Run Docker on Windows Server 2019 / 2022 [Guide]

In this tutorial, we will look at how you can configure your Windows server to run Docker containers. Docker has been a game changer in Applications containerization and the whole microservices design and deployment patterns. Docker makes it easy to build, ship and run images containing applications with their dependencies and avoid crazy dependency issues common with the use of Virtual Machines.

Docker engine is what powers docker containers. It was originally written for Linux but a lot of work has been done to enable Windows and macOS users to run Docker containers.

One pre-requisite is the installation of a Windows server. This can be on a Virtual Machine running on-premise, a Physical server deployment or a Cloud instance running in Azure. You can refer to our installation guide below.

Before you can use the Windows Containers to run multiple isolated applications your system, you’ll need to enable the containers feature and install Docker on Windows Server.

Step 1: Enable the containers feature

The first step is to enable the Windows Server containers feature. Open “Windows PowerShell” –> “Run as Administrator“

Run the following commands to install DockerMsftProvider:

Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName Containers

Accept by pressing the y key in your keyboard. You must restart compute, or do it manually:

Restart-Computer -Force

Step 2: Install Docker Engine

Once the Containers feature is enabled on Windows Server, install the latest Docker Engine and Client by running the command below in your PowerShell session.

Install Docker:

Install-Module -Name DockerMsftProvider -Repository PSGallery -Force 
Install-Package -Name docker -ProviderName DockerMsftProvider

When the installation is complete, reboot the computer.

Restart-Computer -Force

Installed Docker version can be checked with the commands below:

PS C:\Windows\system32> docker version
Client:
 Version:           27.0.3
 API version:       1.46
 Go version:        go1.21.11
 Git commit:        7d4bcd8
 Built:             Sat Jun 29 00:03:32 2024
 OS/Arch:           windows/amd64
 Context:           default

Server: Docker Engine - Community
 Engine:
  Version:          27.0.3
  API version:      1.46 (minimum version 1.24)
  Go version:       go1.21.11
  Git commit:       662f78c
  Built:            Sat Jun 29 00:02:13 2024
  OS/Arch:          windows/amd64
  Experimental:     false

To manually start the service run:

Start-Service Docker

To stop Docker service execute;

Stop-Service Docker

Step 3: Run Docker Container

Start Docker Daemon before you start running and managing Docker Containers.

Start-Service Docker

Check docker service status.

PS C:\Windows\system32> Get-Service docker

Status   Name               DisplayName
------   ----               -----------
Running  docker             Docker Engine

Microsoft repository contains several base images, see Container base images for more details. Let’s see how you can download and install the base image:

Let’s download Windows Server Core image:

# 2022
docker pull mcr.microsoft.com/windows/servercore:ltsc2022

# 2019
docker pull mcr.microsoft.com/windows/servercore:ltsc2019

We can create a new container from the pulled image:

docker run -it mcr.microsoft.com/windows/servercore:ltsc2019

Step 4: Running Linux Containers

Enable Nested Virtualization if you’re running Docker Containers using Linux Virtual Machine running on Hyper-V.

Get-VM WinContainerHost | Set-VMProcessor -ExposeVirtualizationExtensions $true

Enable LinuxKit system for running Linux containers

[Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("LCOW_SUPPORTED", "1", "Machine")

Restart Docker Service after the change.

Restart-Service docker

Enable Experimental Features in Docker daemon.conf

$configfile = @”

{

    “experimental”: true

}

“@

$configfile|Out-File -FilePath C:\ProgramData\docker\config\daemon.json -Encoding ascii -Force

Since Linux Containers need a Linux kernel, we need to deploy LCOW for it to run :

Invoke-WebRequest -Uri "https://github.com/linuxkit/lcow/releases/download/v4.14.35-v0.3.9/release.zip" -UseBasicParsing -OutFile release.zip
Expand-Archive release.zip -DestinationPath "$Env:ProgramFiles\Linux Containers\."

Pull a test docker image.

> docker run -it --rm ubuntu /bin/bash
 root@1440a7fef7e0:/# cat /etc/os-release 
 PRETTY_NAME="Ubuntu 22.04.3 LTS"
NAME="Ubuntu"
VERSION_ID="22.04"
VERSION="22.04.3 LTS (Jammy Jellyfish)"
VERSION_CODENAME=jammy
ID=ubuntu
ID_LIKE=debian
HOME_URL="https://www.ubuntu.com/"
SUPPORT_URL="https://help.ubuntu.com/"
BUG_REPORT_URL="https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/"
PRIVACY_POLICY_URL="https://www.ubuntu.com/legal/terms-and-policies/privacy-policy"
UBUNTU_CODENAME=jammy

 root@1440a7fef7e0:/# exit
 exit

To Switch back to running Windows containers, run:

[Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("LCOW_SUPPORTED", "$null", "Machine")

Enjoy running Linux and Windows containers on Windows Server 2022 or 2019. Drop us a comment in case of any issues.

Books For Learning Kubernetes Administration;

Best Kubernetes Study books

Also check:

Step 1: Enable the containers feature

Step 2: Install Docker Engine

Step 3: Run Docker Container

Step 4: Running Linux Containers

Related Articles