Running Docker on a Windows Surface ARM64 Using WSL2

My Docker Adventure in Athens

Hello fellow tech enthusiasts!

I’m currently in Athens, Greece, enjoying a lovely Easter Sunday, when I decided to tackle a little tech project – getting Docker running on my Microsoft Surface with an ARM64 CPU. If you’ve ever tried to do this, you might know it’s not as straightforward as it sounds!

After some research, I discovered something important: there’s a difference between Docker Enterprise and Docker Community Edition (CE). While the enterprise version doesn’t support ARM64 yet, Docker CE does have versions for both ARM64 and x64 architectures. Perfect!

The WSL2 Solution

I initially tried to install Docker directly on Windows, but quickly ran into roadblocks. That’s when I decided to try the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL2) route instead. Spoiler alert: it worked like a charm!

While you won’t get the nice Docker Desktop UI that Windows users might be accustomed to, the command line interface through WSL2 works perfectly fine. After all, Docker was born on Linux, so running it in a Linux environment makes sense!

Step-by-Step Guide to Installing Docker CE on WSL2

Here’s how I got Docker CE up and running on my Surface using WSL2:

Step 1: Update Your Packages

First, make sure your WSL2 system is up to date:

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

Step 2: Install Required Packages

Install the necessary packages to use HTTPS repositories:

sudo apt install -y apt-transport-https ca-certificates curl software-properties-common gnupg lsb-release

Step 3: Add Docker’s Official GPG Key

curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu/gpg | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/docker-archive-keyring.gpg

Step 4: Set Up the Stable Docker Repository

echo "deb [arch=$(dpkg --print-architecture) signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/docker-archive-keyring.gpg] https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu $(lsb_release -cs) stable" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list > /dev/null

Step 5: Update APT with the New Repository

sudo apt update

Step 6: Install Docker CE

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

Step 7: Start the Docker Service

sudo service docker start

Step 8: Add Your User to the Docker Group

This allows you to run Docker without sudo:

sudo usermod -aG docker $USER

Step 9: Apply the Group Changes

Either log out and back in, or run:

newgrp docker

Step 10: Verify Your Installation

docker --version
docker run hello-world

Pro Tip!

If you want Docker to start automatically when you launch WSL2, add the service start command to your .bashrc or .zshrc file:

echo "sudo service docker start" >> ~/.bashrc

Final Thoughts

What started as a potentially frustrating experience turned into a surprisingly smooth process. WSL2 continues to impress me with how well it bridges the Windows and Linux worlds. If you have a Surface or any other ARM64-based Windows device and need to run Docker, I highly recommend the WSL2 approach.

Have you tried running Docker on an ARM device? What was your experience like? Let me know in the comments below!

Happy containerizing! 🐳