Do this (once): docker context create --docker 'host=ssh://user@remote-host' remote-host Then try this instead: docker -c remote-host compose -f comp

Do this (once): docker context create --docker 'host=ssh://user@remote-host' remote-host Then try this instead: docker -c remote-host compose -f compose.yaml up -d --pull always ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ No need to copy files around. Also, another pro tip: set up your ~/.ssh/config so that you don't need the user@ part in any ssh invocations. It's quite practical when working in a team, you can just copy-paste commands between docs and each other. Host *.example.com User myusername