How to Run Docker Service Engine in Microsoft Windows

There is a certain way to activate Docker service in Microsoft Windows. Indeed, before going into that step, there is a specific requirement to do that. There must be a process before running Docker is going to be possible. For sure, it will need the installation process of Docker Desktop application in the first place. So, after the installation process of Docker Desktop application ended in a success, then running Docker service will be possible.

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• How to Run Docker Service Engine in Microsoft Windows.
• How to Check if Docker Service is running in Microsoft Windows

Introduction

There is a necessary requirement after checking whether Docker Desktop application is already installed or not. It is running or executing the Docker Desktop application. Basically, running Docker Desktop application for the first time will automatically start the Docker service. But there is also a possibility that even though Docker Desktop application is running successfully, in the end Docker service failed to start. Another condition will be the Docker service is not automatically started although Docker Desktop application is running. So, user will need a certain action for starting the Docker service. But in this case, the scenario is where the Docker service will run automcatically when the Docker Desktop application already running successfully.

How to Run Docker Service Engine in Microsoft Windows

In this case, in order to run Docker service engine, below are the steps taken in order to do it :

1. Off course, the first step will be running the Docker Desktop application. Well, in this case, just search the Docker Desktop application first. One of the alternative for finding it, just search it through the Textfield search available upon hitting the Start button.

2. After the Start button appear, just type ‘docker’ in the textfield Search. It will present a search result. One of the search result will be the link to ‘Docker Desktop application’.

3. Hit the link, if there is no error appear, Docker Desktop application will appear and running. Below is the appearance of the Docker Desktop application :

   

4. Just wait until it finished starting the Docker service engine. If it is finished, Docker Desktop application will show more or less the following appearance although it will not be exactly similar because of the content displaying the list of Docker containers :

   

How to Check if Docker Service is running in Microsoft Windows

After Docker Desktop application appeared and running as it appear in the previous section, just do the following steps for testing if the docker service is already running :

1. Execute or run Command Prompt which exist in the device running using Microsoft Windows as its operating system.

2. After the Command Prompt appear, just type ‘docker’ to make sure that Docker service is already running. Also, pay attention to the output of the command. Below is the actual output which is considered as quite similar with the following one :

   Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.22621.2715]
   (c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
   C:\Users\Personal>docker
   Usage: docker [OPTIONS] COMMAND
   
   A self-sufficient runtime for containers
   
   Common Commands:
   run Create and run a new container from an image
   exec Execute a command in a running container
   ps List containers
   build Build an image from a Dockerfile
   pull Download an image from a registry
   push Upload an image to a registry
   images List images
   login Log in to a registry
   logout Log out from a registry
   search Search Docker Hub for images
   version Show the Docker version information
   info Display system-wide information
   
   Management Commands:
   builder Manage builds
   buildx* Docker Buildx (Docker Inc., v0.11.2-desktop.5)
   compose* Docker Compose (Docker Inc., v2.22.0-desktop.2)
   container Manage containers
   context Manage contexts
   dev* Docker Dev Environments (Docker Inc., v0.1.0)
   extension* Manages Docker extensions (Docker Inc., v0.2.20)
   image Manage images
   init* Creates Docker-related starter files for your project (Docker Inc., v0.1.0-beta.8)
   manifest Manage Docker image manifests and manifest lists
   network Manage networks
   plugin Manage plugins
   sbom* View the packaged-based Software Bill Of Materials (SBOM) for an image (Anchore Inc., 0.6.0)
   scan* Docker Scan (Docker Inc., v0.26.0)
   scout* Docker Scout (Docker Inc., v1.0.7)
   system Manage Docker
   trust Manage trust on Docker images
   volume Manage volumes
   
   Swarm Commands:
   swarm Manage Swarm
   
   Commands:
   attach Attach local standard input, output, and error streams to a running container
   commit Create a new image from a container's changes
   cp Copy files/folders between a container and the local filesystem
   create Create a new container
   diff Inspect changes to files or directories on a container's filesystem
   events Get real time events from the server
   export Export a container's filesystem as a tar archive
   history Show the history of an image
   import Import the contents from a tarball to create a filesystem image
   inspect Return low-level information on Docker objects
   kill Kill one or more running containers
   load Load an image from a tar archive or STDIN
   logs Fetch the logs of a container
   pause Pause all processes within one or more containers
   port List port mappings or a specific mapping for the container
   rename Rename a container
   restart Restart one or more containers
   rm Remove one or more containers
   rmi Remove one or more images
   save Save one or more images to a tar archive (streamed to STDOUT by default)
   start Start one or more stopped containers
   stats Display a live stream of container(s) resource usage statistics
   stop Stop one or more running containers
   tag Create a tag TARGET_IMAGE that refers to SOURCE_IMAGE
   top Display the running processes of a container
   unpause Unpause all processes within one or more containers
   update Update configuration of one or more containers
   wait Block until one or more containers stop, then print their exit codes
   
   Global Options:
   --config string Location of client config files (default
   "C:\\Users\\Personal\\.docker")
   -c, --context string Name of the context to use to connect to the
   daemon (overrides DOCKER_HOST env var and
   default context set with "docker context use")
   -D, --debug Enable debug mode
   -H, --host list Daemon socket to connect to
   -l, --log-level string Set the logging level ("debug", "info",
   "warn", "error", "fatal") (default "info")
   --tls Use TLS; implied by --tlsverify
   --tlscacert string Trust certs signed only by this CA (default
   "C:\\Users\\Personal\\.docker\\ca.pem")
   --tlscert string Path to TLS certificate file (default
   "C:\\Users\\Personal\\.docker\\cert.pem")
   --tlskey string Path to TLS key file (default
   "C:\\Users\\Personal\\.docker\\key.pem")
   --tlsverify Use TLS and verify the remote
   -v, --version Print version information and quit
   
   Run 'docker COMMAND --help' for more information on a command.
   
   For more help on how to use Docker, head to https://docs.docker.com/go/guides/
   
   C:\Users\Personal>

Moreover, in order to check it further in detail, just look in the video exist in this link. Alternatively, just look it as in the following video :