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how do i check terminal if docker is downloaded corrcect? Also what terminal should i use if I have windows pro but i plan on building ev erything in ubuntu
Here’s how to verify Docker in your terminal and pick the right shell on Windows for an Ubuntu-style workflow:
Open whichever terminal you’re using (PowerShell, Command Prompt, Git Bash, or WSL’s Ubuntu shell) and run:
bashCopyEdit# 1. Check that the Docker client is installed docker --version # Example output: Docker version 24.0.5, build abc1234 # 2. (Optional) Check that the daemon is running and see details docker info # 3. Run the “Hello World” container to confirm the engine can pull images and start containers docker run hello-world
-
docker --version
If Docker’s on your PATH, this prints the client version. -
docker info
Shows whether the daemon (server) is running, plus system info (cgroup driver, storage driver, etc.). -
docker run hello-world
Pulls a tiny test image and runs it; if you see the “Hello from Docker!” message, your install is good.
If any of those commands error out, you either need to install Docker (on Windows that’s Docker Desktop with the WSL2 backend) or start the Docker service.
Since you “plan on building everything in Ubuntu,” the smoothest path on Windows 10/11 Pro is to use WSL 2 (Windows Subsystem for Linux):
-
Enable WSL 2
In PowerShell (as Administrator):powershellCopyEditwsl --install
This will install the default distro (Ubuntu) and set WSL 2 as the backend.
-
Install Ubuntu
If you already have WSL 2 enabled but need Ubuntu:-
Open the Microsoft Store, search for “Ubuntu,” and install the latest LTS.
-
-
Use Windows Terminal
-
Install Windows Terminal from the Microsoft Store.
-
It natively supports multiple profiles (PowerShell, Command Prompt, Ubuntu WSL, even Azure Cloud Shell).
-
You’ll get a tabs-and-panes interface, full Unicode support, copy/paste, theming, and GPU-accelerated text rendering.
-
-
Launch your Ubuntu shell inside Windows Terminal (or via
wsl
from any other terminal). There you can install and run Docker Engine directly in Linux:bashCopyEdit# Inside Ubuntu/WSL sudo apt update sudo apt install docker.io sudo usermod -aG docker $USER # so you can run `docker` without sudo newgrp docker # reload your group docker version
-
Git Bash: Good for basic Unix commands, but it’s still a Windows emulation layer—not a full Linux.
-
Cmder / ConEmu: Fancy wrappers around PowerShell/CMD/Git Bash, but they don’t give you the real Ubuntu experience.
-
Hyper-V VM: If you need a full Ubuntu VM, you can spin one up in Hyper-V and use its built-in GNOME Terminal.
Bottom line:
For true Ubuntu tools and package management on a Windows host → enable WSL 2 + Ubuntu and use Windows Terminal as your go-to shell. You’ll get the best of both worlds: native Linux plus Windows integration.
Great—that version string means the Docker client is installed. Let’s verify the engine (daemon) is running and that you can actually pull and run containers:
-
Check the daemon & system info
bashCopyEditdocker info
If the daemon is up, you’ll see details about your storage driver, cgroup driver, number of containers/images, etc. If it errors with “Cannot connect to the Docker daemon,” you’ll need to start Docker Desktop or, in WSL, start the docker service.
-
Run the “Hello World” test
bashCopyEditdocker run hello-world
This pulls a tiny test image and runs it. A successful install prints “Hello from Docker!” along with some further instructions.
-
(WSL-specific) Ensure your Linux user can talk to Docker
-
If you’re using Docker Desktop’s WSL2 backend, open Docker Desktop → Settings → Resources → WSL Integration and make sure your Ubuntu distro is toggled ON.
-
If instead you installed
docker.io
directly inside Ubuntu/WSL:bashCopyEditsudo service docker start sudo usermod -aG docker $USER # add yourself to the docker group exec su -l $USER # or log out/in to apply the new group docker version # now should work without sudo
-
-
Pick your terminal
-
Windows Terminal with the Ubuntu profile (via WSL2) is ideal—tabs, panes, copy/paste, theming.
