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windows_in_docker/WINCTL_GUIDE.md
Michel Abboud 2b07b9cf07 feat: Add ISO cache for winctl.sh to skip re-downloads 
Cache downloaded ISOs so new instances of the same Windows version skip
the 3-6 GB download. Adds `winctl cache` subcommands (save/list/rm/flush)
and auto-restores cached ISOs when creating new instances with --new.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-01-30 07:58:20 +00:00

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winctl.sh User Guide

A comprehensive guide to managing Windows Docker containers with winctl.sh.

Table of Contents

Overview

winctl.sh is a management script for running Windows virtual machines inside Docker containers. It provides:

  • 22 Windows versions from Windows 2000 to Windows 11
  • Simple commands to start, stop, and manage containers
  • Interactive menus when you don't specify a version
  • Snapshot & restore for backing up and restoring VM data
  • LAN IP detection with remote access URLs shown automatically
  • Port conflict detection before starting containers
  • Disk usage monitoring with per-VM and snapshot breakdowns
  • Status caching for fast performance
  • Resource profiles optimized for modern and legacy systems
  • ARM64 auto-detection with architecture-aware image selection and version filtering

Supported Windows Versions

Category Versions
Desktop win11, win11e, win11l, win10, win10e, win10l, win81, win81e, win7, win7e
Legacy vista, winxp, win2k
Server win2025, win2022, win2019, win2016, win2012, win2008, win2003
Tiny tiny11, tiny10

ARM64 Support

The script auto-detects your CPU architecture. On ARM64 systems (e.g., Apple Silicon, Ampere), only the following versions are supported:

Version Name
win11 Windows 11 Pro
win11e Windows 11 Enterprise
win11l Windows 11 LTSC
win10 Windows 10 Pro
win10e Windows 10 Enterprise
win10l Windows 10 LTSC

To run on ARM64, set the Docker image in your .env.modern file:

WINDOWS_IMAGE=dockurr/windows-arm

The winctl.sh list command shows [x86 only] tags on ARM64 for unsupported versions, and winctl.sh start blocks unsupported versions with a clear error message.

Port Mappings

Each version has unique ports to avoid conflicts:

Version Web UI RDP Version Web UI RDP
win11 8011 3311 win2025 8025 3325
win10 8010 3310 win2022 8022 3322
win81 8008 3308 win2019 8019 3319
win7 8007 3307 win2016 8016 3316
vista 8006 3306 win2012 8112 3212
winxp 8005 3305 win2008 8108 3208
win2k 8000 3300 win2003 8003 3303
tiny11 8111 3111 tiny10 8110 3110

Prerequisites

Required

  1. Docker - Container runtime
  2. Docker Compose - Container orchestration (plugin or standalone)
  3. KVM - Hardware virtualization for near-native performance

Check Prerequisites

Run the built-in check:

./winctl.sh check

Example output:

Prerequisites Check
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
[OK] Docker is available
[OK] Docker Compose plugin is available
[OK] KVM is available
[OK] TUN device is available
[OK] Memory OK: 16GB available (8GB needed)
[OK] Disk space OK: 500GB available (128GB needed)

[OK] All critical prerequisites passed!
  Architecture: amd64
  LAN IP:       192.168.1.100

On ARM64, the output also shows:

  Architecture: arm64
  ARM64 image:  dockurr/windows-arm
  Supported:    win11 win11e win11l win10 win10e win10l
  LAN IP:       192.168.1.100

Fix Common Issues

KVM not accessible:

sudo usermod -aG kvm $USER
newgrp kvm  # or log out and back in

Docker not running:

sudo systemctl start docker

Quick Start

1. Start a Windows VM

# Start Windows 11
./winctl.sh start win11

# Or use interactive menu
./winctl.sh start

2. Access the VM

After starting, you'll see connection details:

Connection Details:
  → Web Viewer: http://localhost:8011
  → RDP:        localhost:3311
  → LAN Web:    http://192.168.1.100:8011
  → LAN RDP:    192.168.1.100:3311
  • Web Viewer: Open in browser for quick access
  • RDP: Use any RDP client for better performance
  • LAN URLs: Shown automatically when a LAN IP is detected — use these to access from other devices on your network

3. Check Status

./winctl.sh status

4. Stop the VM

./winctl.sh stop win11

Commands Reference

start

Start one or more containers.

