Linux Installation using Docker Containers

Linux containers comprise a considerable percentage of the overall container ecosystem and are fundamental to developer experiences and production environments. It is now possible to install Linux on Windows/MacOS using the power of Docker technology.

  • Download Docker for Windows from Docker Store.

  • Then, double-click on the Docker Desktop Installer.exe to run the installer.

  • Once you start the installation process (note for Windows: always enable Hyper-V Windows Feature on the Configuration page).

  • Then, follow the installation process to allow the installer and wait till the process is done.

  • After completion of the installation process, click Close and Restart.

  • Start Docker Desktop Tool.

Note: After the installation process is complete, the tool does not start automatically. To start the Docker tool, search for the tool, and select Docker Desktop in your desktop search results.

  • Before starting the application, Docker offers an onboarding tutorial. The tutorial explains how to build a Docker image and run a container.

  • You are now successfully running Docker Desktop on Windows.

  • For C programming development, we will be using a docker image of the GCC compiler; kindly follow the steps:

  • Open Windows PowerShell and command prompt type docker info if you see a long message about the Docker and its parameters. Then proceed to the following steps, but if you see an error message, make sure to start the docker desktop app.

  • Download Docker for Mac from Docker Store based on the chip.

  • Then, double-click on the Docker.dmg to run the installer.

  • Then, follow the installation process to allow the installer and wait till the process is done.

  • After completion of the installation process, click Close and Restart.

  • Start Docker Desktop Tool.

Note: After the installation process is complete, the tool does not start automatically. To start the Docker tool, search for the tool, and select Docker Desktop in your desktop search results.

  • Before starting the application, Docker offers an onboarding tutorial. The tutorial explains how to build a Docker image and run a container.

  • You are now successfully running Docker Desktop on Windows/Mac.

  • For C programming development, we will be using a docker image of the GCC compiler; kindly follow the steps:

  • Open Terminal on Mac and command prompt type docker info if you see a long message about the Docker and its parameters. Then proceed to the following steps, but if you see an error message, make sure to start the docker desktop app.

  • Now, type docker pull gcc it will take some time, and go to the next step when done.

  • type docker run -d -t --name cp386_container gcc:latest to run the container.

  • Once you become comfortable with the docker containers, you can use the following commands to start, stop and run the container.

    • To stop the container, use docker stop cp386_container command.
    • To start the container, use docker start cp386_container command.

  • The last step on Windows is to go to the docker desktop app –> settings and check the option “Expose daemon on tcp://localhost:2375 without TLS” and save and restart the Docker Desktop app.