Docker Desktop on Windows with WSL (Ubuntu)

On Windows with Docker Desktop + WSL2, all Docker containers, images, and volumes are stored inside the WSL2 backend, not directly on your Windows filesystem.

Here’s how it works:

1️⃣ Where Docker stores containers and images

Docker Desktop uses a special WSL2 distro called:

docker-desktop
docker-desktop-data

When you run a container:

docker run hello-world

It is actually running inside the docker-desktop WSL2 instance, not Ubuntu or C:\ directly.
All container filesystem layers, images, and volumes are stored inside this docker-desktop-data virtual disk (ext4.vhdx) located somewhere like:

C:\Users\kr28n\AppData\Local\Docker\wsl\data\ext4.vhdx

2️⃣ Interaction with Ubuntu distro

Your Ubuntu WSL (/home/kr28n) can access Docker CLI because Docker Desktop exposes the engine to WSL distros.
But containers don’t live inside your Ubuntu filesystem; they live in the docker-desktop backend.
Ubuntu just acts as a client to Docker.

3️⃣ How to verify

docker info

You’ll see:

Server:
 Containers: 1
  Running: 1
 Images: 1
 Storage Driver: overlay2
 ...

Server = docker engine running inside WSL2 (docker-desktop)
Storage Driver: overlay2 = container filesystem inside virtual disk

4️⃣ Accessing container files

You can copy files to/from containers from Ubuntu using:

docker cp <container_id>:/path/in/container /home/kr28n/
docker cp /home/kr28n/myfile.txt <container_id>:/path/in/container

But the container’s filesystem itself is inside docker-desktop virtual disk, not Ubuntu home.

✅ TL;DR

Docker containers never live in Ubuntu /home or C:\Users directly.
They live in docker-desktop WSL distro (docker-desktop-data).
Ubuntu WSL is just a client that talks to Docker engine.
You can access files via docker cp or mount Windows/Ubuntu directories into containers when needed.

With Docker Desktop on Windows using WSL2 backend, you can run Docker commands from both Windows and Ubuntu. Here’s how it works:

1️⃣ From Windows (PowerShell / CMD)

docker version
docker run hello-world
docker ps -a

The Docker CLI in Windows communicates with Docker engine in WSL2 (docker-desktop distro).
Everything is executed inside the WSL2 Linux environment automatically.

2️⃣ From Ubuntu WSL

Open Ubuntu and run:

docker version
docker run hello-world
docker ps -a

Ubuntu WSL sees the same Docker engine because Docker Desktop exposes the engine to all WSL distros.
Containers and images are the same as when you run Docker from Windows.

3️⃣ Notes / Tips

Thing	Behavior
Containers	Single set shared between Windows CLI and Ubuntu CLI
Images	Same images accessible from both environments
Volumes	Same volumes accessible
Path mounts	You can mount `/mnt/c/...` from Ubuntu into containers, just like Windows paths from Windows CLI
Permissions	Linux permissions matter when mounting Linux paths from Ubuntu

4️⃣ Quick check

Run on both Windows and Ubuntu:

docker ps -a
docker images
docker run --rm -it alpine sh

You will see the same containers/images.
This proves Docker engine is shared, not duplicated.

✅ TL;DR

Yes, you can run Docker commands from:
- Windows CMD / PowerShell
- Ubuntu WSL shell
All commands talk to the same Docker engine inside docker-desktop WSL distro.

Below is a small diagram showing Docker CLI in Windows + Ubuntu → shared Docker engine → containers/images so it’s easy to visualize.

             ┌─────────────────────────────┐
             │       Windows Host          │
             │                             │
             │  CMD / PowerShell / VSCode  │
             │  docker CLI works here      │
             └─────────────┬───────────────┘
                           │
                           │ communicates via WSL integration
                           ▼
             ┌─────────────────────────────┐
             │       WSL 2 Backend        │
             │  docker-desktop distro      │
             │  docker engine runs here    │
             └─────────────┬───────────────┘
                           │
                           │ shared filesystem
                           ▼
             ┌─────────────────────────────┐
             │     Ubuntu WSL Distro       │
             │  docker CLI works here      │
             │  /home/kr28n (Linux files) │
             └─────────────┬───────────────┘
                           │
           ┌───────────────┴───────────────┐
           │       Linux / Windows Files    │
           │  Ubuntu: /home/kr28n          │
           │  Windows: /mnt/c/Users/kr28n  │
           └───────────────────────────────┘

✅ Key points

Docker engine lives in docker-desktop WSL distro.
CLI commands can be run from Windows or Ubuntu — they talk to the same engine.
Containers/images are shared across both environments.
Ubuntu home (/home/kr28n) is inside WSL virtual disk; Windows files are accessible under /mnt/c/....
Use \\wsl$\Ubuntu\home\kr28n to access Linux home from Windows Explorer.

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