# Start single version
./winctl.sh start win11

# Start multiple versions
./winctl.sh start win11 win10 winxp

# Interactive menu (no version specified)
./winctl.sh start

What it does:

  1. Checks prerequisites (Docker, KVM)
  2. Detects architecture and blocks unsupported versions on ARM64
  3. Verifies ports are not already in use
  4. Creates data directory if missing
  5. Checks available resources
  6. Starts the container
  7. Shows connection details (including LAN URLs)

stop

Stop containers with a 2-minute grace period for clean shutdown.

# Stop single version
./winctl.sh stop win11

# Stop multiple versions
./winctl.sh stop win11 win10

# Stop all running containers
./winctl.sh stop all

# Interactive menu
./winctl.sh stop

Note: You'll be asked to confirm before stopping.

restart

Restart containers.

./winctl.sh restart win11

status

Show status of containers.

# All containers
./winctl.sh status

# Specific versions
./winctl.sh status win11 win10

Example output:

  VERSION      NAME                       STATUS     WEB      RDP
  ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
  win11        Windows 11 Pro             running    8011     3311
  win10        Windows 10 Pro             stopped    8010     3310
  winxp        Windows XP Professional    not created 8005    3305

  LAN IP: 192.168.1.100 — use http://192.168.1.100:<web-port> for remote access

logs

View container logs.

# View logs
./winctl.sh logs win11

# Follow logs in real-time
./winctl.sh logs win11 -f

Press Ctrl+C to stop following logs.

shell

Open an interactive bash shell inside the container.

./winctl.sh shell win11

Useful for debugging or accessing container internals.

stats

Show real-time resource usage (CPU, memory, network).

# All running containers
./winctl.sh stats

# Specific containers
./winctl.sh stats win11 win10

Press Ctrl+C to exit.

build

Build the Docker image locally from source.

./winctl.sh build

rebuild

Destroy and recreate containers. Data in /storage is preserved.

./winctl.sh rebuild win11

Warning: You must type yes to confirm (destructive operation).

list

List available Windows versions.

# All versions
./winctl.sh list

# By category
./winctl.sh list desktop
./winctl.sh list legacy
./winctl.sh list server
./winctl.sh list tiny

Example output:

Available Windows Versions
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

  DESKTOP
  ──────────────────────────────────────────────────
    win11      Windows 11 Pro               (8G RAM)
    win10      Windows 10 Pro               (8G RAM) [running]
    win7       Windows 7 Ultimate           (2G RAM)

On ARM64, unsupported versions show an [x86 only] tag:

    win7       Windows 7 Ultimate           (2G RAM) [x86 only]

inspect

Show detailed information about a version.

./winctl.sh inspect win11

Example output:

Container Details: win11
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

  Version:      win11
  Name:         Windows 11 Pro
  Category:     desktop
  Status:       running
  Web Port:     8011
  RDP Port:     3311
  Resources:    modern
  Compose:      compose/desktop/win11.yml
  Web URL:      http://localhost:8011
  RDP:          localhost:3311
  LAN Web:      http://192.168.1.100:8011
  LAN RDP:      192.168.1.100:3311

monitor

Real-time dashboard showing all containers.

# Default 5-second refresh
./winctl.sh monitor

# Custom refresh interval (10 seconds)
./winctl.sh monitor 10

Press Ctrl+C to exit.

check

Run prerequisites check.

./winctl.sh check

refresh

Force refresh the status cache.

./winctl.sh refresh

The cache is stored at ~/.cache/winctl/status.json and auto-refreshes when:

  • Cache is older than 7 days
  • Cached data becomes stale
  • After start/stop/restart/rebuild operations

open

Open the web viewer in your default browser.

./winctl.sh open win11

If the container is not running, you'll be prompted to start it first.

pull

Pull the latest Docker image.