-
From any other shell (PowerShell, CMD, Git Bash), as long as Docker Desktop is running,
docker
commands will work—but you won’t get a true Linux environment.
-
Once docker info
shows the daemon is reachable and docker run hello-world
succeeds, you’re all set to start building containers in your Ubuntu shell. Let me know if you hit any errors!
Server: permission denied while trying to connect to the Docker daemon socket at unix:///var/run/docker.sock: Get "http://%2Fvar%2Frun%2Fdocker.sock/v1.49/info": dial unix /var/run/docker.sock: connect: permission denied
You’re seeing that “permission denied” because, by default, the Docker daemon socket (/var/run/docker.sock
) is owned by root and only members of the docker group (or root) can talk to it. You have two quick fixes:
bashCopyEditsudo docker info sudo docker run hello-world
That will always work, but it’s cumbersome having to prefix every command.
-
Create the docker group (if it doesn’t already exist):
bashCopyEditsudo groupadd docker
-
Add your user (
$USER
resolves to “workbench”) to that group:bashCopyEditsudo usermod -aG docker $USER
-
Reload your group membership (so you don’t have to log out/in):
bashCopyEditnewgrp docker
-
Verify
bashCopyEditdocker info # should now work without sudo docker run hello-world
If you ever find Docker isn’t running, you can start (and enable) it like this:
bashCopyEditsudo systemctl enable --now docker
Once you’ve done #2 (and confirmed docker info
runs without sudo), you’re all set to pull, build, and run containers normally.
Since you’re on Windows Pro and want a true Ubuntu environment, I still recommend:
-
WSL 2 + Ubuntu
powershellCopyEditwsl --install
(or enable WSL 2 and then install Ubuntu from the Microsoft Store)
-
Windows Terminal as your daily shell
-
Open the Ubuntu profile tab for all your Linux commands
-
You can still open PowerShell or CMD tabs side-by-side if you need them
-
That setup gives you native Linux tooling (apt, systemctl, bash/zsh) plus Docker in Ubuntu, all inside one elegant terminal.
When you see:
bashCopyEdit[sudo] password for workbench:
it’s simply asking for your Linux user password. By design the terminal won’t show any characters as you type—just enter the password you chose when you first set up your Ubuntu/WSL user and hit Enter.
-
At the prompt, type your user password.
-
Press Enter.
-
If it was correct, the command will proceed; if not, you’ll get “sorry, try again.”
In PowerShell or Windows Terminal, run:
powershellCopyEditwsl -d Ubuntu -u root
(Replace “Ubuntu” with your distro name from wsl -l
if it’s different.)
Once you’re in as root:
bashCopyEditpasswd workbench
You’ll be prompted to enter a new UNIX password and confirm it.
bashCopyEditexit
Back in your normal “workbench@…” shell, you can now:
bashCopyEdit# (Re-)create the docker group only if needed sudo groupadd docker # Add yourself to it sudo usermod -aG docker $USER # Reload your groups so you don’t have to log out newgrp docker # Verify you can now run Docker without sudo docker info docker run hello-world
After that, you should see docker info
output and “Hello from Docker!” from the test container—no more permission errors.
It sounds like you’re inside an NVIDIA-managed “Workbench” image that likely doesn’t give you full root/sudo rights—hence you can’t create groups or start the Docker daemon. You’ve got a few paths forward:
-
Move to your own Ubuntu (WSL 2 or VM)
-
On Windows Pro, run
wsl --install
(or manually enable WSL 2), install Ubuntu from the Microsoft Store, then install Docker (either Docker Desktop with WSL integration, orsudo apt install docker.io
). You’ll have full sudo access to add yourself to thedocker
group and run containers without permission errors.
-
-
Ask your admin for sudo/root privileges on Workbench
-
If you must stay in the NVIDIA environment, you’ll need permission to run
groupadd
,usermod
, andsystemctl enable --now docker
. Trysudo -l
to see what commands you’re allowed, then request whatever’s missing.
