How can I change the location of docker images when using Docker Desktop on WSL2 with Windows 10 Home?

Question

I've just upgraded to Windows 10 Home May 2020, activated WSL2, and installed Docker Desktop.

WSL2 must be installed in my system disk, which is a small SSD. I don't want to fill it with docker images. How do I change the docker images path? I'd like to use a path in my big Windows filesystem.

The image location is somewhat confusing. I believe it is in /mnt/wsl/docker-desktop-data/.

How do I change the directory of docker images inside WSL2? May I change docker configuration to select a path inside /mnt/d, or mount a path from /mnt/d over docker data dirs?

Bolometer

Answer 1

The WSL 2 docker-desktop-data vm disk image would normally reside in: %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Docker\wsl\data\ext4.vhdx

Follow the following to relocate it to other drive/directory, with all existing docker data preserved (tested against Docker Desktop 2.3.0.4 (46911), and continued to work after updating the 3.1.0 (51484)):

First, shut down your docker desktop by right click on the Docker Desktop icon and select Quit Docker Desktop

Then, open your command prompt:

wsl --list -v

You should be able to see, make sure the STATE for both is Stopped.(wsl --shutdown)

  NAME                   STATE           VERSION
* docker-desktop         Stopped         2
  docker-desktop-data    Stopped         2

Export docker-desktop-data into a file

wsl --export docker-desktop-data "D:\Docker\wsl\data\docker-desktop-data.tar"

Unregister docker-desktop-data from wsl, note that after this, your ext4.vhdx file would automatically be removed (so back it up first if you have important existing image/container):

wsl --unregister docker-desktop-data

Import the docker-desktop-data back to wsl, but now the ext4.vhdx would reside in different drive/directory (Note that you will need to create D:\Docker\wsl\data\ if it does not already exist):

wsl --import docker-desktop-data "D:\Docker\wsl\data" "D:\Docker\wsl\data\docker-desktop-data.tar" --version 2

Start the Docker Desktop again and it should work. In the event that Docker Desktop doesn't start correctly, restart the PC and try again.

You may delete the D:\Docker\wsl\data\docker-desktop-data.tar file (NOT the ext4.vhdx file) if everything looks good for you after verifying

Blase

Perfect! I wanted to use my HDD instead of SSD for docker images. This was what I was looking for. – Probably

Perfect. The only add-on I can add to this thread, is that I had just purged my cache, and I didn't had this docker-desktop-data present on listing, so I had to start Docker again and quit it in order to create the docker-desktop-data WSL distro again. – Calliopsis

Note that you will also need to shutdown wsl before exporting (I got a TimeoutException without that) : wsl --shutdown. – Turning

I suffered from low disk space for so long ... Thank you a lot ! – Advertisement

But I still have a huge file C:\Users\Public\Documents\Hyper-V\Virtual hard disks\DockerDesktop.vhdx Can I delete it after ? – Advertisement

Is there a way to do the same on new images? I mean the images which we'll pull later. – Disbursement

Thank you! It worked for me. And for those who have a virtual machine in hyper-v-manager. It cannot belong to docker with wsl 2. It must be something from a previous version. – Flypaper

What, if anything, can be deleted after completing these steps and verifying results? – Medullated

Since the original %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Docker\wsl\data\ext4.vhdx has already been automatically removed when you "unregister", what's left would be the docker-desktop-data.tar as mentioned in the answer. – Blase

In my case at the end of the procedure - after running the command for importing docker-desktop-data.tar to the new location - the WSL did not turn back on automatically (wsl --list -v was still showing results in a "stopped" state) and apparently there was no way to make WSL start again. As a result Docker Desktop could not find its image, so I tried restarting its service, which did not help either, as it was not enough to trigger WSL to turn itself back on... At last, I rebooted my system and when I restarted Docker Desktop it finally ran properly, along with WSL, and found its image... – Masticatory

Also worked for windows 11 – Lunarian

I had problems related to 'The system cannot find the path specified.', Solved by creating directory 'D:\Docker\wsl\data' directory before procedure. – Synn

How to clean old data in drive c to free space? – Plash

It doesn't work for me. After I did these steps, Docker Desktop is endless starting. – Bombardon

In my case it works... but when i use the "Clean / Purge data" option from the docker desktop client (under troubleshoot) than the vdhx is resetted to the old location. Any ideas how do i prevent this? It should clean and purge and recreate the vdhx at the new location... – Photopia

Confirmed working with Docker v4.10.1 – Guard

in case you are getting "A distribution with the supplied name already exists." just be sure you executed "wsl --unregister docker-desktop-data" as in post – Seafarer

cool it works fine. I have found very similar blog with same description. follow steps and worked. will upvote a response how it exactly works as it expected for 'linux container' on Windows. – Saintmihiel

Note: You can now copy over your vhdx and use --import-in-place to import it, rather than having to export and import. Just a bit more streamlined. – Auriscope

This works fine but in my case somehow kubernetes stops working after these changes – Kimbra

Note: If you have multiple distros make sure ALL of them are stopped not just docker-desktop*. Else you'll get an error: Unspecified error Error code: Wsl/Service/E_FAIL – Azalea

