run windows 10 in docker container
IDEs are essential tools for software development. Healthchecks are also very useful if you have expiry-based caching in your app. Youre using familiar Docker tools to build and manage your container images, and then the same Kubernetes tooling as youd use for a pure Linux application. You will also receive a complimentary subscription to TechRepublic's News and Special Offers newsletter and the Top Story of the Day newsletter. Using virtualization in this way adds a layer of hardware isolation between container images, making it harder for information to leak between them and giving you a platform that can host multiple tenant images for you. See Dockerizing .NET Apps with Microsoft's Build Images on Docker Hub. When you follow my blog for a while you probably know that running Windows Containers on Windows 10 had some disadvantages compared to a Windows Server. You won't need it - if there's a problem with the image you'll build a new one. .NET is backwards-compatible, so you can use the installed .NET 4.6 to run any .NET application, back to .NET 2.0. If it's also a console app, then log entries written by the app are collected by Docker and can be viewed with docker logs. This is great when you create an own Docker image from your or a 3rd-party app and something doesn't work as expected or the exe file just doesn't want to start inside the container. If you're running an ASP.NET web app but you want to use the base Windows image and control all your dependencies, you can add the Web Server and ASP.NET features: There's a standard pattern for installing dependencies from the Internet - here's a simple example for downloading Node.js into your Docker image: The version of Node to download and the expected SHA-256 checksum are captured as environment variables with the ENV instruction. All you need to do is set the isolation parameter in the Docker command line to hyperv, which will launch the container using virtualisation to protect it. The small security risk that comes with a shared kernel is why Microsoft offers a more secure alternative: isolated containers. Unless you know you need Server Core, you should start with Nano Server. This is a simple healthcheck for a web application, which makes a web request to the local host (remember the healthcheck executes inside the container) and checks for a 200 response status: Healthcheck commands need to return 0 if the app is healthy, and 1 if not. With so many project management software options to choose from, it can seem daunting to find the right one for your projects or company. Theres no need to learn anything new, if youre coming to Windows containers from Linux. Weve narrowed them down to these nine. The Dockerfile isn't an explicit deployment guide if some of the steps are hidden. December 2017 |, C# Extension Methods Update! Windows 10: Containers are the future, and heres what you need to know. Using tools like OpenShift or the Azure Kubernetes Service automates the placement of code on those workers, managing a cross-OS cluster for your application. Windows own application isolation technologies are managed automatically by the installer, so all you need to consider is whether your server applications run using process isolation or in Hyper-V. And thats a decision best made by whether youre running your applications on your own servers in your own data centre, or in the public cloud. Healthchecks are how you tell Docker if the app inside your container is healthy. For .NET web apps running in IIS, you need to take a different approach. Instead, you build a new image with the latest patches and replace your running container. The engine monitors the process running in the container, so if it stops Docker can raise an error. Its not only Linux containers in the cloud. Whats important here is not the application, but how its orchestrated and managed. When the first user request hits, the app is already running warm so there's no delay in sending the response. A healthcheck is a script you define in the Dockerfile, which the Docker engine executes inside the container at regular intervals (30 seconds by default, but configurable at the image and container level). Under the hood of Windows Servers isolated containers is, of course, Hyper-V. Microsoft has been using it to improve the isolation of Docker containers on Windows, using a thin OS layer running on top of Hyper-V to host a Docker container image, keeping performance while ensuring that containers remain fully isolated. The command runs when the container starts, so if your check exercises the main path in your app, it acts as a warm-up. The default on desktop PCs is to use Hyper-V, for servers its to use Docker isolation. This quick glossary of 30 terms and concepts relating to IIoT will help you get a handle on what IIoT is and what it can do for your business.. From the glossarys introduction: While the Procuring software packages for an organization is a complicated process that involves more than just technological knowledge. Modern app frameworks like .NET Core, Node and Go run as console apps - even for Web applications. The installation of Docker Desktop works without a problem. Now you can access the web server with your browser or by typing this command. As a result, you may prefer to force Hyper-V containers on your Windows Server container hosts. You can run any application in Docker as long as it can be installed and executed unattended, and the base operating system supports the app. This is needed to activate Hyper-V in the Windows 10 VM. Begin by running an interactive container with docker run -it --rm microsoft/nanoserver powershell and set up your app manually. Be aware that not all MSIs will be built to support unattended installation. If youre running Windows 10 youre running several without even realising it: wrapping and isolating all your UWP apps; using thin virtual machines to deliver security; and, if youre a developer, either Windows or Linux Docker instances. The Windows 10 operating system uses the same kernel, but with different settings. Web Deploy needs an agent installed into the image which adds an unnecessary piece of software. Lately I've been Dockerizing a variety of Windows apps - from