-
-
Explore rootless Docker
-
Some locked-down systems let you run Docker in “rootless” mode. You’d still need enough privileges to launch the rootless daemon (
dockerd-rootless.sh
) and configure your environment. It’s a more advanced setup and may not be supported on your Workbench image.
-
My recommendation: spin up a local Ubuntu under WSL 2 (or a lightweight VM). You’ll get a true Linux shell with admin rights, and you can install/configure Docker however you like—no more permission headaches. Let me know if you’d like step-by-step for setting up WSL 2 + Ubuntu.
Running inside NVIDIA’s Workbench can offer some real advantages—especially if your focus is on GPU-accelerated workloads—but it also comes with trade-offs. Here’s a quick rundown:
-
Pre-installed CUDA/CUDNN and ML Frameworks
-
You get NVIDIA’s drivers, CUDA toolkit, cuDNN libraries, plus common ML stacks (TensorFlow, PyTorch) all configured and tested together.
-
Saves you the headache of version-matching.
-
-
GPU Passthrough & Profiling Tools
-
Direct access to the host GPUs, with NVIDIA’s performance tools (Nsight, Visual Profiler) built in.
-
Easy to collect metrics, debug kernels, and optimize your models.
-
-
Curated Docker Images
-
Out-of-the-box
nvcr.io
containers tuned for AI workloads (e.g. TensorRT, DeepStream), already set up for GPU support via the NVIDIA Container Toolkit. -
Means you don’t have to build or maintain your own GPU-enabled images.
-
-
Security & Stability
-
NVIDIA vets the environment, so you know the drivers, libraries, and toolkits are all compatible.
-
Updates and patches come through a single channel.
-
-
Limited Admin/Sudo Access
-
As you’ve seen, you may not be able to add groups, manage services, or customize low-level settings (like the Docker socket permissions).
-
If you need full control (installing other services, tweaking systemd, etc.), you’ll hit walls.
-
-
Less Flexibility for General Dev
-
You’re tied to the versions NVIDIA ships. If you need a newer kernel, custom networking, or non-GPU tools, you may be blocked.
-
Not ideal for workflows that span beyond AI/ML (e.g., web development, database services).
-
-
Dependency on the Host Setup
-
If your org’s admin updates or locks down the image, your whole environment could change without warning.
-
-
Use Workbench for GPU-Heavy Tasks
Keep it for training, profiling, and inference runs where you want peak performance and NVIDIA’s tooling. -
Do Daily Dev in WSL2/VM
Spin up your own Ubuntu (via WSL2 or a lightweight VM) for building Docker images, writing code, and running services you control. Then push your container to the Workbench for final GPU-enabled testing. -
Rootless Docker (Advanced)
If you must run Docker within Workbench but lack sudo, investigate NVIDIA’s rootless container support—though setup can be tricky and still may require some privileges.
Bottom line:
If your primary goal is seamless GPU acceleration with zero driver-hell, NVIDIA Workbench is great. But for general Linux administration and full Docker control, you’ll still want your own Ubuntu environment alongside it.
Because you’re the sole operator, you can in fact elevate yourself to root or the sudoers group—but exactly how depends on whether that “Workbench” is:
-
A WSL 2 distro (Ubuntu under Windows)
-
A Docker container or remote Linux VM provisioned by NVIDIA
You can start WSL as root, add yourself to sudoers, then switch back:
-
Launch WSL as root
In PowerShell or Windows Terminal:powershellCopyEditwsl -d Ubuntu -u root
(If your distro’s named differently, list with
wsl -l
and substitute that name.) -
Give your user sudo rights
bashCopyEdit# create the sudo group if needed groupadd sudo # (on Ubuntu it exists by default) # add “workbench” to sudo usermod -aG sudo workbench
-
Optionally set your user’s password
bashCopyEditpasswd workbench
-
Exit and relaunch
bashCopyEditexit wsl -d Ubuntu # back in as “workbench” sudo docker info # now works without extra setup
-
(Optional) Make root your default
If you ever want your WSL prompt to start you in as root, run:powershellCopyEditubuntu config --default-user root
or via the Distribution’s
<DistroName>.exe config --default-user root
.
