Containers on Windows Server 2025 | Docker CE, containerd, MCR and WSL2 Explained
Running containers on Windows Server 2025 is more confusing than it should be, especially if you expect the same experience you get on Windows 11. In this video, I walk through the current container options on Windows Server 2025 and show what each one is actually useful for in real-world setups.
First, I install and test the native runtime options:
Docker CE
containerd
Mirantis Container Runtime, also known as MCR
Mirantis documents MCR as the runtime that enables native Docker containers on Windows Server, and Microsoft’s Windows container support guidance is centered on Windows Server container hosts rather than Docker Desktop-style server workflows.
Then I explain the practical limitations of these approaches on a Windows Server host, especially when you want Linux containers instead of Windows containers. Docker’s official install page says Docker Desktop is not supported on server versions of Windows, and Microsoft’s on-premises support policy focuses on Windows Server containers on supported Windows Server releases.
To work around that, the second half of the video covers:
Enabling WSL2 on Windows Server 2025
Installing Docker Desktop on top of WSL2
Using that setup to run Linux containers on a Windows Server machine
The trade-offs for labs, homelabs, and self-hosted build agents
This is the key takeaway: if you want a Docker Desktop-style Linux container workflow, the supported story is different from Windows client machines. Docker explicitly says Docker Desktop is not supported on server versions of Windows, which is why this kind of setup belongs more in the lab and experimentation category than in a clean official server support story.
0:00 - Introduction
0:16 - Description
2:51 - Docker CE
4:42 - containerd
6:41 - MCR
8:53 - Server Versions
9:33 - Docker Desktop
12:58 - Conclusion
This video is for homelab users, sysadmins, and DevOps engineers trying to understand what the realistic container options are on Windows Server 2025 today. It is especially useful if you are deciding between native Windows container runtimes and a WSL2-based Linux container workaround.
#WindowsServer2025 #Docker #Containers
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