./winctl.sh pull

Automatically selects dockurr/windows or dockurr/windows-arm based on detected architecture. Shows whether the image was updated or already up to date.

disk

Show disk usage per VM data directory.

# All VMs
./winctl.sh disk

# Specific versions
./winctl.sh disk win11 win10

Example output:

Disk Usage
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

  VERSION      SIZE         STATUS
  ────────────────────────────────────
  win11        45.2G        running
  win10        32.1G        stopped
  ────────────────────────────────────
  Total:       77.3G

  Snapshots:   12.5G (2 snapshots)
    win11      12.5G (2 snapshots)

snapshot

Back up a VM's data directory.

# Auto-named with timestamp
./winctl.sh snapshot win11

# Custom name
./winctl.sh snapshot win11 before-update

The snapshot is saved to snapshots/<version>/<name>/. The container is stopped during the copy and restarted automatically.

restore

Restore a VM's data directory from a snapshot.

# Interactive snapshot selection
./winctl.sh restore win11

# Restore specific snapshot
./winctl.sh restore win11 before-update

If no snapshot name is given, a list of available snapshots is shown for selection. Requires typing yes to confirm (destructive: replaces current data).

clean

Remove stopped containers and optionally purge their data directories.

# Remove stopped containers only
./winctl.sh clean

# Also delete data directories for stopped containers
./winctl.sh clean --data

Requires typing yes to confirm. Shows freed disk space on completion.

Snapshots & Restore

winctl.sh supports snapshot and restore for VM data directories, stored under snapshots/.

Creating a Snapshot

# Snapshot with auto-generated timestamp name
./winctl.sh snapshot win11

# Snapshot with custom name
./winctl.sh snapshot win11 before-update

The container is stopped during the copy to ensure data consistency, then restarted automatically.

Listing Snapshots

# Via disk command
./winctl.sh disk

# Or browse directly
ls snapshots/win11/

Restoring a Snapshot

# Interactive selection
./winctl.sh restore win11

# Direct restore
./winctl.sh restore win11 before-update

Warning: Restore replaces all current data for the version. The container is stopped during restore and restarted automatically.

Snapshot Directory Structure

snapshots/
├── win11/
│   ├── 20260129-143022/    # Auto-named
│   └── before-update/      # Custom-named
└── win10/
    └── 20260128-091500/

Multi-Instance Support

Run multiple instances of the same Windows version with auto-managed ports and a JSON registry.

Creating an Instance

# Create winxp-1 with auto-allocated ports
./winctl.sh start winxp --new

# Create winxp-lab with a custom name
./winctl.sh start winxp --new lab

# Create winxp-lab and clone data from base winxp
./winctl.sh start winxp --new lab --clone

The --new flag:

  1. Allocates unique ports (web: 9000+, RDP: 4000+)
  2. Generates a compose file in instances/<name>.yml
  3. Creates a data directory at data/<name>/
  4. Registers the instance in instances/registry.json
  5. Starts the container

Managing Instances

Instances work transparently with all existing commands:

# Stop an instance
./winctl.sh stop winxp-lab

# Restart an instance
./winctl.sh restart winxp-lab

# View logs
./winctl.sh logs winxp-lab -f

# Open shell
./winctl.sh shell winxp-lab

# Inspect details
./winctl.sh inspect winxp-lab

# Open web viewer
./winctl.sh open winxp-lab

# Snapshot and restore
./winctl.sh snapshot winxp-lab before-update
./winctl.sh restore winxp-lab before-update

Listing Instances

# List all instances
./winctl.sh instances

# Filter by base version
./winctl.sh instances winxp

Example output:

Instances
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

  INSTANCE             BASE       STATUS     WEB      RDP      CREATED
  ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
  winxp-1              winxp      running    9000     4000     2026-01-30
  winxp-lab            winxp      stopped    9001     4001     2026-01-30

Destroying an Instance

./winctl.sh destroy winxp-lab

This will:

  1. Stop and remove the container
  2. Delete the compose file
  3. Prompt to delete the data directory
  4. Remove the instance from the registry

