Local Windows on Docker
Local Windows inside a Docker container.
## Usage 🐳
### Via Docker Compose:
> See [compose.yml](compose.yml) for the complete configuration.
To prepare a golden image from a custom ISO:
```bash
STORAGE=/path/to/storage ISO=/path/to/custom.iso \
docker compose --profile prepare-golden-image up
```
Start the container:
```bash
STORAGE=/path/to/storage docker compose up
```
### Via Docker CLI:
```bash
docker run -it --rm \
-p 8006:8006 \
--device=/dev/kvm \
--cap-add NET_ADMIN \
--mount type=bind,source=./custom.iso,target=/custom.iso \
--stop-timeout 120 \
windows-local:latest
```
## Compatibility ⚙️
| **Product** | **Platform** | |
|---|---|---|
| Docker Engine | Linux| ✅ |
| Docker Desktop | Linux | ❌ |
| Docker Desktop | macOS | ❌ |
| Docker Desktop | Windows 11 | ✅ |
| Docker Desktop | Windows 10 | ❌ |
## FAQ 💬
### How do I use it?
**Download Windows 11 Enterprise ISO:**
1. Visit [Microsoft Evaluation Center](https://info.microsoft.com/ww-landing-windows-11-enterprise.html)
2. Accept the Terms of Service
3. Download **Windows 11 Enterprise Evaluation (90-day trial, English, United States)** ISO file [~6GB]
**Then follow these steps:**
- Start the container and connect to [port 8006](http://localhost:8006) using your web browser.
- Sit back and relax while the magic happens, the whole installation will be performed fully automatic.
- Once you see the desktop, your Windows installation is ready for use.
Enjoy your brand new machine, and don't forget to star this repo!
### How do I select the Windows language?
By default, the English version of Windows will be downloaded. But you can add the `LANGUAGE` environment variable to your compose file, in order to specify an alternative language:
```yaml
environment:
LANGUAGE: "French"
```
You can choose between: 🇦🇪 Arabic, 🇧🇬 Bulgarian, 🇨🇳 Chinese, 🇭🇷 Croatian, 🇨🇿 Czech, 🇩🇰 Danish, 🇳🇱 Dutch, 🇬🇧 English, 🇪🇪 Estionian, 🇫🇮 Finnish, 🇫🇷 French, 🇩🇪 German, 🇬🇷 Greek, 🇮🇱 Hebrew, 🇭🇺 Hungarian, 🇮🇹 Italian, 🇯🇵 Japanese, 🇰🇷 Korean, 🇱🇻 Latvian, 🇱🇹 Lithuanian, 🇳🇴 Norwegian, 🇵🇱 Polish, 🇵🇹 Portuguese, 🇷🇴 Romanian, 🇷🇺 Russian, 🇷🇸 Serbian, 🇸🇰 Slovak, 🇸🇮 Slovenian, 🇪🇸 Spanish, 🇸🇪 Swedish, 🇹🇭 Thai, 🇹🇷 Turkish and 🇺🇦 Ukrainian.
### How do I select the keyboard layout?
If you want to use a keyboard layout or locale that is not the default for your selected language, you can add the `KEYBOARD` and `REGION` variables with a culture code, like this:
```yaml
environment:
REGION: "en-US"
KEYBOARD: "en-US"
```
> [!NOTE]
> Changing these values will have no effect after the installation has been performed already. Use the control panel inside Windows in that case.
### How do I change the storage location?
To change the storage location, include the following bind mount in your compose file:
```yaml
volumes:
- /var/win:/storage
```
Replace the example path `/var/win` with the desired storage folder.
### How do I change the size of the disk?
To expand the default size of 64 GB, add the `DISK_SIZE` setting to your compose file and set it to your preferred capacity:
```yaml
environment:
DISK_SIZE: "256G"
```
> [!TIP]
> This can also be used to resize the existing disk to a larger capacity without any data loss.
### How do I share files with the host?
Open 'File Explorer' and click on the 'Network' section, you will see a computer called `host.lan`. Double-click it and it will show a folder called `Data`, which can be bound to any folder on your host via the compose file:
```yaml
volumes:
- /home/user/example:/data
```
The example folder `/home/user/example` will be available as ` \\host.lan\Data`.
> [!TIP]
> You can map this path to a drive letter in Windows, for easier access.
### How do I run a script after installation?
To run your own script after installation, you can create a file called `install.bat` and place it in a folder together with any additional files it needs (software to be installed for example). Then bind that folder in your compose file like this:
```yaml
volumes:
- /home/user/example:/oem
```
The example folder `/home/user/example` will be copied to `C:\OEM` during installation and the containing `install.bat` will be executed during the last step.
### How do I change the amount of CPU or RAM?
By default, the container will be allowed to use a maximum of 2 CPU cores and 4 GB of RAM.
If you want to adjust this, you can specify the desired amount using the following environment variables:
```yaml
environment:
RAM_SIZE: "8G"
CPU_CORES: "4"
```
### How do I configure the username and password?
By default, a user called `Docker` is created during the installation, with an empty password.
