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Requirements for Docker Desktop

For some functionality, you additionally need the software Docker Desktop on your PC to be able to use it. This includes the download and use of dedicated AI models, for example for instance segmentation. You can install Docker Desktop with the ZEISS Microscopy Installer. For details about Docker Desktop, refer to their documentation at https://docs.docker.com/desktop/, and for system requirements see https://docs.docker.com/desktop/install/windows-install/. Also note the following special conditions:

  • For Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC 2019 (version 1809), docker version 4.24.2 or lower is required and not provided with the ZEISS Microscopy Installer. To download version 4.24.1, use https://desktop.docker.com/win/main/amd64/123237/Docker%20Desktop%20Installer.exe.
  • If you work with Docker on a system with multiple Windows users, always sign out of your Windows account to initiate a shutdown of Docker when you have finished your work. Otherwise the other users may have problems using Docker.
  • Docker containers from arivis Cloud are not shared between different Windows user accounts and may need to be re-downloaded to be available to other users.

Docker requires that BIOS-level hardware virtualization support is enabled and can either run with Hyper-V or with WSL2. We recommend using WSL2 if possible. WSL (short for Windows Subsystem for Linux) is a feature of Microsoft Windows that allows you to use of a Linux environment within Windows. For WSL2, the WSL2 feature has to be installed and activated. For more information, see the system requirements linked above and https://docs.docker.com/desktop/features/wsl/. WSL2 provides improvements to file system sharing and boot time, and Docker Desktop uses the dynamic memory allocation feature in WSL2 to improve the resource consumption.

If you do not or cannot use WSL2, the resources allocated to Docker are not automatically managed by Windows and might not be big enough in certain instances. In such a case, you can also adapt the resource allocation manually, see Adapting the Resource Allocation for Docker Desktop Manually. Additionally, Docker Desktop has experimental features that are activated by default, which can lead to an increased resource consumption, for example disk space. Such features can also be deactivated manually, see Deactivating Experimental Docker Features.

Hyper-V is Microsoft's hardware virtualization product which lets you create and run a software version of a computer, called a virtual machine. For Hyper-V, you have to activate Hyper-V and Containers Windows features. Using Hyper-V can negatively affect system performance.

Hyper-V System Performance Disclaimer

If Hyper-V is enabled in Windows, be aware that this might affect the overall PC system performance and, therefore, could lead to longer processing times or to reduced acquisition performance in the software. Enabling the BIOS level hardware virtualization does not influence the system performance and can be left switched on.

Hardware Recommendations:

  • ZEISS MidRange Workstation
  • 64 GB RAM or more (32 RAM dedicated to Docker Desktop)
  • For the use of AI models the recommended hardware configuration is 8GB GPU and 64GB RAM. Only NVIDIA GPUs and the CPU are supported.

Defining Docker Startup and Docker Image Location

  1. Docker is running on your PC.
  1. Open Docker Desktop and go to the settings.
  2. The settings are displayed.
  3. To start Docker Desktop on Windows startup, go to the General tab and activate Start Docker Desktop when you sign in to your computer. If you do not want to start Docker automatically on system startup, make sure the option is deactivated.
  4. The startup setting is defined.
  5. In the menu on the left, click Resources > Advanced.
  6. Resource options are displayed.
  7. For Disk image location, click Browse.
  8. A file browser opens.
  9. Go to the folder where you want to place the Docker images, and click Select Folder.
  10. The path is defined.
  11. Click Apply & restart.
  12. The settings are applied.

Adapting the Resource Allocation for Docker Desktop Manually

If you do not use WSL2, the resources allocated to docker are not managed by Windows and might not be big enough in certain instances. In such a case, you can adapt the resources manually in Docker.

  1. Docker is running on your PC.
  1. Open Docker Desktop and go to the settings.
  2. The settings are displayed.
  3. In the menu on the left, click Resources.
  4. The Advanced tab displays options for resource allocation on the right.
  5. Adapt the resources with the individual sliders.
  6. The resource allocation is defined.
  7. Under Resources, click File sharing.
  8. The option for file sharing is displayed on the right.
  9. Enter any local path that should be shared with the containers.
  10. Click Apply & restart.
  11. The settings are applied.

Deactivating Experimental Docker Features

  1. Docker is running on your PC.
  1. Open Docker Desktop and go to the settings.
  2. In the menu on the left, click Features in development.
  3. Click Experimental features.
  4. The tab displays currently available experimental features.
  5. Deactivate the feature(s) and click Apply & restart.

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