Step-by-step guide on installing Docker Desktop (Microsoft Windows)

Prerequisites

• First we need to make sure we have the software installed to make virtualisation happen. Docker works with two options, we are going to use WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux).

  1. Hold the Windows key down and press R.
  2. In the "Run" window that appears, type cmd and press enter.
  3. Inside the terminal that appears, type wsl and press enter.
  4. If WSL is already installed, then a large amount of information will be thrown at you, if not, type wsl --install.
  5. To double-check that WSL is not just installed, but also enabled: go to the Start menu, search for turn windows, and open "Turn Windows Features On/Off". Scroll down the list, and make sure that Windows Subsystem for Linux is enabled.

Downloading the Docker Desktop installer

 1. First, check the Operating System and whether your PC's processor is of the "x64" or "ARM" variant.
 2. Hold the Window key down and press R. Then type `msinfo32` and press enter. If "System Type" doesn't mention "ARM", then it's "x64".

 3. Go to [www.Docker.com](https://www.docker.com/), place the mouse over the "Download Docker Desktop" button, and select the version that's 
    relevant to you.
 4. Run the downloaded Docker Installer. It will start with "initializing...", if it gets stuck during this point, restarting your computer should 
    solve it.
 5. If it asks for "WSL" or "Hyper-V", choose WSL, whether or not you want a Desktop shortcut is entirely up to you. Otherwise, just let it run.
 6. Restart your PC when it's done, and you're good to go!

Installing Microsoft Visual Studio Code

While not essential, this example of an Integrated Develoment Environment will be very useful to make the custom files we're covering in the various examples of this wiki.

1. Visit https://code.visualstudio.com/, and click on "Download for Windows".

2. Run the installer from your Downloads folder, and we're completely set!