How It Works

  • Port allocation: Web ports start at 9000, RDP at 4000, auto-incrementing to avoid conflicts
  • Naming: Instances are named <version>-<suffix> (e.g., winxp-1, winxp-lab)
  • Registry: All instances are tracked in instances/registry.json
  • Compose files: Generated in instances/<name>.yml with relative paths to env files and data
  • No collisions: Base versions never contain hyphens; instances always do

Instance Directory Structure

instances/
├── registry.json          # Instance registry
├── winxp-1.yml           # Generated compose file
└── winxp-lab.yml         # Generated compose file

data/
├── winxp/                # Base version data
├── winxp-1/              # Instance data
└── winxp-lab/            # Instance data (cloned from base)

ISO Cache

Windows ISOs are large (3-6 GB) and re-downloaded every time a new container is created for the same version. The ISO cache saves downloaded ISOs so new instances can skip the download.

How It Works

  1. Start a VM and wait for the ISO to download
  2. Cache the ISO: ./winctl.sh cache save winxp
  3. Create new instances — cached ISOs are auto-restored: ./winctl.sh start winxp --new

When creating a new instance with --new, winctl checks cache/<version>/ for ISOs and copies them into the new instance's data directory before starting the container. The container sees the ISO on startup and skips the download.

Caching an ISO

# Cache ISOs from an existing VM's data directory
./winctl.sh cache save winxp
./winctl.sh cache save win11

The ISOs are copied from data/<name>/ to cache/<base-version>/.

Listing Cached ISOs

./winctl.sh cache list

Shows all cached ISOs grouped by version with file sizes and a total.

Removing Cached ISOs

# Remove cached ISOs for a specific version
./winctl.sh cache rm winxp

# Remove all cached ISOs
./winctl.sh cache flush

Both commands require typing yes to confirm.

Auto-Restore

When creating a new instance with --new (without --clone), winctl automatically checks the cache:

# If cache/winxp/ has ISOs, they are copied to data/winxp-1/ before start
./winctl.sh start winxp --new

This is skipped when using --clone, since cloning copies all data from the base version including any ISOs.

Cache Directory Structure

cache/
├── winxp/
│   └── custom.iso
├── win11/
│   └── win11x64.iso
└── win10/
    └── win10x64.iso

Note: The cache stores processed ISOs from the container's data directory, not raw downloads.

Configuration

Environment Files

Two pre-configured environment files control VM resources:

File RAM CPU Disk Used By
.env.modern 8G 4 128G Win 10/11, Server 2016+
.env.legacy 2G 2 32G Win 7/8, Vista, XP, 2000, Server 2003-2012, Tiny

Customizing Resources

Edit .env.modern or .env.legacy:

# Resources
RAM_SIZE=8G
CPU_CORES=4
DISK_SIZE=128G

# Credentials
USERNAME=docker
PASSWORD=admin

# Display
WIDTH=1280
HEIGHT=720

# Other
LANGUAGE=en
REGION=en-US
KEYBOARD=en-US
DHCP=N
SAMBA=Y
RESTART_POLICY=on-failure
DEBUG=N

Available Settings

Setting Description Default
RAM_SIZE Memory allocation 8G/2G
CPU_CORES CPU cores 4/2
DISK_SIZE Virtual disk size 128G/32G
USERNAME Windows username docker
PASSWORD Windows password admin
LANGUAGE Installation language en
REGION Region setting en-US
KEYBOARD Keyboard layout en-US
WIDTH Display width 1280
HEIGHT Display height 720
DHCP Use DHCP networking N
SAMBA Enable file sharing Y
RESTART_POLICY Container restart policy on-failure
DEBUG Debug mode N
WINDOWS_IMAGE Docker image dockurr/windows

Restart Policy Options

Value Description
no Never restart automatically
on-failure Restart only if container exits with error (default)
always Always restart regardless of exit status
unless-stopped Always restart unless manually stopped

Note: With on-failure (default), shutting down Windows from inside will stop the container. With unless-stopped or always, the container will restart after Windows shutdown.

