Docker in WSL 2

Tips and Traps¶

1. Docker on WSL 2 works great. However, the performance of IO is extremely bad if it access the Windows filesystem. For more discussions, please refer to WSL 2 Filesystem .

2. Docker containers launched from a WSL (e.g., Ubuntu) shell will continue to run after the WSL shell is terminated, as long as the Docker daemon is alive. As a matter of fact, a WSL 2 shell is not must to start the Docker daemon (back by WSL 2) or to launch Docker containers.

Install Docker in WSL 2¶

1. Install WSL 2 following instructions in Tips on WSL 2 .

2. Install docker.io in WSL 2.

    :::bash
    sudo apt-get install docker.io

3. Install Docker desktop for Windows.

4. Set Docker to use WSL 2 based engine.

   1. Open Docker desktop settings.

   2. Check the checkbox “Use the WSL 2 based engine” in the general tab.

   3. Click “Apply & Restart”.

   

For more details, please refer to Docker Desktop WSL 2 backend .

References¶

• Tips on WSL 2

• How to Boost Docker with WSL2

• https://towardsdatascience.com/dual-boot-is-dead-windows-and-linux-are-now-one-27555902a128