If “Workbench” is actually an NVIDIA‐supplied container or VM image, you’ll need to redeploy it with root privileges:
-
On the host, stop the existing container
bashCopyEditdocker ps # find the NVIDIA workbench container ID docker stop <ID>
-
Relaunch it as root/privileged
bashCopyEditdocker run --gpus all --privileged -it \ --user root \ nvcr.io/nvidia/workbench:latest \ bash
Now inside, you are root and can
groupadd docker && usermod -aG docker workbench
. -
If it’s a VM you control, reboot into single‐user or recovery mode, mount
/etc
, and edit/etc/sudoers
to add:sqlCopyEditworkbench ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD:ALL
Then reboot normally.
Even if you fix admin rights in the NVIDIA image, it’s often cleaner to do day-to-day Docker builds, installs, and system tweaks inside your own WSL 2 Ubuntu—full control, easy snapshots, no risk of breaking the GPU environment. Then shift back to the NVIDIA Workbench purely for GPU-tuned runs.
Let me know which setup you’re on, and I can tailor the exact commands.
Here are two easy ways to see exactly what your WSL distro is called:
-
Open PowerShell or a cmd tab in Windows Terminal.
-
Run:
powershellCopyEditwsl -l -v
-
You’ll get output like this:
pgsqlCopyEditNAME STATE VERSION * Ubuntu-22.04 Running 2 docker-desktop Stopped 2 docker-desktop-data Stopped 2
-
The NAME column shows each installed distro.
-
The one with the asterisk (
*
) is your default. -
In this example, the distro name is Ubuntu-22.04.
-
-
Open your WSL prompt (whatever you’re already in).
-
Run:
bashCopyEditcat /etc/os-release
-
Look for the lines that say
NAME=
andVERSION=
. For example:iniCopyEditNAME="Ubuntu" VERSION="22.04 LTS (Jammy Jellyfish)"
-
Here, your distro is simply called Ubuntu.
Or you can use:
bashCopyEditlsb_release -a
which will print something like:
yamlCopyEditDistributor ID: Ubuntu Description: Ubuntu 22.04 LTS Release: 22.04 Codename: jammy
-
Once you see the exact name (e.g. Ubuntu-22.04
or Ubuntu
), you can use it in commands like:
powershellCopyEdit# Launch WSL as root for that distro wsl -d Ubuntu-22.04 -u root
Let me know if you need any more help!
Your WSL distro is named NVIDIA-Workbench, so you’ll use that in the wsl
commands. Here’s how to drop into a root shell, give your user both sudo and docker rights, and then get back to your normal prompt:
In PowerShell (or a Windows Terminal tab), run:
powershellCopyEditwsl -d NVIDIA-Workbench -u root
That will drop you into a root shell inside your WSL distro.
Assuming your Linux username is workbench
(as shown by your prompt), run:
bashCopyEdit# Create the docker group if it doesn’t exist groupadd docker # Add ‘workbench’ to the sudo group (so you can use sudo) usermod -aG sudo workbench # Add ‘workbench’ to the docker group (so you can run Docker without sudo) usermod -aG docker workbench
If you ever need to set or reset your user’s password while you’re root, run:
bashCopyEditpasswd workbench
Back at your root prompt, type:
bashCopyEditexit
Now you’re back in
usermod -aG sudo workbench
usermod -aG docker workbench groupadd: group 'docker' already exists root@FlexNetOS-PC0001:/mnt/c/Users/David Revenough#
You’re almost there—seeing “group ‘docker’ already exists” just means that step is done. Now let’s finish up:
-
(Optional) Set your user’s password
If you haven’t already set one (so you can usesudo
later), still as root run:bashCopyEditpasswd workbench
and follow the prompts.
