What is the best way to run docker containers in Windows 7/Vista/8.x?

[Sergiaws]

I want to experiment a bit with Docker, but it apparently requires WSL or HiperV, and these features aren't available on Windows 8.1 or older systems. So, is there an older version of Docker capable of running on older Windows or is better to run docker inside a Linux VM inside Windows 7/8/Vista?

[Darth Agnon]

Docker Toolbox is compatible with older versions of Windows (Win7, Win8), unlike the newer Docker Desktop (Win10 and up, last I checked). On Windows, it basically does run a Linux VM for all Docker stuff.

If you're interested in running Docker on legacy systems, you are also probably interested in offline installation of Docker containers. For that, my notes have the following for offline installation:

Quote

https://serverfault.com/questions/701248/downloading-docker-image-for-transfer-to-non-internet-connected-machine
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/23935141/how-to-copy-docker-images-from-one-host-to-another-without-using-a-repository

Docker uses online installation of docker images by default. To back them up, use the following:

Instructions:
1. Download the image using Kitematic 
or Docker CLI:

docker search <imagename fuzzy>
docker pull <image/name, e.g. microsoft/dotnet>
<wait for image to download>

2. Type the command in the Docker CLI:

    docker images

3. Note the Image ID.

4. Type the command in the Docker CLI (where imageid is the ID number you noted):

    docker save -o C:\Users\Username\Desktop\image-name.tar imageid

5. This will create a backup of the Docker image on your desktop (file extension can be anything, e.g. <*.docker>; it's a TAR file)

6. To Load the image, use:

    docker load -i C:\Users\Username\Desktop\image-name.tar

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Legacy Instructions:

Short: use the save CLI command.

https://docs.docker.com/engine/reference/commandline/save/

1. You can pull the image on a computer that have access to the internet.

        sudo docker pull ubuntu

2. Then you can save this image to a file

        sudo docker save -o ubuntu_image.docker ubuntu

3. Transfer the file on the offline computer (USB/CD/whatever) and load the image from the file:

        sudo docker load -i ubuntu_image.docker

(On older versions this was just docker load image.docker, see comments for more info.)

 

Edited February 25, 2024 by Darth Agnon