Add docker to path windows

• Install and configure Ubuntu WSL
• Install application
• Docker in Windows without Docker Desktop
• Docker/Kubernetes Clients
• Git tricks

See items marked with ❤️‍🔥 to use winning variants

❤️‍🔥 Way 1. Using original docker binaries

Install docker client in Windows

• Download necessary version of docker binaries from https://docs.docker.com/engine/install/binaries/ and extract archive to c:/Program Files, for example, using script in powershell. Run powershell as Administrator and call:

  Expand-Archive .\docker-20.10.9.zip -DestianationPath $Env:ProgramFiles  

  Files docker.exe and dockerd.exe will be here c:/Program Files/docker/.

  We need only docker.exe and do not need dockerd.exe because it can start only Windows containers.
  To check it you can try to call as Admin dockerd.exe and then docker.exe pull ubuntu. Expected result:
  no matching manifest for windows/amd64 10.0.19043 in the manifest list entries

• Add path c:/Program Files/docker to environment variable PATH. It could be done with this powershell script:

  [Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("Path",$env:Path + ";c:/Program Files/docker", "Machine")

❤️‍🔥 Install Docker Daemon in WSL

• Install docker under Ubuntu WSL using these instructions https://docs.docker.com/engine/install/ubuntu/

• To provide ability to call docker in WSL without sudo add current user to docker group

  sudo groupadd docker
  sudo usermod -aG docker $USER

• Configure dockerd to run (one of)…

  👉 over http with access from Windows

  ⤵️ Edit /etc/profile

  function rundocker(){
    ## Use this variant in case when `localhostForwarding` in `/etc/wsl.conf` is unset or equal to `false`
    #DOCKER_HOST=`ifconfig eth0 | grep -E "inet ([0-9]{1,3}.){3}[0-9]{1,3}" | head -1 | awk '{ print $2 }'`
    DOCKER_HOST=localhost
    WIN_CLIENT="/mnt/c/Program Files/docker/docker.exe"
    "$WIN_CLIENT" context rm -f wsl > /dev/null
    "$WIN_CLIENT" context create wsl --description "dockerd in WSL" --docker "host=tcp://$DOCKER_HOST:2375"
    "$WIN_CLIENT" context use wsl
    sudo dockerd -H $DOCKER_HOST -H "unix:///var/run/docker.sock" --tls=false
  }
  export -f rundocker

  Details…

  ⚠️ Be aware of this warnings:

  Binding to IP address without --tlsverify is insecure and gives root access on this machine to everyone who has access to your network.  host="tcp://172.27.117.140:2375"
  Binding to an IP address, even on localhost, can also give access to scripts run in a browser. Be safe out there!  host="tcp://172.27.117.140:2375"
  

  ⤵️ ❤️‍🔥 Run docker daemon on Windows startup using Task Scheduler (taskschd.msc)

  $task = New-ScheduledTaskAction -Execute "C:\Windows\System32\wsl.exe" -Argument '-u root bash -c "(source /etc/profile && rundocker &) && sleep 10"'
  $trigger = New-ScheduledTaskTrigger -AtLogon
  $settings = New-ScheduledTaskSettingsSet -DontStopIfGoingOnBatteries -AllowStartIfOnBatteries
  Register-ScheduledTask RunDocker -Action $task -Trigger $trigger -Settings $settings

  ⤵️ Run docker daemon on Windows startup using Startup folder

  Open Startup folder Win+R -> shell:common startup (usually C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\StartUp) and create .bat script with content

  C:\Windows\System32\wsl.exe g -u root bash -c "(source /etc/profile && rundocker &) && sleep 10"

  ⤵️ To stop docker daemon manually

  sudo kill $(ps faux | grep 'dockerd' | grep -vw grep | awk '{ print $2 }')

  ⤵️ To run docker daemon manually

  rundocker &
  

  👉 without access from Windows, using systemd

  ⚠️ this method raises questions. Firstly, I do not know how to get access from Windows, e.g. cmd.exe. Secondly, systemd is a kind of overhead.