ARM64 Setup

If you're running on an ARM64 system (e.g., Apple Silicon Mac, Ampere server), follow these steps:

1. Set the Docker image

Edit .env.modern (and .env.legacy if needed):

WINDOWS_IMAGE=dockurr/windows-arm

2. Check your setup

./winctl.sh check

Verify the output shows Architecture: arm64 and lists supported versions.

3. Start a supported version

Only Windows 10 and 11 variants work on ARM64:

./winctl.sh start win11    # Works
./winctl.sh start win10    # Works
./winctl.sh start winxp    # Blocked with error

4. View compatible versions

./winctl.sh list

Unsupported versions are tagged [x86 only] on ARM64 systems.

Supported ARM64 Versions

Version Name
win11 Windows 11 Pro
win11e Windows 11 Enterprise
win11l Windows 11 LTSC
win10 Windows 10 Pro
win10e Windows 10 Enterprise
win10l Windows 10 LTSC

All other versions (Win 8.1, 7, Vista, XP, 2000, all Server editions, Tiny) are x86 only.

Interactive Menus

When you don't specify a version, winctl.sh shows interactive menus.

Category Selection

Select Category
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

  1) Desktop (Win 11, 10, 8.1, 7)
  2) Legacy (Vista, XP, 2000)
  3) Server (2025, 2022, 2019, 2016, 2012, 2008, 2003)
  4) Tiny (Tiny11, Tiny10)
  5) All versions
  6) Select individual versions

  Select [1-6]:

Version Selection

Select Version(s)
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

   1) win11      Windows 11 Pro               [running]
   2) win11e     Windows 11 Enterprise
   3) win11l     Windows 11 LTSC
   4) win10      Windows 10 Pro               [stopped]

   a) Select all
   q) Cancel

  Select (numbers separated by spaces, or 'a' for all):
  • Enter numbers separated by spaces: 1 3 4
  • Enter a for all versions
  • Enter q to cancel

Common Scenarios

Scenario 1: Set Up a Development Environment

# Start Windows 10 for development
./winctl.sh start win10

# Access via web browser
# Open http://localhost:8010

# Or connect via RDP for better performance
# Use RDP client to connect to localhost:3310

Scenario 2: Test Software on Multiple Windows Versions

# Start multiple versions
./winctl.sh start win11 win10 win7

# Check they're all running
./winctl.sh status

# Access each via their ports:
# - Win11: http://localhost:8011
# - Win10: http://localhost:8010
# - Win7:  http://localhost:8007

# Stop all when done
./winctl.sh stop win11 win10 win7

Scenario 3: Run Legacy Software on Windows XP

# Start Windows XP
./winctl.sh start winxp

# Access via http://localhost:8005
# Login: docker / admin

# Transfer files via the Shared folder on desktop

Scenario 4: Monitor Resource Usage

# See real-time stats for all running VMs
./winctl.sh stats

# Or use the dashboard
./winctl.sh monitor

Scenario 5: Increase Resources for a VM

  1. Stop the container:

    ./winctl.sh stop win11

  2. Edit .env.modern:

    RAM_SIZE=16G
CPU_CORES=8

  3. Start again:

    ./winctl.sh start win11

Scenario 6: Running on ARM64

# Set the ARM64 image (one-time setup)
# Edit .env.modern and set: WINDOWS_IMAGE=dockurr/windows-arm

# Check architecture is detected
./winctl.sh check

# List versions to see what's available
./winctl.sh list

# Start a supported version
./winctl.sh start win11

Scenario 7: Fresh Start (Reset VM)

