makes Docker Desktop work smoothly.

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🧠 Why This Error Happens

Docker hasn’t yet released official support for Ubuntu 24.04 (noble) or its derivatives (like Linux Mint 21.3 ‘Xia’). When you try to install Docker Desktop via .debYou get this error:

docker-desktop : Depends: docker-ce-cli but it is not installable

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✅ Working Solution (Jammy Hack)

We’ll fix this by manually pointing Docker’s APT repository to Ubuntu 22.04 (Jammy), which is still compatible and fully supported by Docker.

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🔧 Step-by-Step Fix Guide

🔹 Step 1: Clean Existing Docker Sources

sudo rm /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list
sudo rm -rf /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.gpg

🔹 Step 2: Add Docker’s GPG Key Again

sudo mkdir -p /etc/apt/keyrings
curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu/gpg | \
sudo gpg --dearmor -o /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.gpg

🔹 Step 3: Add Docker Repo for Ubuntu 22.04 (Jammy)

echo \
  "deb [arch=$(dpkg --print-architecture) signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/docker.gpg] \
  https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu jammy stable" | \
  sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list > /dev/null

🔹 Step 4: Update Package Cache

sudo apt-get update

🔹 Step 5: Install docker-ce-cli

sudo apt-get install docker-ce-cli

✅ Now the dependency is resolved!

🔹 Step 6: Install Docker Desktop .deb File

Go to your .deb file location (usually Downloads):

cd ~/Downloads
sudo apt-get install ./docker-desktop-amd64.deb

🎉 Success! Docker Desktop is Installed

Now you can launch Docker Desktop from your system menu, or by typing:

systemctl --user start docker-desktop

💡 Bonus: Check Docker is Running

docker version
docker info

📝 Conclusion

If you're running Linux Mint 21.3 'Xia' or Ubuntu 24.04 'Noble', and struggling with the error:
"Package 'docker-ce-cli' has no installation candidate",
This workaround by using the Ubuntu 22.04 (jammy) repository will fix your issue.