-
Exit the root shell
bashCopyEditexit
You should drop back to the
workbench@…
prompt. -
Reload your group membership
So your new docker (and sudo) groups take effect without logging out/in:bashCopyEditnewgrp docker
-
Verify your groups
Just to be sure you’re in bothdocker
andsudo
:bashCopyEditgroups
You should see
workbench : workbench sudo docker …
-
Test Docker
Now run:bashCopyEditdocker info docker run hello-world
You should see the full
docker info
output and the “Hello from Docker!” message—nosudo
or permission errors. -
Use sudo for admin tasks
From here on, you can also run things like:bashCopyEditsudo systemctl enable --now docker
or install new packages with
sudo apt install…
-
You can fully restart WSL to pick up changes:
powershellCopyEditwsl --shutdown # then reopen your Ubuntu shell
-
Then repeat the
groups
,docker info
,hello-world
steps.
Once that’s clean, you’ll be able to run Docker and any other admin commands in your NVIDIA-Workbench distro without further permission blocks.
It looks like you actually invoked su
(which on Ubuntu will tell you to use sudo
) rather than successfully spawning a new group-shell. In WSL the easiest way to pick up your new group membership is to fully restart the distro:
-
Exit back to PowerShell (if you’re still inside WSL):
bashCopyEditexit
-
Shut down all WSL instances:
powershellCopyEditwsl --shutdown
-
Relaunch your NVIDIA-Workbench distro (e.g. via Windows Terminal):
powershellCopyEditwsl -d NVIDIA-Workbench
-
Verify your groups:
bashCopyEditgroups # you should see “workbench sudo docker” in the list
-
Test Docker:
bashCopyEditdocker info docker run hello-world
If you see full docker info
output and the “Hello from Docker!” message without any errors, you’re all set.
-
WSL caches your user’s group list at login.
-
newgrp
can work, but it’s often simpler in WSL just to restart the session so it re-reads/etc/group
. -
After the restart, your user (
workbench
) will be in both thedocker
andsudo
groups, so you can run Docker commands andsudo
-prefixed installs without further hiccups.
Server: Containers: 1 Running: 0 Paused: 0 Stopped: 1 Images: 1 Server Version: 28.1.1 Storage Driver: overlay2 Backing Filesystem: extfs Supports d_type: true Using metacopy: false Native Overlay Diff: true userxattr: false Logging Driver: json-file Cgroup Driver: cgroupfs Cgroup Version: 1 Plugins: Volume: local Network: bridge host ipvlan macvlan null overlay Log: awslogs fluentd gcplogs gelf journald json-file local splunk syslog Swarm: inactive Runtimes: io.containerd.runc.v2 runc Default Runtime: runc Init Binary: docker-init containerd version: 05044ec0a9a75232cad458027ca83437aae3f4da runc version: v1.2.5-0-g59923ef init version: de40ad0 Security Options: seccomp Profile: builtin Kernel Version: 5.15.167.4-microsoft-standard-WSL2 Operating System: Ubuntu 22.04.5 LTS OSType: linux Architecture: x86_64 CPUs: 48 Total Memory: 251.4GiB Name: FlexNetOS-PC0001 ID: 3deb0e68-d2be-4b85-9d0c-95ad8ba4b588 Docker Root Dir: /var/lib/docker Debug Mode: false Experimental: false Insecure Registries: ::1/128 127.0.0.0/8 Live Restore Enabled: false
WARNING: No blkio throttle.read_bps_device support WARNING: No blkio throttle.write_bps_device support WARNING: No blkio throttle.read_iops_device support WARNING: No blkio throttle.write_iops_device support
Great—your docker info
output shows both the client and server are up and communicating properly. You’re all set on the Docker side. Here are the next steps and recommendations:
Run:
bashCopyEditdocker run hello-world
You should see a “Hello from Docker!” message confirming you can pull images and start containers without issues.