Tested in Docker Desktop 4.19.0 (106363) -- it works! – Eskew

it worked on Docker Desktop v4.12.0 – Deanadeanda

In case someone runs into the same problem I did... This failed for me on the import step with Incorrect function Error code: Wsl/Service/0x80070001. I found that my external SSD was formatted as exFat. When I reformatted as NTFS this worked without an error. – Shriek

Answer 2

1. Stop Docker Desktop
2. Relocate Docker folder from C:\Users\xxx\AppData\Local\Docker to new path
3. Make sure C:\Users\xxx\AppData\Local\Docker is no longer there
4. Open a cmd in administrator mode
5. Run the following command that will create a symbolic link in the cmd window with the appropriate from and to path

    mklink /j "C:\Users\xxx\AppData\Local\Docker" "path to where you relocated your docker folder"

6. Restart Docker Desktop

Firedog

this is easy and saved my disk, thanks =D – Detta

i did the same steps the docker in appdata\local\Docker shows that shortcut icon as well. but the storage keeps building up despite running the mklink command. did not work for me. – Bengurion

this worked a lot better than editing the config and sticking the VMs onto my HDD via the .tar import method. Thank you! – Barfuss

You might also need to run wsl --shutdown to move the files. – Rosamariarosamond

Thanks. I can confirm this works for Rancher Desktop too. – Aesop

Answer 3

Edit: re-register docker-desktop would set the default docker-data to C drive now, so we should only unregister docker-data as the accepted answer.

You can do

 wsl --unregister docker-desktop-data

 wsl --import docker-desktop-data D:\wsl\docker-desktop-data "C:\Program Files\Docker\Docker\resources\wsl\wsl-data.tar" --version=2

The tar file is the file used to install, and before it is your new destination.

This always work while the move-wsl or lxrunoffline didn't work for me on fast rings. And sometimes you have to unistall/install docker first

Omniumgatherum

For me I had to restart my computer but this did work! – Affiliate

Answer 4

Extending @Attila Badi 's answer would be to also give the same treatment to the C:\ProgramData\Docker folder, which seems to be used for WSL / Windows Containers. Even moving the Docker data folders, would still leave you with a boot drive ProgramData\Docker folder of massive proportions - especially if you are unable or unwilling to clean the images. You cannot migrate it, or move it once installed. Using the Docker engine advanced settings works in Linux container mode, but not in windows and vice versa and has trouble starting.

Steps I followed:

1. Uninstall Docker. I know... Make sure you have saved what you need.

2. Create the primary space-eating docker folders, in a location you have a lot of space, e.g. :

   D:\Data\Docker\ProgramData_Docker & D:\Data\Docker\AppData_Local_Docker

3. Create linked folders, by running the below in a command window in administrator mode:

mklink /j "C:\Users\xxx\AppData\Local\Docker" "D:\Data\Docker\ProgramData_Docker"
mklink /j "C:\ProgramData\Docker" "D:\Data\Docker\AppData_Local_Docker"

4. Install Docker.

You should be able to merrily pull windows server images, but not clog up your boot drive.

UPDATE:

Trying to symlink the C:\ProgramData\Docker folder, may result in a security error, depending on the version running depending on the originally installed version.

Release notes for 4.13.0 refers to this feature, which my be a possible work-around (Thanks to @bhagerty and @Oly for the trail):

 start /w “” “Docker Desktop Installer.exe” install --installation-dir=G:\Docker

(Source: ungureanuovidiu @ https://forums.docker.com/t/docker-installation-directory/32773/17 )

Update:

This works on 4.17.1 BUT ProgramData_Docker changes to DockerDesktop. Broken Everything required a windows reset and reinstalling docker on windows 11 with the above changes still work / apply. NB remember the DocherDesktop change after one of the versions.

Bearing

I was trying to avoid this approach but looks like from all the ones I tried this one worked for me. I think My problem is that I'm using new docker but in WSL1 setup and the 2021 answers do not apply on me. And the locations were slightly different, I did only one link here: mklink /j "C:\ProgramData\DockerDesktop" "D:\work\docker" – Flagman

@AntonKrug I am running WSL 2 on an insider windows slow ring. – Bearing

I'm on WIN10 LTSC which so far has only the WSL1, so then docker put things into slightly different folders and moving folders was not possible for me even when I shutdown Docker/Hyper-V. But when I uninstalled, prepared the C:\ProgramData\DockerDesktop -> D drive link then just installed Docker again then it did exactly what I wanted – Flagman

Agreed. Shutdown did nothing for me either - it still runs WSL machines in the background somewhere. Glad it worked for you. Docker should fix this and make it property part of settings (advanced even). – Bearing

It's ridiculous that it's not part of the regular install already, docker is not for casual consumers, yet power users often have elaborate partions/hdds setups, so I would say Docker should have this as an option for long time. Actually one of the reasons why I still use other frameworks like vagrant which feel much more solidly build and designed. – Flagman

