Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) is a feature of Windows 11 that allows you to run Linux distributions natively on Windows. This means that you can use all of your favorite Linux tools and applications on Windows, without the need for a virtual machine.
qemu-user-static is a statically linked version of the QEMU emulator. It can be used to emulate different processor architectures and operating systems.
WSL and qemu-user-static can be used together to run and build cross platform containers. This means that you can build a container on a Linux distribution running on WSL and then run it on Windows or any other platform that supports Docker and the target architecture.
To run cross platform containers on WSL using qemu-user-static, you will need to:
- Install qemu-user-static on your Linux distribution running on WSL.
- Build a cross platform container using a multi-arch base image.
- Run the container using qemu-user-static.
To build a cross platform container using qemu-user-static, you will need to:
- Specify the target architecture using the
--platformflag. For example, to build a cross platform container for amd64 and arm64 architectures, you would use the following command:
docker build --platform linux/amd64,linux/arm64 -t <image-name> .
- Add the following line to your Dockerfile:
RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y qemu-user-static
- Build the container using the following command:
docker build -t <image-name> .
To run the container using qemu-user-static, you will need to use the following command:
qemu-user-static -machine x86_64 -kernel <container-image>
Benefits of running and building cross platform containers on WSL using qemu-user-static
There are several benefits to running and building cross platform containers on WSL using qemu-user-static:
- Portability: Cross platform containers can be run on any platform that supports Docker and the target architecture. This makes them ideal for developing, deploying, and running applications in a variety of environments.
- Consistency: Cross platform containers ensure that your application will run the same regardless of the platform it is running on. This can help to reduce development and testing time.
- Efficiency: Cross platform containers can help to improve the efficiency of your development and deployment workflows. For example, you can build a cross platform container on your development machine and then deploy it to production without having to rebuild it for the production environment.
Conclusion
Running and building cross platform containers on WSL using qemu-user-static is a great way to develop and deploy applications in a variety of environments. It is a powerful and flexible solution that can help to improve the efficiency of your development and deployment workflows.
Additional notes
- qemu-user-static is not required to run cross platform containers on WSL, but it can be useful if you need to run containers on a platform that does not support Docker for the target architecture.
- It is important to note that qemu-user-static can have a performance impact, so it is generally recommended to use it only when necessary.
- There are other ways to run cross platform containers on WSL, such as:
- using Docker Compose or Kubernetes.
- Using podman and buildah. See this link for more info: https://medium.com/@mayurwaghmode/buliding-ppc64le-container-on-x86-64-machine-with-qemu-user-static-and-buildah-846741112eb3