legacy .NET 2.0 WebForms apps to Java, .NET Core, Go and Node.js. TechRepublic Premium content helps you solve your toughest IT issues and jump-start your career or next project. IIoT software assists manufacturers and other industrial operations with configuring, managing and monitoring connected devices. Microsoft is using Dockers services to underpin its Windows Server containers. In the past process isolation was only possible with Windows Server. You don't have to use a base Windows image for your app. A good IoT solution requires capabilities ranging from designing and delivering connected products to collecting and analyzing system data once in the field. If something fails, try again with Server Core. Be your company's Microsoft insider by reading these Windows and Office tips, tricks, and cheat sheets. It may take several iterations to build your image. Beginning with Windows 10 1809 and Docker 18.09.1 you can use the more lightweight process isolation mode for Windows Containers. Consolidating the build in a multi-stage Dockerfile means you can build your app anywhere without needing to install .NET or Visual Studio. That saves you downloading large files every time. While the desktop containers are intended to both simplify and secure your desktop applications, providing much-needed isolation for apps installed via appx or MSIX (and in Windows 10X for any other Win32 code), Windows 10s containers are based on Windows own process isolation technology. Dockerizing Windows apps is straightforward. The process could be running, but your app could be in a failed state - for a .NET Core app, the dotnet executable may be up but returning 503 to every request. I've tried process isolation on a Windows Insider 18xxx machine, but here you are out of luck and you have to run the 1809 images in default Hyper-V isolation mode. Microsoft offers many different container models on Windows. Open up a PowerShell terminal and start a Windows container with this command. (And you can send in a PR for the official image if you get there first). 2022 TechnologyAdvice. I've tried that with VirtualBox to see what happens. There are financial and support aspects to consider, proof of concepts to evaluate and vendor negotiations to handle. In the past I had to say "no" you can't use a Windows 10 VM and then run Windows Containers in it. Its easy enough to make and run a Hyper-V container. April 2020 |, Site Reliability Engineering (SRE): The Big Picture The MSI supports app configuration with the RELEASENAME option, and it runs unattended with the qn flag. We recently updated our You may unsubscribe from these newsletters at any time. When you have your app working, replace the COPY with the proper download-verify-delete RUN pattern. February 2020 |, Using Declarative Jenkins Pipelines You can follow me on Twitter @stefscherer. Following these steps will get you a functioning Windows app in a Docker image - then you can look to optimizing your Dockerfile. Today is my first day working for Docker, Inc. and I'm absolutely excited to be there. You'll have to manage the updates for that image, but you will control the timescales. Password must be a minimum of 6 characters and have any 3 of the 4 items: a number (0 through 9), a special character (such as !, $, #, %), an uppercase character (A through Z) or a lowercase (a through z) character (no spaces). That layered container model is key to the future of Windows one that reaches into the upcoming Windows 10X and out into the wider world of public and private clouds, with Docker Windows containers now officially part of Kubernetes. And it's important to remove the package in the same RUN command, so the Zip file is downloaded, expanded and deleted in a single image layer. All rights reserved. But that's not the case. You'll only find that out by testing, but if you do find problems you can just switch to using Server Core. What's the benefit you might think. IIS will keep your web app running, but Docker needs a process to start and monitor. The check you make inside the healthcheck can be as complex as you like - having a diagnostics endpoint in your app and testing that is a thorough approach. While both OpenShift and Kubernetes now support Windows containers, theyre not actually running Windows containers on Linux hosts. MSIs don't need an agent, but they're opaque, so it's not clear what's happening when the app gets installed. HEALTHCHECK is one of the most useful instructions in the Dockerfile and you should include one in every app you Dockerize for production. To support that, Microsoft release regular updates to the base images on Docker Hub, tagging them with a full version number (10.0.14393.693 is the current version). Outside of Kubernetes, Windows containers on Windows Server have two different isolation modes. Remember that the Dockerfile will be the ultimate source of truth for how to deploy and run your application. After months of, When I'm working with Windows I love to have a standarized way to install software. The web server should show you a sweet photo and the name of the container stamped on it. TechRepublic contributing writers ranked the best tech in multiple categories, including VPNs, password managers, and headsets, as well as AI/ML companies. On Server Core you'll see that .NET 4.6 is already installed, so you don't need to add features to run .NET Framework applications. They are a good option if they get you started with the dependencies you need. A well-built MSI will support command-line switches for any options available in the UI, but that isn't always the case. If you use a derived image, you have a dependency on the image owner to update their image, before you can update yours. Theres no practical reason why they cant use a similar technique to that used by Docker to run Linux containers on Windows. MVP. You can manage those nodes from the same controller as your Linux nodes. Let's try this out with a small web server I have created for the Chocolatey Fest conference last October that's running in a Windows Nanoserver 2019 container. That tool continually checks a Windows service is running, so if IIS does fail the monitor process raises the failure to Docker. I've blogged How to find dependencies of