Step-by-Step Guide for Setting Up and Using Docker on Ubuntu via Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL2)

• (Search in Add or Remove Programs for "Ubuntu" and uninstall it and/or launch wsl.exe --unregister Ubuntu to remove distributions in WSL)

In case you have WSL installed, update it to make sure that version 2 is being used. Launch in a PowerShell with administrator rights:

wsl.exe --update

In a PowerShell with administrator rights, execute the following command:

wsl --install --web-download -d Ubuntu

(If the console returns that the wsl command does not exist, you may not be under version 2 of WSL.)

Once the installation is finished, you will be asked to restart the system in case WSL was not activated and installed.

An Ubuntu terminal will open and ask you for the username and password for the Ubuntu machine. (It is recommended to use the user ubuntu)

Once inside the Ubuntu distribution, run the following command to create the WSL configuration file:

sudo nano /etc/wsl.conf

Paste the following code:

[boot]
systemd=true

Use CTRL+O to save it and then CTRL+X to exit.

Within the Ubuntu distribution, run the following command to shut down WSL:

wsl.exe --shutdown

Once WSL is shut down, open Windows File Explorer and type %UserProfile% in the address bar (or alternatively open the following path C:\Users\<Username>\). Create the .wslconfig file (the file path should look like this: C:\Users\<Username>\.wslconfig). Write this code in the file to limit the memory usage of the WSL VM:

[wsl2]
memory=8GB

Start the Ubuntu distribution (by launching wsl.exe in any terminal) and run the following commands to update the system and install necessary certificates:

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade
sudo apt-get install ca-certificates curl gnupg lsb-release

Add the official Docker GPG key:

sudo install -m 0755 -d /etc/apt/keyrings
curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu/gpg | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.gpg
sudo chmod a+r /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.gpg

Set up the Docker repository:

echo \
  "deb [arch="$(dpkg --print-architecture)" signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/docker.gpg] https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu \
  "$(. /etc/os-release && echo "$VERSION_CODENAME")" stable" | \
  sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list > /dev/null

Update the apt package and install Docker:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io docker-buildx-plugin docker-compose-plugin

When the installation is complete, assign Docker permissions to your user:

sudo usermod -aG docker $USER

Stop the default Docker service and disable it so it does not start automatically:

sudo systemctl stop docker
sudo systemctl disable docker

Create a specific service to run Docker with the TCP connection between Ubuntu and Windows. Create the dockerd.service file with the following command:

sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/dockerd.service

Paste the following code:

[Unit]
Description=Docker Engine
Documentation=https://docs.docker.com
After=network-online.target firewalld.service

[Service]
ExecStart=/usr/bin/dockerd -H unix:///var/run/docker.sock -H tcp://localhost:2375
ExecReload=/bin/kill -s HUP $MAINPID
TimeoutSec=0
RestartSec=2
Restart=always

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Use CTRL+O to save it and then CTRL+X to exit.

Restart systemctl, activate the new service and start it:

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable dockerd.service
sudo systemctl start dockerd.service

Open Visual Studio Code in Windows and install the WSL extension:

Once the extension is installed, click on the button at the bottom left that says Open a remote window to open Visual Studio Code with a connection to the Ubuntu distribution of WSL and click on Connect to WSL:

Install the Docker extension in WSL:

In the settings of the Docker extension (by clicking on the gear icon), look for the host setting within the Remote: [WSL: Ubuntu] tab and add the environment variable DOCKER_HOST=tcp://localhost:2375:

Install GIT:

sudo apt install git

Once GIT is installed, open the .gitconfig file to save your credentials configuration:

sudo nano ~/.gitconfig

Modify the following code with your USER, NAME and GITHUB email and paste it:

[user]
        email = [email protected]
        user = USER
        name = NAME
[credential]
        helper = store
[http]
        sslVerify = false
[core]
        autocrlf = true

Use CTRL+O to save it and then CTRL+X to exit.

Download and install wsl-vpnkit to have a connection to the repositories through the VPN:

Download the release 0.4.1 from this link and save it in a simple path such as in C:\: https://github.com/sakai135/wsl-vpnkit/releases/download/v0.4.1/wsl-vpnkit.tar.gz

Import the wsl-vpnkit distribution by launching the following command in a PowerShell with administrator rights:

Remember to change the C:\ path in case the file is in another location.

wsl.exe --import wsl-vpnkit --version 2 $env:USERPROFILE\wsl-vpnkit C:\wsl-vpnkit.tar.gz

Create and activate a service for wsl-vpnkit:

In an Ubuntu terminal, launch the following commands:

wsl.exe -d wsl-vpnkit --cd /app cat /app/wsl-vpnkit.service | sudo tee /etc/systemd/system/wsl-vpnkit.service
sudo systemctl enable wsl-vpnkit
sudo systemctl start wsl-vpnkit

Generate a new SSH key to be able to download the GitLab repositories: In an Ubuntu terminal, launch the following command changing the email for your GitLab email (the same one you have put in the Git configuration)

ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "[email protected]"

Press enter 3 times to generate the SSH key.

Once generated, launch the following command (change the user if necessary) and copy the key (including email):

sudo cat /home/ubuntu/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub

Go to the following page to add the SSH key: https://github.com/settings/ssh/new (or click on your profile icon at the top right > Settings > Click on SSH and GPG keys in the left sidebar and then on the New SSH key button)

Paste the SSH key into the Key field and press the Add SSH key button