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Windows Docker Daemon on Fusion VM

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Micah Young edited this page Jun 1, 2020 · 20 revisions

Purpose

Allow a MacOS workstation to run a local Docker for Windows daemon in a VMware Fusion¹ Virtual Machine that is accessible by setting DOCKER_HOST.

On Mac workstation

  1. Download and Install VMware Fusion
  2. Create a new Fusion Network Interface
    • Open Fusion
    • VMWare Fusion Menu -> Preferences -> Network tab -> Unlock -> + (Add Network)
      • Default name is vmnet2
    • New network adapter:
      • Enable NAT: Allow virtual machines ... (using NAT)
      • Subnet IP: 192.168.2.0
      • Click Apply
  3. Download Windows 10 ISO Image
  4. Install Windows 10 VM
    • File -> New -> Pick Windows 10 iso
    • Choose a password
    • Choose: Windows 10 Pro
    • Customize Settings:
      • Save to default location
      • Change Network Adapter to use your new network adapter (ex: vmnet2)
      • Change RAM to at least 8192: Customized Settings -> Processors...
      • Enabled nested virtualization: Customize Settings -> Processors... -> Advanced Options -> Enable hypervisor applications...
  5. Start Windows 10 VM
  6. Optional: Shutdown, Create Snapshot, Restart, Login

On Windows 10 VM

  1. Perform First-time VM setup
    • Log-off/Restart VM if prompted by dialogs
    • Install Updates (Start Menu -> Type "Updates" -> Click "Check for Updates" -> Click "Install Now")
    • Enable Developer Mode (Start Menu -> Type "Dev" -> Click "Developer Settings" -> Select "Developer mode")
  2. Download Docker for Windows
  3. Install Docker for Windows
    • Check "Enable Hyper-V Windows Features..."
    • Click "Close and Restart" at the end
  4. Log in again after machine reboots
    • Wait for Docker to start
    • Note: some versions require an extra reboot to enable Hyper-V
  5. Enable Docker Daemon TCP listening
    • Docker Tray Icon -> Menu -> Settings -> Check Expose daemon on tcp://localhost:2375
    • Click Apply & Restart
  6. Optional: Enable Insecure registries for VM IP
    • Docker Tray Icon -> Menu -> Settings -> Docker Engine
    • Edit the JSON config in the text box
    • Add "192.168.2.0/24" to "insecure-registries", such as: 
      {
    "insecure-registries":["192.168.2.0/24"]
}
    • This allows registry containers to be run and pushed to and from the Host
    • Click Apply & Restart
  7. Optional: Set default container isolation to fastest
    • Docker Tray Icon -> Menu -> Settings -> Docker Engine
    • Edit the JSON config in the text box
    • Add anywhere: "exec-opts": ["isolation=process"],
    • Note: this means you can only run :1809 images on Windows 10 version 1809 for some images (servercore and windows)
    • Click Apply & Restart
  8. Open Administrator Powershell
    • Right-click Windows Icon -> Windows Powershell (Admin)
  9. In Admin Powershell, add public port forward port, pointing to local docker port 
    netsh interface portproxy add v4tov4 listenport=23750 connectport=2375 connectaddress=127.0.0.1
    • Warning: this allows anyone with access to your 192.168.2.0/24 network to reach your VM's daemon
  10. In Admin Powershell, add firewall rule 
    New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName DockerPublic -LocalPort 23750 -Protocol TCP
    • Warning: this allows anyone with access to your 192.168.2.0/24 network to reach your VM's daemon
  11. In Admin Powershell, get IP address 
    Get-NetIPAddress -InterfaceAlias Ethernet0 -AddressFamily IPv4
  12. Optional: Shutdown, Create Snapshot, Restart, Login

On Mac workstation

  1. Open Terminal
  2. In Terminal, set DOCKER_HOST 
    export DOCKER_HOST="tcp://<vm ip address>:23750"
  3. In Terminal, test Docker 
    docker info

# Expected output
Client:
Debug Mode: false

Server:
Containers: 0
 Running: 0
 Paused: 0
 Stopped: 0
Images: 1
Server Version: 19.03.2
Storage Driver: windowsfilter
 Windows:
Logging Driver: json-file
Plugins:
 Volume: local
 Network: ics l2bridge l2tunnel nat null overlay transparent
 Log: awslogs etwlogs fluentd gcplogs gelf json-file local logentries splunk syslog
Swarm: inactive
Default Isolation: hyperv
Kernel Version: 10.0 17763 (17763.1.amd64fre.rs5_release.180914-1434)
Operating System: Windows 10 Enterprise Evaluation Version 1809 (OS Build 17763.379)
OSType: windows
Architecture: x86_64
CPUs: 1
Total Memory: 4GiB
Name: MSEDGEWIN10
ID: 5MKL:VDT7:YM72:IFOB:YTIC:2NTH:5YUO:VNN6:VMII:SUR7:DNQI:REVH
Docker Root Dir: C:\ProgramData\Docker
Debug Mode: true
 File Descriptors: -1
 Goroutines: 27
 System Time: 2019-10-09T09:04:13.5781811-07:00
 EventsListeners: 1
Registry: https://index.docker.io/v1/
Labels:
Experimental: false
Insecure Registries:
 127.0.0.0/8
Live Restore Enabled: false
Product License: Community Engine

Troubleshooting

If you can connect to the Docker Daemon but can't connect to any published container port, it may be related to this. I tried several workarounds but the only re-creating VM from scratch worked.

If you can't connect to your VM, your new Adapter (vmnet2) may be conflicting with your default adapter (vmnet8) IP address range. Your best option is to set your default network to a different IP range: https://spin.atomicobject.com/2017/04/03/vmware-fusion-custom-virtual-networks/

Footnotes

¹ Fusion is used for its VT-x (nested hypervisor) support, which is required to run Docker for Windows. There appears to be no open-source hypervisor for MacOS currently with this feature.

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