containerized Windows apps about a year ago. March 2020 |, Monitoring Containerized Application Health with Docker The digital transformation required by implementing the industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) is a radical change from business as usual. Nano Server is preferred because it is so drastically slimmed down. It's a known version of Node, verified from a trusted download source. Learn about the new features available with iOS 16, and how to download and install the latest version of Apples mobile operating system. Docker has been developing a new version of its Docker Desktop tools for Windows around WSL2, making it as easy to develop and test Linux containers on Windows 10 as it is to work with Windows own containers. Modern DevOps treats infrastructures (especially virtual infrastructures) as the end state of a build, so treating component applications in containers as one of many different types of build artifact makes a lot of sense. Your image will only run a single app, so there won't be any dependency clashes. Microsoft MVP | Docker Captain | Pluralsight Author, Site Reliability Engineering (SRE): The Big Picture, Monitoring Containerized Application Health with Docker, Handling Data and Stateful Applications in Docker, Managing Load Balancing and Scale in Docker Swarm Mode Clusters, Build a Lightweight Dev Rig for Running Windows Docker Containers, Dockerizing .NET Apps with Microsoft's Build Images on Docker Hub, tailing the IIS log files so they get exposed to Docker. The actual process serving your app is w3wp.exe, but that's managed by the IIS Windows service, which is running in the background. Make sure your HEALTHCHECK command is stable, and always returns 0 or 1. Thats where Kubernetes comes in, along with RedHats OpenShift Kubernetes service. Its not the familiar Docker model that we find in our cloud-hosted enterprise applications. Its gone down from nearly 5GB with Windows Server 1809 and 1903, to half the size at 2.46GB in the upcoming 2004 release. And thats Windows Server Core, not Nano! In Microsoft's IIS image they use a tool called ServiceMonitor.exe as the entrypoint. The first, process isolation, is similar to that used by Linux containers, running multiple images on a host OS, using the same kernel for all the images and the host. While each container is technically a virtual machine with its own kernel, theyre optimised for running container images. With the latest release of Docker Desktop on Windows 10 1809 you now can run Windows Containers in process isolation mode. But with process isolation there is a first breakthrough. By clicking continue, you agree to these updated terms. Since then a varied career has included being part of the team building the world's first solid state 30KW HF radio transmitter, writing electromagnetic modelling software for railguns, and testing the first ADSL equipment in the UK. When you run a container from an image, Docker starts the process specified in the CMD or ENTRYPOINT instruction in the Dockerfile. From time to time I get asked if people can also use VirtualBox. Docker monitors the process running in the container, but that's just a basic liveness check. With this pull request https://github.com/moby/moby/pull/38000 that got merged into Docker 18.09.1 it is now possible to use it on Windows 10 as well. Sure, Hyper-V does not work in a VirtualBox VM, that's why the MobyLinuxVM could not be started. With two use cases for its containers, and five different container models, it would seem that Microsofts container strategy is ripe for confusion. All fields are required. If you use a derived image, make sure it has the same release cadence as the base images. The command will pull the Docker image from Docker Hub, starts the web server as a container and forwards port 8080 to it. Recent releases have added support for Windows containers alongside Linux, managing both from the same controller. For the last decade he's been a freelance writer, specialising in enterprise technologies and development. You can download and run MSIs using the same approach. If you liked this blog post please share it with your friends. Author. That's easy to set up in the Dockerfile. Register for your free TechRepublic membership or if you are already a member, sign in using your preferred method below. Meta's new front-end, back-end, mobile and database development courses prepare entry-level professionals for development careers in less than eight months. Don't be tempted to keep the Zip file in the image, "in case you need it". Microsoft has been working hard to reduce the size of the Hyper-V server image thats used for Windows containers. If you can install the app from an MSI you'll also need to ensure that the install completed before you move on to the next Dockerfile instruction - some MSIs continue to run in the background. The download and hash check is done in a single RUN instruction, using Invoke-WebRequest to download the file and then Get-FileHash to verify the checksum. Microsoft's images are usually updated at the same time as the Windows image, but official images may not be. Both Nano Server and Windows Server Core have PowerShell set up, so you can install any software you need using PowerShell cmdlets. Alternatively, use the Dockerfile from a derived image to make your own "golden" image. The only caveat using the process isolation mode is that the Windows base image that is used for a Docker image must match the kernel of your Windows 10 machine. On Windows 10 every Windows Containers has to be run in Hyper-V isolation mode. After a few seconds the Windows Docker engine is up and running. After these instructions run, your image has the Node.js runtime in a known location - C:\node\node.exe. Open a PowerShell terminal and run the appetizer app as described above. As you can see in the screen shot you can see the node.exe process in the Task Manager. Starting a single process is the ideal way to run apps in Docker. You can rely on the regular running of the healthcheck to keep your cache up-to date, so you could cache items for 25 seconds, knowing the healthcheck will run every 30 seconds and refresh them. When you start Docker Desktop for the first time the following error will appear.