By Brian Fitzgerald

Introduction

This article describes how you can configure your Windows 10 Home to run docker. The approach is:

• Upgrade to Windows 10 Pro.
• Configure your PC for virtualization.
• Make changes to you docker create and run steps.

Download Docker

• Go to docker.com
• Create your Docker ID
• Log in
• Download “Docker for Windows Installer.exe”
• Run the executable and complete the software installation.

Buy the upgrade to Windows 10 Pro

• Go to microsoft.com account.
• Create an account for yourself.
• Add a valid payment method (credit card).
• Press the Windows key.
• In the search bar, enter “activation”.
• In the search results, select Activation system settings.
• Press the Buy button. A browser will take you to the Microsoft Store.
• Buy the upgrade. The cost is $99.00.

Upgrade

• Press Windows key again.
• In the search bar, enter “activation”.
• In the search results, select Activation system settings.
• Press the Install button.

Enable Hyper-V

• Press the Windows key.
• In the search bar, enter “features”.
• In the search results select Turn Windows features on or off.
• Check Hyper-V

Enable Virtualization

• Power cycle the box
• During boot, press the ESC key to get to the Startup Menu

• Press F10 for BIOS Setup
• Navigate to the System Configuration Menu

• Press the Down Arrow to select Virtualization Technology.
• Press F5 or F6 to change the value to Enabled.
• Press F10 to Save and Exit.

Start Docker Service

If prompted, start docker service.

Notes on creating a docker image

Make sure that your application inside the docker image binds to host 0.0.0.0, not 127.0.0.1. For example, if you are using flask, then your Dockerfile contains:

ENTRYPOINT [ "flask" ]
CMD [ "run", "--host=0.0.0.0" ]

Example docker image creation:

docker build -t flask-tutorial .

Notes on running a docker image

If you are testing and want to be able to interrupt docker, use the -i and -t flags:

C:\Users\Brian Fitzgerald>docker run -p 5000:5000 -i -t flask-tutorial
* Serving Flask app "flaskr"
* Environment: production
WARNING: This is a development server. Do not use it in a production deployment.
Use a production WSGI server instead.
* Debug mode: off
* Running on http://0.0.0.0:5000/ (Press CTRL+C to quit)
^C

Connect to the application at

http://127.0.0.1:5000/

 

Conclusion

With modifications, you can run Docker on your home PC.