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tutorialBeginner5 min read

Install Docker on WSL

This guide will provide instructions on how to install Docker inside Ubuntu 24.04 WSL on Windows 11

Install Docker on WSL (Skip Docker Desktop!)

Ubuntu WSL

In order to follow this guide, Ubuntu WSL must be installed.

Install Docker

Open Ubuntu WSL

wsl

WSL Ubuntu Terminal Prompt
WSL Ubuntu Terminal Prompt

Paste the following commands:

# Add Docker's official GPG key:
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install ca-certificates curl
sudo install -m 0755 -d /etc/apt/keyrings
sudo curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu/gpg -o /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc
sudo chmod a+r /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc
 
# Add the repository to Apt sources:
echo \
  "deb [arch=$(dpkg --print-architecture) signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc] https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu \
  $(. /etc/os-release && echo "$VERSION_CODENAME") stable" | \
  sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list > /dev/null
sudo apt-get update

Docker can now be installed, paste the following command in and execute it

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

Docker is now installed. I recommend installing Portainer as it is a great Graphical User Interface for Docker.

Keep Ubuntu VM Running

If running into issues where the Ubuntu VM keeps shutting down (which was happening to me and closing all my Docker containers), consider configuring WSL to auto start.