  ⚠️ TBD try to enable systemd: https://youtu.be/DmfuJzX6vJQ?t=459

  ⤵️ Add systemd support (about script, about Linux Software Repository for Microsoft Products)

  wget --content-disposition \
  "https://gist.githubusercontent.com/djfdyuruiry/6720faa3f9fc59bfdf6284ee1f41f950/raw/952347f805045ba0e6ef7868b18f4a9a8dd2e47a/install-sg.sh"
    
  chmod +x ./install-sg.sh
    
  # use here appropriate version from https://packages.microsoft.com/ubuntu/
  sed -i -E 's/(UBUNTU_VERSION)=".+"/\1=21.04/g' ./install-sg.sh
    
  ./install-sg.sh

  Then Exit the WSL terminal and shutdown the WSL env:

  To open a new WSL terminal with systemd enabled, run:

  Details…

  ⚠️ In you have an error like

  $ wsl genie -s
  Timed out waiting for systemd to enter running state.
  This may indicate a systemd configuration error.
  Attempting to continue.
  Failed units will now be displayed (systemctl list-units --failed):
    UNIT                       LOAD   ACTIVE SUB    DESCRIPTION
  ● systemd-remount-fs.service loaded failed failed Remount Root and Kernel File Systems
  
  LOAD   = Reflects whether the unit definition was properly loaded.
  ACTIVE = The high-level unit activation state, i.e. generalization of SUB.
  SUB    = The low-level unit activation state, values depend on unit type.
  1 loaded units listed.
  

  then disable this service

  sudo systemctl mask systemd-remount-fs.service

  then wsl --shutdown and retry wsl genie -s

  ⚠️ In you have an error (reproduced in Ubuntu 21.10) like

  WARN[2021-11-05T17:20:57.078243654+04:00] grpc: addrConn.createTransport failed to connect to {unix:///var/run/docker/containerd/containerd.sock 0 }. Err :connection error: desc = "transport: Error while dialing dial unix:///var/run/docker/containerd/containerd.sock: timeout". Reconnecting... module=grpc
  failed to start daemon: Error initializing network controller: error obtaining controller instance: unable to add return rule in DOCKER-ISOLATION-STAGE-1 chain: (iptables failed: iptables --wait -A DOCKER-ISOLATION-STAGE-1 -j RETURN: iptables v1.8.7 (nf_tables): RULE_APPEND failed (No such file or directory): rule in chain DOCKER-ISOLATION-STAGE-1
  (exit status 4))
  

  then switch from nf_tables to ip_tables (see link1, link2):

  $sudo rm -rd /var/run/docker*
  # Ubuntu 21.10 uses nf_tables intead of ip_tables
  $/sbin/iptables --version
  $/usr/sbin/iptables-legacy --version
  $ sudo update-alternatives --set iptables /usr/sbin/iptables-legacy

  ⤵️ Run docker daemon on Windows startup using Task Scheduler (taskschd.msc)

  $task = New-ScheduledTaskAction -Execute "C:\Windows\System32\wsl.exe" -Argument 'genie -s'
  $trigger = New-ScheduledTaskTrigger -AtLogon
  $settings = New-ScheduledTaskSettingsSet -DontStopIfGoingOnBatteries -AllowStartIfOnBatteries
  Register-ScheduledTask RunDocker -Action $task -Trigger $trigger -Settings $settings

  ⤵️ Run docker daemon on Windows startup using Startup folder

  Open Startup folder Win+R -> shell:common startup (usually C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\StartUp) and create .bat script with content

  C:\Windows\System32\wsl.exe genie -s

  ⤵️ How to run docker daemon manually

  C:\Windows\System32\wsl.exe genie -s
  

  👉 over https with access from Windows too

  TBD

  👉 over channels?

  TBD

Way 2. Using nerdctl from Rancher Desktop instead of docker

⚠️ this way is not completely functional. Firstly, I do knot know how to make docker available everywhere — not only in bash under WSL. Secondly, nerdctl is not docker, so it could bring unexpected problems (e.g. nerdctl does not have --ip param for nerdctl run, who knows what else difference exist). But Rancher Desktop can be used as separate container orchestrator.

