Windows using WSL 2

In this tutorial, we will go through the necessary steps to launch the dynr Docker container on Windows.

Installation Video Tutorial

Click here for a video tutorial of the installation process.

Installing Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL)

• Search for PowerShell or Command Prompt. Right click to run as an administrator, then type the following:

wsl --install --distribution Ubuntu

Note

There are times when the operating system requires a restart. After restarting, when the installation is successful, a new application Ubuntu will be available. Launch this application to continue.

• When prompted:
  • Enter new UNIX username:
  • New password:
  • Retype new password:
• You should see a prompt similar to the following which indicates that you are inside the newly installed Ubuntu instance. In the prompt, type exit to exit Ubuntu.

USER@HOST:~$

• You might need to update the kernel. You can do this with the following:
  • Download the Linux kernel update package from https://wslstorestorage.blob.core.windows.net/wslblob/wsl_update_x64.msi
  • Double-click wsl_update_x64.msi to update the kernel.
• A system restart might be a good idea for all the changes to take effect.

If the above instructions fail, you might be using an older version of Windows. See https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/install-manual for more details on how to manually install WSL.

Installing Docker Desktop

• Download the the appropriate Docker Desktop for Windows from https://www.docker.com/products/docker-desktop/.
• Double-click Docker Desktop Installer.exe to install Docker Desktop.
• Launch Docker Desktop.
  • Click the Accept button to accept the terms of service to continue.
  • You may continue without creating an account or signing in.

Running the dynr Docker Container

• Launch Docker Desktop.
• In PowerShell, type the following to pull the latest Docker image:

docker pull jeksterslab/dynr-rocker:latest

• In PowerShell, type the following to launch Rstudio Server¹:

docker run --rm -ti -e PASSWORD=yourpassword -p 127.0.0.1:8787:8787 jeksterslab/dynr-rocker

• Open http://localhost:8787 on your web browser to launch Rstudio Server.
  • username: rstudio
  • password: yourpassword²

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1. Note for developers only: Replace jeksterslab/dynr-rocker with jeksterslab/dynr-arma-rocker to use the arma branch.

2. You can change the password by replacing yourpassword in PASSWORD=yourpassword.