Since you’re in Ubuntu 22.04 on WSL 2, you can use apt
to install most Linux tools. For example, to install Git and curl:
bashCopyEditsudo apt update sudo apt install -y git curl
Any time you need a new package, just:
-
sudo apt update
-
sudo apt install <package-name>
For a seamless Ubuntu experience alongside Windows:
-
Windows Terminal (from the Microsoft Store)
-
Native tabs/panes, theming, copy-paste, Unicode, GPU-accelerated rendering.
-
Create an “Ubuntu” profile that launches
wsl -d NVIDIA-Workbench
.
-
-
WSL 2 + Ubuntu
powershellCopyEditwsl --install
(You’ve already got WSL2 running as
NVIDIA-Workbench
.) -
Use the Ubuntu tab for all Linux development—installing packages, running Docker, building code—while keeping PowerShell or CMD tabs handy for Windows-only tasks.
-
Open Windows Terminal → select your Ubuntu (WSL) profile.
-
Install any Linux tools you need via
sudo apt install
. -
Build and run containers with Docker (no
sudo
needed). -
Edit code with VS Code’s “Remote - WSL” extension or any editor inside WSL for native performance.
-
Switch to a PowerShell or CMD tab if you need to run Windows-only commands.
With Docker verified and your user in the right groups, plus Windows Terminal/WSL as your shell, you’ve got a rock-solid, full-Ubuntu dev environment on Windows Pro. Let me know what programs or frameworks you want to set up next!
Hello from Docker! This message shows that your installation appears to be working correctly.
To generate this message, Docker took the following steps:
- The Docker client contacted the Docker daemon.
- The Docker daemon pulled the "hello-world" image from the Docker Hub. (amd64)
- The Docker daemon created a new container from that image which runs the executable that produces the output you are currently reading.
- The Docker daemon streamed that output to the Docker client, which sent it to your terminal.
To try something more ambitious, you can run an Ubuntu container with: $ docker run -it ubuntu bash
Share images, automate workflows, and more with a free Docker ID: https://hub.docker.com/
For more examples and ideas, visit: https://docs.docker.com/get-started/
Awesome–that “Hello from Docker!” means you’re fully set. 🎉
You can grab almost anything with apt
. For example, to get Git, curl, build tools and Python:
bashCopyEditsudo apt update sudo apt install -y \ git \ curl \ build-essential \ python3 python3-pip \ nodejs npm
-
git: version control
-
curl: HTTP client
-
build-essential: gcc, make, etc.
-
python3 & pip: Python scripting
-
nodejs & npm: JavaScript tooling
Feel free to swap in whatever packages you need (e.g. docker-compose
, vim
, htop
, openssh-client
, etc.).
You can spin up a throwaway Ubuntu container to experiment:
bashCopyEditdocker run -it ubuntu:22.04 bash
Inside that shell you’ll have a fresh Ubuntu install—great for testing installs or isolating environments.
For the smoothest workflow, install Visual Studio Code on Windows and add the Remote – WSL extension. Then open your WSL filesystem directly in VS Code:
bashCopyEditcode .
VS Code will launch and seamlessly edit files in your Linux environment.
-
Open the Ubuntu (NVIDIA-Workbench) profile tab for all Linux work.
-
Add additional profiles (PowerShell, CMD) for Windows tasks.
-
Split panes (
Alt+Shift+-
orAlt+Shift+=
) to run Windows and Ubuntu side by side.
What would you like to set up next? For example:
-
A specific language environment (Go, Rust, Ruby)?
-
Docker Compose stacks?
-
Databases like PostgreSQL/MySQL?
-
Or perhaps configuring your shell (
.bashrc
/zsh
)?
Let me know and I’ll guide you through the exact commands!
That screen you’re seeing is the Welcome page for your WSL distro (NVIDIA-Workbench), not the Windows Terminal app itself. It’s a friendly HTML/CSS “help” UI that runs inside the WSL distro when you launch it directly from the Start menu or via its icon.
Let me know if you want templates for wiki pages, onboarding sections, or advanced Git branching/PR guidance!
Happy building—you’re leveling up FAST!