⚠️ I run nerdctl -n docker run -p 3000:3000 grafana/grafana, checked and then stopped container via ctrl+c or stop. After it, I cannot run it again until rebooting.

• Install Rancher Desktop
• Run and choose some version of Kubernetes
• Tick WSL Integration -> Ubuntu. Link /home/<wsl-user>/.kube/config -> /mnt/c/Users/<win-user>/.kube/config will be created.
• This step is required if you are using appendWindowsPath=false

  mkdir -p ~/.local/bin
  WIN_USER=<type-him>
  ln -s /mnt/c/Users/$WIN_USER/AppData/Local/Programs/Rancher\ Desktop/resources/resources/win32/bin/nerdctl.exe /home/$USER/.local/bin/nerdctl
  #ln -s /mnt/c/Users/$WIN_USER/AppData/Local/Programs/Rancher\ Desktop/resources/resources/win32/bin/kubectl.exe /home/$USER/.local/bin/kubectl
  #ln -s /mnt/c/Users/$WIN_USER/AppData/Local/Programs/Rancher\ Desktop/resources/resources/win32/bin/helm.exe /home/$USER/.local/bin/helm
  #ln -s /mnt/c/Users/$WIN_USER/AppData/Local/Programs/Rancher\ Desktop/resources/resources/win32/bin/kuberlr.exe /home/$USER/.local/bin/kuberlr
  #ln -s /mnt/c/Users/$WIN_USER/AppData/Local/Programs/Rancher\ Desktop/resources/resources/win32/bin/kim.exe /home/$USER/.local/bin/kim
  source ~/.bashrc

  Thereby nerdctl will be available in WSL for current user. Also you can link programs to /usr/bin/nerdctl to share it for all users.

• Lets create alias docker -> nerdctl with hardcoded namespace name (in Rancher Desktop) where all images will be pull in. Add to ~/.bash_aliases or /etc/aliases:

  #nerdctl as docker
  alias docker='nerdctl -n docker'  

  Thereby nerdctl can be used as docker but this is possible only in bash under WSL (think about how to make link or script to fix parameter).

❤️‍🔥 Docker Compose

sudo apt-get install -y python3 python3-pip
pip3 install --user docker-compose

⚠️ Do not forget to set variable DOCKER_HOST in ~/.bashrc if it has not still done.

export DOCKER_HOST=tcp://localhost:2375

⚠️ On error TypeError: load_config() got an unexpected keyword argument 'config_dict' try to call scripts:

pip3 uninstall docker-compose
pip3 uninstall docker-py docker
pip3 install --user -U docker-compose

See also link1, link2, link3

See Setting Up Docker for Windows and WSL to Work Flawlessly

☢️ Problem with host.docker.internal

I caught error Error: net::ERR_CONNECTION_REFUSED at http://host.docker.internal:6006?path=... with docker-chromium having run under jet-puppeteer-docker in Jetbrains Idea (only there).
The only way to fix it was found:

• Install Docker Desktop and clone folder c:\Program Files\Docker as c:\Program Files\Docker_. After that Docker Desktop can be removed.
• Then make steps above to unpack binaries. Then copy with a replace files docker.exe and com.docker.cli.exe from c:\Program Files\Docker_\Docker\resources\bin\ to c:\Program Files\Docker.
• I do not know why it is so. Despite docker.exe is just client to dockerd in WSL, but it makes some difference. When we use not-patched version of docker.exe then /etc/hosts does not contains needed alias. But when we use patched version of docker.exe from Docker Desktop (with required com.docker.cli.exe) then it gets OK. I suggested that a problem is hidden in difference of versions and checked it. Probably, Nope.
  • Docker 20.10.10, build b485636 from Docker Desktop
  • Docker 20.10.9, build c2ea9bc from binaries
  • Docker 20.10.10, build b485636 from binaries
• At the same time do not touch docker-compose.exe, leave original version