# This destroys the container but keeps data
./winctl.sh rebuild win11

# For a complete reset, also delete the data:
rm -rf data/win11/*
./winctl.sh start win11

Scenario 8: Snapshot Before a Risky Change

# Create a snapshot before installing something
./winctl.sh snapshot win11 before-update

# Do your work...
# If something goes wrong, restore:
./winctl.sh restore win11 before-update

Scenario 9: Clean Up Disk Space

# Check disk usage
./winctl.sh disk

# Remove stopped containers
./winctl.sh clean

# Remove stopped containers AND their data
./winctl.sh clean --data

Scenario 10: Quick Access from Browser

# Open web viewer directly in your browser
./winctl.sh open win11

# Or pull latest image before starting
./winctl.sh pull
./winctl.sh start win11

Scenario 11: Access from Another Device on LAN

# Check your LAN IP
./winctl.sh check

# Start a VM — LAN URLs are shown automatically
./winctl.sh start win11
# → LAN Web: http://192.168.1.100:8011
# → LAN RDP: 192.168.1.100:3311

# Use the LAN URL from any device on the same network

Troubleshooting

Container Won't Start

Check prerequisites:

./winctl.sh check

Check logs:

./winctl.sh logs win11

Common issues:

  • KVM not accessible → Add user to kvm group
  • Port already in use → start auto-detects port conflicts; stop the conflicting service or container
  • Not enough disk space → Run ./winctl.sh disk to check usage, or free up space

Slow Performance

  • Ensure KVM is working (hardware virtualization)
  • Increase RAM_SIZE and CPU_CORES in env file
  • Use RDP instead of web viewer for better performance

Can't Connect via RDP

  1. Wait for Windows to fully boot (check web viewer first)
  2. RDP might be disabled in Windows → Enable via web viewer
  3. Check firewall settings in Windows

Web Viewer Not Loading

# Check if container is running
./winctl.sh status win11

# Check container logs
./winctl.sh logs win11

# Restart the container
./winctl.sh restart win11

Cache Issues

Force refresh the status cache:

./winctl.sh refresh

Tips & Tricks

1. Use Aliases

Add to your ~/.bashrc:

alias wctl='./winctl.sh'
alias wstart='./winctl.sh start'
alias wstop='./winctl.sh stop'
alias wstatus='./winctl.sh status'

2. Quick Access Bookmarks

Bookmark your commonly used VMs:

3. File Sharing

Each VM has a "Shared" folder on the desktop that maps to the host. Use this to transfer files.

4. Snapshots

Use the built-in snapshot and restore commands:

./winctl.sh snapshot win11 my-backup
./winctl.sh restore win11 my-backup

Snapshots are stored in snapshots/<version>/<name>/.

5. Running Multiple VMs

Check your available resources before starting multiple VMs:

# Each modern VM needs 8GB RAM
# Each legacy VM needs 2GB RAM

# Example: Running win11 + win10 + winxp = 8+8+2 = 18GB RAM needed

6. Headless Operation

For servers, you can start VMs and access only via RDP:

./winctl.sh start win2022
# Connect via RDP to localhost:3322

File Structure

.
├── winctl.sh              # Management script
├── .env.modern            # Modern systems config (8G RAM)
├── .env.legacy            # Legacy systems config (2G RAM)
├── compose/
│   ├── desktop/           # Win 11, 10, 8.1, 7
│   ├── legacy/            # Vista, XP, 2000
│   ├── server/            # Server 2003-2025
│   └── tiny/              # Tiny10, Tiny11
├── instances/
│   ├── registry.json      # Instance registry
│   ├── winxp-1.yml        # Generated compose files
│   └── winxp-lab.yml
├── data/
│   ├── win11/             # Win11 VM storage
│   ├── win10/             # Win10 VM storage
│   ├── winxp-1/           # Instance VM storage
│   ├── winxp-lab/         # Instance VM storage
│   └── ...                # Other VM storage
├── snapshots/
│   ├── win11/             # Win11 snapshots
│   │   ├── 20260129-143022/
│   │   └── before-update/
│   └── ...                # Other version snapshots
├── cache/
│   ├── winxp/             # Cached winxp ISOs
│   ├── win11/             # Cached win11 ISOs
│   └── ...                # Other cached ISOs
└── ~/.cache/winctl/
    └── status.json        # Status cache

Getting Help

# Show all commands
./winctl.sh help

# Check system requirements
./winctl.sh check

# List all versions
./winctl.sh list

For issues, visit: https://github.com/dockur/windows/issues