Installation
Estimated time: 15–20 minutes
You will install Docker and confirm it is running correctly. You only need to do this once per machine.
What You Need
Docker Desktop is the easiest way to run Docker on your computer. It includes the Docker engine plus a simple interface to see running containers.
Windows
Enable WSL2
Docker Desktop on Windows runs containers inside WSL2 (Windows Subsystem for Linux). This gives Windows a real Linux kernel to run containers on.
Open PowerShell as Administrator and run:
wsl --installRestart your computer if asked.
Download Docker Desktop
Go to https://www.docker.com/products/docker-desktop and download the Windows installer.
Install
Run the installer. Keep the option “Use WSL 2 instead of Hyper-V” checked — this is the default and the recommended setting.
Restart and Open
Restart your computer if prompted, then open Docker Desktop from the Start menu. Wait until it shows “Docker Desktop is running”.
On Windows, avoid installing Docker directly inside WSL with apt install docker.io. Docker Desktop already connects to WSL2 for you and is the setup this guide assumes. Running both at once causes conflicts.
Verify Installation
Open a terminal and check the version:
docker --versionYou should see something like:
Docker version 27.0.0, build 1234abcNow run a small test container:
docker run hello-worldDocker will download a tiny test image and run it. If it works, you will see a message starting with:
Hello from Docker!
This message shows that your installation appears to be working correctly.Do not worry about what “image” and “run” mean yet — the next page explains these ideas. For now, this test just confirms Docker is installed correctly.
Common Problems
Docker Desktop will not start
Make sure WSL2 is installed and up to date:
wsl --updateThen restart Docker Desktop.
docker: command not found
This usually means Docker Desktop is not running, or your terminal was opened before installation finished. Close and reopen your terminal, and make sure Docker Desktop is running (check the whale icon in your system tray).
Quick Check
- Is
docker --versionshowing a version number? - Did
docker run hello-worldprint the welcome message?
Next → Core Concepts