Tutorial: Docker Installation in WSL 2 of Windows

WSL, Ubuntu, Docker Installation, and Run a Docker

3 min readJun 27, 2022

**Using Docker in WSL 2** (Image from Visual Studio Code)

In this story, I record my steps by installing Docker in WSL of Windows. The full name of WSL is Windows Subsystem for Linux.

While I can install docker in Windows directly, I want to use Linux commands such as curl. WSL is a good way to do it. Also, using WSL, I do not need Hyper-V or VM. Indeed, I just follow the procedures (link at the bottom) from Microsoft:

First, WSL is installed first,
By using WSL, we can install and run Linux OS such as Ubuntu.
Finally, Docker is installed within Ubuntu.

Let’s get started !!! (Note: I made it on 26th June 2022. It may have some updates in the future which makes the procedures different, or it can have any other better ways for it.)

Outline

WSL and Ubuntu Installation
Docker Installation and Run a Docker

1. WSL and Ubuntu Installation

Before installing WSL, first, we need to install Windows Terminal. If you got it, then it’s fine. We install it from: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/terminal/install
Open Windows Terminal using administrator, and run:

wsl --list --online

There is a list of linux OS that we can have. But now, I got Ubuntu by running (There maybe needs for reboot to make WSL work.):

wsl --install -d Ubuntu

**I forgot to capture the screen** (this image is from iThome)

Ubuntu command window is popup, and UNIX username and password are requested.

**Request for UNIX Username and password**

After that, there should be saying that “Installation Successful!”.
Next time if we want to use Ubuntu again, we can just find Ubuntu from the start menu.

2. Docker Installation and Run a Docker

2.1. Download Docker

There is docker for Windows WSL in official docker website: https://docs.docker.com/desktop/windows/wsl/
Click “Download Docker Desktop for Windows” to download.

2.2. Install Docker

Click the setup file that just downloaded. The version is 4.9.1 for me.

2.3. Activate WSL Integration in Docker

Start “Docker Desktop”. By clicking Settings > Resources > WSL Integration. Make sure WSL integration is activated:

(For me, I need to enable Ubuntu integration and reboot my PC.)

2.4 Run a Docker in WSL Ubuntu

In Ubuntu command prompt, run the getting-started docker:

docker run -dp 80:80 docker/getting-started

Then, in the browser, type:

http://localhost

**http://localhost** **Saying Congratulations**

We can see that the local host is just running, which means we just start a docker.

References

[Using Docker in WSL 2] https://code.visualstudio.com/blogs/2020/03/02/docker-in-wsl2
[WSL Installation]
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/install
[Get started with Docker remote containers on WSL 2]
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/tutorials/wsl-containers
[Docker Desktop WSL 2 backend] https://docs.docker.com/desktop/windows/wsl/
[Getting Started Docker]
https://github.com/docker/getting-started

Docker

[Docker Installation] [Pulling Image] [Running Image] [Exporting/Saving Image] [Nvidia-Docker 2.0 Installation] [Docker Installation in WSL 2 of Windows]