How do I install Docker on WSL2?

I am trying to create microservice Docker images on a Windows machine. How do I install and use Docker using Windows Subsystem for Linux v2 (WSL2)?

Answer 1

[MathWorks Support Team]

To use Docker with WSL2, you should have WSL2 installed. You can list your installed Linux distributions and check the version of WSL each is set to by entering below command in PowerShell or Windows Command Prompt. 

wsl -l -v 

If WSL2 is not installed, you can install WSL2 using below command. For more detailed instructions, please refer to https://learn.microsoft.com/windows/wsl/install.

wsl --install

After installation, start a new WSL2 session and you will be asked to create a User Name and Password for your Linux distribution. Follow the prompt for instructions.

wsl -d Ubuntu

Next, complete the following steps. The instructions assume you are using an Ubuntu or Debian distribution. For other Linux distributions, see https://docs.docker.com/engine/install/.

Update software packages.

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade

Install Docker dependencies.

sudo apt install --no-install-recommends apt-transport-https ca-certificates curl gnupg2

Switch the firewall to legacy iptables.

sudo update-alternatives --set iptables /usr/sbin/iptables-legacy

If you receive error "update-alternatives: error: no alternatives for iptables". Run below commands to install iptables first. Then retry above step.

sudo apt update
sudo apt install iptables

Download the Docker OpenPGP signing key for your distribution.

. /etc/os-release
curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/${ID}/gpg | gpg --dearmor | sudo tee /usr/share/keyrings/docker-archive-keyring.gpg 

Add the Docker package repository to /etc/apt/sources.list.d.

echo "deb [arch=amd64 signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/docker-archive-keyring.gpg] https://download.docker.com/linux/${ID} ${VERSION_CODENAME} stable" \
| sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list

Install Docker.

sudo apt update
sudo apt install docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io

Add the current user to the docker group.

sudo usermod -aG docker $USER

Restart the WSL2 session by closing and reopening your WSL2 terminal to apply group changes.

Start Docker Daemon.

sudo dockerd

In a MATLAB command window, confirm that MATLAB detects your Docker installation.

[~,msg] = system('wsl docker version')

[Jeremy Huard]

@Mohamad The creation of microservices on Windows is only supported since R2022b. R2022a only supports Linux: https://www.mathworks.com/help/compiler_sdk/release-notes.html