dockurr/windows

Windows

https://github.com/dockur/windows

https://github.com/dockur/windows/ https://hub.docker.com/r/dockurr/windows/tags https://hub.docker.com/r/dockurr/windows/tags https://github.com/dockur/windows/pkgs/container/windows https://hub.docker.com/r/dockurr/windows/

Windows inside a Docker container.

Features ✨

• ISO downloader
• KVM acceleration
• Web-based viewer

Video 📺

![]([]

Usage 🐳

Via Docker Compose:

yaml
services:
  windows:
    image: dockurr/windows
    container_name: windows
    environment:
      VERSION: "11"
    devices:
      - /dev/kvm
      - /dev/net/tun
    cap_add:
      - NET_ADMIN
    ports:
      - 8006:8006
      - 3389:3389/tcp
      - 3389:3389/udp
    volumes:
      - ./windows:/storage
    restart: always
    stop_grace_period: 2m

Via Docker CLI:

bash
docker run -it --rm --name windows -e "VERSION=11" -p 8006:8006 --device=/dev/kvm --device=/dev/net/tun --cap-add NET_ADMIN -v "${PWD:-.}/windows:/storage" --stop-timeout 120 docker.io/dockurr/windows

Via Kubernetes:

shell
kubectl apply -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/dockur/windows/refs/heads/master/kubernetes.yml

Via Github Codespaces:

https://github.com/codespaces/badge.svg]([***]

Via a graphical installer:

https://github.com/dockur/windows/raw/master/.github/winboat.png]([***]

FAQ 💬

How do I use it?

Very simple! These are the steps:

• Start the container and connect to port 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 version?

By default, Windows 11 Pro will be installed. But you can add the VERSION environment variable to your compose file, in order to specify an alternative Windows version to be downloaded:

yaml
environment:
  VERSION: "11"

Select from the values below:

[!TIP] To install ARM64 versions of Windows use https://github.com/dockur/windows-arm/.

How do I change the storage location?

To change the storage location, include the following bind mount in your compose file:

yaml
volumes:
  - ./windows:/storage

Replace the example path ./windows with the desired storage folder or named volume.

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. However you will need to manually extend the disk partition afterwards, since the added disk space will appear as unallocated.

How do I share files with the host?

After installation there will be a folder called Shared on your desktop, which can be used to exchange files with the host machine.

To select a folder on the host for this purpose, include the following bind mount in your compose file:

yaml
volumes:
  -  ./example:/shared

Replace the example path ./example with your desired shared folder, which then will become visible as Shared.

How do I change the amount of CPU or RAM?

By default, Windows will be allowed to use 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 and its password is admin.

If you want to use different credentials during installation, you can configure 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 to be downloaded:

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, 🇷🇺 ***, 🇷🇸 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 KEYBOARD and REGION variables like this:

yaml
environment:
  REGION: "en-US"
  KEYBOARD: "en-US"

How do I install a custom image?

In order to download an unsupported ISO image, specify its URL in the VERSION environment variable:

yaml
environment:
  VERSION: "https://example.com/win.iso"

Alternatively, you can also skip the download and use a local file instead, by binding it in your compose file in this way:

yaml
volumes:
  - ./example.iso:/boot.iso

Replace the example path ./example.iso with the filename of your desired ISO file. The value of VERSION will be ignored in this case.

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:
  -  ./example:/oem

The example folder ./example will be copied to C:\OEM and the containing install.bat will be executed during the last step of the automatic installation.

How do I perform a manual installation?

It's recommended to stick to the automatic installation, as it adjusts various settings to prevent common issues when running Windows inside a virtual environment.

However, if you insist on performing the installation manually at your own risk, add the following environment variable to your compose file:

yaml
environment:
  MANUAL: "Y"

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 password admin.

There is a RDP client for Android available from the Play Store and one for iOS in the Apple Store. For Linux you can use FreeRDP and on Windows just type mstsc in the search box.

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
    ..<snip>..
    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 as a workaround.

How can Windows acquire an IP address from my router?

After configuring the container for macvlan, 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, in which the container and Windows will have separate IP addresses, add the following lines to your compose file:

yaml
environment:
  DHCP: "Y"
devices:
  - /dev/vhost-net
device_cgroup_rules:
  - 'c *:* rwm'

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:
  - ./example2:/storage2
  - ./example3:/storage3

How do I pass-through a disk?

It is possible to pass-through disk devices or partitions directly by adding them to your compose file in this way:

yaml
devices:
  - /dev/sdb:/disk1
  - /dev/sdc1:/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

[!WARNING]
Adding a USB mass storage device before Windows Setup has finished may cause it to fail. Or worse: the drive can get formatted as the system disk, and all your data will be lost! So always keep them disconnected when launching the container for the first time.

How do I verify if my system supports KVM?

First check if your software is compatible using this chart:

After that 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 did not receive any error from kvm-ok but the container still complains about a missing KVM device, it could help to add privileged: true to your compose file (or sudo to your docker command) to rule out any permission issue.

How do I run macOS in a container?

You can use https://github.com/dockur/macos for that. It shares many of the same features, except for the automatic installation.

How do I run a Linux desktop in a container?

You can use https://github.com/qemus/qemu in that case.

Is this project legal?

Yes, this project contains only open-source code and does not distribute any copyrighted material. Any product keys found in the code are just generic placeholders provided by Microsoft for trial purposes. So under all applicable laws, this project will be ***ed legal.

Disclaimer ⚖️

The product names, logos, brands, and other trademarks referred to within this project are the property of their respective trademark holders. This project is not affiliated, sponsored, or endorsed by Microsoft Corporation.