If you want to use different credentials, you can change them in your compose file:
```yaml
environment:
USERNAME: "bill"
PASSWORD: "gates"
```
### How do I select the Windows language?
By default, the English version of Windows will be downloaded. But you can add the `LANGUAGE` environment variable to your compose file, in order to specify an alternative language:
```yaml
environment:
LANGUAGE: "French"
```
You can choose between: 🇦🇪 Arabic, 🇧🇬 Bulgarian, 🇨🇳 Chinese, 🇭🇷 Croatian, 🇨🇿 Czech, 🇩🇰 Danish, 🇳🇱 Dutch, 🇬🇧 English, 🇪🇪 Estonian, 🇫🇮 Finnish, 🇫🇷 French, 🇩🇪 German, 🇬🇷 Greek, 🇮🇱 Hebrew, 🇭🇺 Hungarian, 🇮🇹 Italian, 🇯🇵 Japanese, 🇰🇷 Korean, 🇱🇻 Latvian, 🇱🇹 Lithuanian, 🇳🇴 Norwegian, 🇵🇱 Polish, 🇵🇹 Portuguese, 🇷🇴 Romanian, 🇷🇺 Russian, 🇷🇸 Serbian, 🇸🇰 Slovak, 🇸🇮 Slovenian, 🇪🇸 Spanish, 🇸🇪 Swedish, 🇹🇭 Thai, 🇹🇷 Turkish and 🇺🇦 Ukrainian.
### How do I select the keyboard layout?
If you want to use a keyboard layout or locale that is not the default for your selected language, you can add the `KEYBOARD` and `REGION` variables with a culture code, like this:
```yaml
environment:
REGION: "en-US"
KEYBOARD: "en-US"
```
> [!NOTE]
> Changing these values will have no effect after the installation has been performed already. Use the control panel inside Windows in that case.
>
### How do I connect using RDP?
The web-viewer is mainly meant to be used during installation, as its picture quality is low, and it has no audio or clipboard for example.
So for a better experience you can connect using any Microsoft Remote Desktop client to the IP of the container, using the username `Docker` and by leaving the password empty.
### How do I assign an individual IP address to the container?
By default, the container uses bridge networking, which shares the IP address with the host.
If you want to assign an individual IP address to the container, you can create a macvlan network as follows:
```bash
docker network create -d macvlan \
--subnet=192.168.0.0/24 \
--gateway=192.168.0.1 \
--ip-range=192.168.0.100/28 \
-o parent=eth0 vlan
```
Be sure to modify these values to match your local subnet.
Once you have created the network, change your compose file to look as follows:
```yaml
services:
windows:
container_name: windows
....
networks:
vlan:
ipv4_address: 192.168.0.100
networks:
vlan:
external: true
```
An added benefit of this approach is that you won't have to perform any port mapping anymore, since all ports will be exposed by default.
> [!IMPORTANT]
> This IP address won't be accessible from the Docker host due to the design of macvlan, which doesn't permit communication between the two. If this is a concern, you need to create a [second macvlan](https://blog.oddbit.com/post/2018-03-12-using-docker-macvlan-networks/#host-access) as a workaround.
### How can Windows acquire an IP address from my router?
After configuring the container for [macvlan](#how-do-i-assign-an-individual-ip-address-to-the-container), it is possible for Windows to become part of your home network by requesting an IP from your router, just like a real PC.
To enable this mode, add the following lines to your compose file:
```yaml
environment:
DHCP: "Y"
devices:
- /dev/vhost-net
device_cgroup_rules:
- 'c *:* rwm'
```
> [!NOTE]
> In this mode, the container and Windows will each have their own separate IPs.
### How do I add multiple disks?
To create additional disks, modify your compose file like this:
```yaml
environment:
DISK2_SIZE: "32G"
DISK3_SIZE: "64G"
volumes:
- /home/example:/storage2
- /mnt/data/example:/storage3
```
### How do I pass-through a disk?
It is possible to pass-through disk devices directly by adding them to your compose file in this way:
```yaml
devices:
- /dev/sdb:/disk1
- /dev/sdc:/disk2
```
Use `/disk1` if you want it to become your main drive (which will be formatted during installation), and use `/disk2` and higher to add them as secondary drives (which will stay untouched).
### How do I pass-through a USB device?
To pass-through a USB device, first lookup its vendor and product id via the `lsusb` command, then add them to your compose file like this:
```yaml
environment:
ARGUMENTS: "-device usb-host,vendorid=0x1234,productid=0x1234"
devices:
- /dev/bus/usb
```
> [!IMPORTANT]
> If the device is a USB disk drive, please wait until after the installation is completed before connecting it. Otherwise the installation may fail, as the order of the disks can get rearranged.
### How do I verify if my system supports KVM?
Only Linux and Windows 11 support KVM virtualization, macOS and Windows 10 do not unfortunately.
You can run the following commands in Linux to check your system:
```bash
sudo apt install cpu-checker
sudo kvm-ok
```
If you receive an error from `kvm-ok` indicating that KVM cannot be used, please check whether:
- the virtualization extensions (`Intel VT-x` or `AMD SVM`) are enabled in your BIOS.
- you enabled "nested virtualization" if you are running the container inside a virtual machine.
- you are not using a cloud provider, as most of them do not allow nested virtualization for their VPS's.
If you didn't receive any error from `kvm-ok` at all, but the container still complains that `/dev/kvm` is missing, it might help to add `privileged: true` to your compose file (or `--privileged` to your `run` command), to rule out any permission issue.