Not working with Docker Desktop. Installation stops with an error: For security reasons c:/ProgramData/DockerDesktop can not by symlink. – Condillac

@Condillac Did you run this in administrator mode? – Bearing

As of November 2022, Docker will let you relocate the user directory with a junction or a symlink, but not the C:\ProgramData\DockerDestop directory. You get the error @Condillac pointed out. It's not an issue of running in admin mode. – Sniffle

@Sniffle I am running the latest (2022-11-17) with the symlinks . Although not ideal, you could install one prior and then run the update. I will investigate other options. – Bearing

start /w “” “Docker Desktop Installer.exe” install --installation-dir=G:\Docker is NOT a workaround. This only installs the Docker Desktop program to that folder, not the docker images and containers. Those data are still left at %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Docker\wsl\data\ext4.vhdx – Ifni

@Ifni That's what the symlinks solved. May no longer be the case 2.5 years and over 50 releases later. – Bearing

Answer 5

Docker for Windows now supports changing this in the UI as shown in the image below. I believe it handles moving the existing file as well.

Better

This is by far the easiest solution now! No need for all the other complex procedures. – Edraedrea

Answer 6

For me docker won't start with junction.

Then I've used just directory symbolic link:

Docker stopped

Folder "wsl" moved to other location on disk "B"

RUben@AD-RUBEN C:\Users\RUben\AppData\Local\Docker
$ mklink /D wsl "B:\dev\wsl"
**symbolic link** created for wsl <<===>> B:\dev\wsl

Containers and Images are ready to use:

Knighten

FreeMove utility can do this with a GUI for the lazy ones: github.com/imDema/FreeMove – Vainglory

This concept plus the suggested FreeMove utility made this operation absolutely dead-simple - everything worked perfectly first try. If anyone wants the easy answer, this is it. – Vicissitude

Answer 7

A nice tool:

DDoSolitary/LxRunOffline: A full-featured utility for managing Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL)

https://github.com/DDoSolitary/LxRunOffline

LxRunOffline.exe move    Move a distribution to a new directory.
Options:
  -n arg                Name of the distribution
  -d arg                The directory to move the distribution to.

for example:

quit docker desktop, then:

wsl --shutdown
LxRunOffline.exe move -n docker-desktop-data -d D:\vm\dockerdesktop\wsl\data

Strongroom

Answer 8

The best option is to update the registry. Follow the below steps

1. Shutdown the wsl. Use the command wsl --shutdown.
2. Move the entire C:\Users\%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Docker directory to different drive for example D:\Docker.
3. Goto Registry editor location Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Lxss.
4. Find the registry entry with the BasePath set to C:\Users\%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Docker\wsl\data. Update this D:\Docker\wsl\data.
5. Find another registry entry with the BasePath set to C:\Users\%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Docker\wsl\distro. Update this D:\Docker\wsl\distro.
6. Restart wsl using: wsl -d Ubuntu.

Room

I wasn't able to move distro with current Docker version. It just restores it in the old place after restart – Opuntia

And, if you move the entire Docker directory then you should change Docker configuration as well, not just Lxss. Probably add execRoot into C:\Users\%USERPROFILE%\.docker\daemon.json – Opuntia

Answer 9

I found this tool from pxlrbt on github. It's using standard wsl import/export and pretty safe. Just moved both my docker-desktop-data distro to a different drive and it works well.

Lowelllowenstein

After I moved using the above script, I got an error Docker desktop WSL distro stopped. Mind to share the steps? – Perkins

Answer 10

In Windows 10 home, docker desktop creates the VM under ""C:\Users\xxx\AppData\Local\Docker" directory and it is this VM that contains the downloaded docker images. If you want to change the VM location from C: to a different directory you can do this by creating a junction on windows (prior to docker desktop installation) using a command like below:

mklink /j "C:\Users\xxx\AppData\Local\Docker" "D:\Users\xxx\AppData\Local\Docker"

Note that prior to executing the command the target directory structure should exist while you should delete the C:\Users\xxx\AppData\Local\Docker directory if it exists already else the command could fail. Now install docker desktop on windows 10 home and voila you can see stuff inside "D:\Users\xxx\AppData\Local\Docker" directory namely the docker VM hard disk image file that is going to contain all the downloaded docker images.

Darryl

Answer 11

Just for reference for anyone finding this question, as of now (June 2023):

1. The export-import method fails on Windows for images larger than 8 GB. It's a bug in the underlying tar implementation.

2. Fortunately, there is a --vhd switch for wsl that one can use for export and import. Even more, there is a wsl --import-in-place command that is useful when one has large volumes.

3. Although moving the wsl .vhdx files to another location works from the wsl point of view, Docker Desktop still has problems with it. After it makes changes to "docker-data", e.g., the (smaller) distro\ext4.vhdx file, Docker Desktop finally deletes this volume and even a backup copy at the old (%APPDATA%\Docker\wsl\distro) location, and pops an error window.

All in all, I second the mklink method on Windows as 1. it's the least hassle, 2. it's working.

Jovia

Answer 12

Using small SSD also you may want to relocate WSL swap file location.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/wsl-config

Neediness

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