Install Alpine Linux on WSL and connect it to Docker Desktop

wsl_alpine-linux_docker-desktop.md

Install Alpine Linux on WSL and connect it to Docker Desktop

• Open an elevated PowerShell prompt.

Set up WSL and install AlpineWSL

• Enable Windows Subsystem for Linux feature.

dism.exe /online /enable-feature /featurename:Microsoft-Windows-Subsystem-Linux /all /norestart
dism.exe /online /enable-feature /featurename:VirtualMachinePlatform /all /norestart

• Reboot your Windows.
• Make sure WSL has been updated to version 2. If not, you can download the update package here.
• Set WSL default version to 2:

wsl --set-default-version 2

For all steps above, I've followed this guide by Microsoft.

• Download AlpineWSL by yuk7 and extract it on your computer. Inside the Alpine folder you'll find a file called Alpine.exe. Execute it to install AlpineWSL.
  • NOTE: I've extracted my Alpine folder to C:\WSL\Alpine.
• Make Alpine your default Linux distro.

wsl -s Alpine

• Connect to AlpineWSL.

wsl

• Install wget.

apk add wget

• Install glibc ( sgerrand / alpine-pkg-glibc ).

wget -q -O /etc/apk/keys/sgerrand.rsa.pub https://alpine-pkgs.sgerrand.com/sgerrand.rsa.pub
wget https://github.com/sgerrand/alpine-pkg-glibc/releases/download/2.33-r0/glibc-2.33-r0.apk
apk add glibc-2.33-r0.apk

Install Docker Desktop for Windows

• Download and install Docker Desktop for Windows (Docker Desktop for Windows CE).
• Make sure WSL Integration is enabled and Alpine is selected.

Finalize and test

• Shut down WSL.

wsl --shutdown

• Restart Docker daemon.
• Connect to AlpineWSL again and check for docker/docker-compose.

docker --version
# and/or
docker-compose --version