Docker on Windows 10 Home

5 min readDec 20, 2018

Installing Docker on Windows 10 Home edition is like trying to put a square peg in a round hole with your hands tied behind your back, during a hail storm while running away from a bipolar rottweiler on PCP. In other words: you might get it done, but not without shedding blood, sweat and tears (did I mention blood).

To avoid the loss of precious fluids, you can either upgrade your Windows 10 version or follow my recipe below. Let’s start with the basics. You cannot install Docker for Windows on Windows 10 Home according to the documentation.

System Requirements:
Windows 10 64bit: Pro, Enterprise or Education (1607 Anniversary Update, Build 14393 or later).
Note: If your system does not meet the requirements to run Docker for Windows, you can install Docker Toolbox, which uses Oracle Virtual Box instead of Hyper-V.

This gives us the option to install Docker Toolbox, but Docker Toolbox is somewhat outdated, so I’m going to add another option and give you two:

Install Docker Toolbox on Windows 10 Home (mentioned above),
Install a Linux virtual machine (VM) on our Windows OS, and then Install Docker Community on the VM.

I’m going to show you both options and let you choose the best way. Hint: the best way is a little bit of #1 and big bit of #2.

Configure Windows 10 Home

Check that your system has Virtualization enabled. Enter your machine’s BIOS and enable virtualization.

Once your computer boots up, make sure that Hypervisor is turned OFF. In Windows Search Box type: Turn Windows features on or off. Make sure “Windows Hypervisor Platform” is Unchecked.

Install Docker Toolbox

Go to the Docker-Toolbox page.
Download and make sure to follow the directions on the page.
Make sure you have all 3 of these applications installed:

Docker Quickstart
Oracle VM Virtual Box
Kitematic (Alpha)

Choose how you want to complete the Docker install

Now we’ve reached a fork in the road. We turn onto Linux highway, or go down Docker Toolbox lane. Red pill or blue pill? Or both pills? Let’s go.

If you want to install Linux: continue reading below (recommended),
If you want to continue with the Docker Toolbox install: see my Github-guide

Get Linux and Configure Oracle VM Virtual Box

Download a Linux distribution. Here are a few options compatible with Docker CE:

Setup your virtual machine

The example below is from my installation. Please use your specific details where necessary.

Click on the Oracle VM Virtual Box icon
Click New and step through the dialog boxes,
Enter a Name “Linux Mint 19”, SelectType: Linux, SelectVersion: Ubuntu (see example)
Memory Size: 4096,
Hard Drive: Choose Create a virtual hard disk now,
Hard Disk file type: VDI,
Storage on physical hard disk: Dynamically allocated,
File location and size: 20.00GB,
Once the virtual machine is setup click Start on the Virtual Box menu (see example),
Choose the Linux file (.iso) on your local machine when Virtual Box asks for it,
Install your Linux distribution (distro) on your guest machine.

I used Linux Mint for my distro. If you happen to see a distorted/pixelated screen try these remedies.

Installing Docker CE on your Linux virtual machine

Now let’s get some containers on this ship.

Enter the Linux VM that you installed above,
Follow the general install instructions from Docker
Or follow what I did below for my setup.

My Docker installation on a Linux VM

Open a terminal in your Linux environment.

Update package utility:

sudo apt-get update

Install packages:

sudo apt-get install apt-transport-https ca-certificates curl software-properties-common

Do the GPG key thing:

curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu/gpg | sudo apt-key add -

Check the key. Below is for what I installed. Visit the Docker page for the latest instructions.

sudo apt-key fingerprint 0EBFCD88

Download the repository; (below is when using Ubuntu base version of Linux Mint 19 Tara):

sudo add-apt-repository “deb [arch=amd64] https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu bionic stable”

Update:

sudo apt-get update

Install the latest Docker CE:

sudo apt-get install docker-ce

Verify Docker CE:

sudo docker run hello-world

If it works, you will get some text that tells your installation is working.

Docker House Keeping…

I don’t like to enter sudo before I enter various Docker commands — I’m a rebel like that — so I added my Linux user to the Docker group. Consult your local security expert or read the documentation if you’re nervous.

Create the docker group:

sudo groupadd docker

Mine existed already, so I just added my username = $USER to the docker group, where $USER is your Linux user.

sudo usermod -aG docker $USER

Restart the VM and test some commands on your $USER without the sudo command.

docker run hello-world

This will lists your docker images:

docker images

Get information on your install:

docker info

Now that you’ve survived the installation of Docker on Windows 10 Home edition without sustaining a mortal injury, go forth and dockerize the shit out of everything.