Linux container support on Windows servers

Docker Desktop
2

A few years later the question still seems relevant, or is relevant again. It seems that mid December 2020 all references to Windows Server were removed from, e.g., Docker Hub:

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Many old blog posts referred to that search query, so the above must have shown something earlier?

Also, many old posts refer to Docker which is a 404 since mid December. Until last month, that page stated:

Docker Enterprise (Windows Server) is available at no additional cost to all Windows Server 2019 and 2016 customers. Technical support is aligned to the Microsoft support entitlement and provided by Microsoft.

I don’t know if the above referred to something that could run Linux containers on Windows Server.

I know Mirantis acquired Docker’s Enterprise Platform a year earlier in November 2019. But I failed to find any announcements about the recent changes. This all coincides with name changes though, in which ‘Docker Engine - Enterprise’ was renamed to 'Enterprise Container Runtime’ mid December too.

I’d love to know what happened, and above all: if there is any future for Linux containers on Windows Server.

Some more observations in case it helps someone:

  • Docker Desktop 3.0.0 for Windows 10 runs Linux containers fine on Windows Server 2019 (Datacenter edition, version 1809, build 17763.1637). It installs Docker Desktop Service for the Windows Local System account, and even defaults to Linux containers. It also adds a group docker-users to which Windows users can be added. But:

    • It does not keep running when the user who started Docker Desktop logs off.

    • So, Docker Desktop would need some trickery to get it running using automatic login of some dedicated user?

    • I somehow feel that Docker Desktop is a developer environment, not meant for production?

  • The Microsoft article Docker Engine on Windows, seems to get one support for Windows containers only.

  • Mirantis confirmed to me that their ‘Enterprise Container Runtime’, previously known as ‘Docker Engine - Enterprise’, only supports Windows containers.

  • A June 2019 blog post, Docker :heart: WSL 2 – The Future of Docker Desktop for Windows, along with pre-releases of Windows Server that include WSL 2, may indicate there is hope. But that post is about Docker Desktop without any mention of Windows Server.

  • The much older September 2017 Exciting new things for Docker with Windows Server 1709 mentioned:

    A key focus of Windows Server version 1709 is support for Linux containers on Windows.