--- title: WSL Containers is now generally available: what ships... description: WSL Containers (WSLC) has reached general availability, letting developers build, run, and deploy Linux containers directly on Windows without a separate... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/wsl-containers-is-now-generally-available-what-ships-and-how-it-works-4r2yqisdz twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: WSL Containers is now generally available: what ships and how it works | daily.dev og:description: WSL Containers (WSLC) has reached general availability, letting developers build, run, and deploy Linux containers directly on Windows without a separate... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/wsl-containers-is-now-generally-available-what-ships-and-how-it-works-4r2yqisdz og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/4R2Yqisdz.png og:image:alt: WSL Containers is now generally available: what ships and how it works og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # WSL Containers is now generally available: what ships and how it works **[Collections](https://daily.dev/sources/collections)** · 2 min read · 35 upvotes · 1 comments ## Summary WSL Containers (WSLC) has reached general availability, letting developers build, run, and deploy Linux containers directly on Windows without a separate container runtime, accessed via wsl --update and a new wslc.exe CLI. GA adds container restarts, file copying, health checks, network management, real-time events, mounts, and configurable storage over the preview, plus up to 2x faster file access. Enterprise controls integrate with Microsoft Defender for Endpoint and Intune for registry restrictions. Architecturally, WSLC introduces a per-user session model (wslcsession.exe), a virtiofs-based storage layer replacing plan9 for roughly 2x speed, and a new networking model called Consommé that routes VM traffic through a Windows process for better VPN and firewall compatibility. Docker Compose-style workflows (wsl compose up) are still in development. VS Code Dev Containers, Aspire, and the VS Code Containers extension already support it, and the project is open source on GitHub. ## Content Microsoft has moved WSL containers (WSLC) out of preview and into general availability, shipping as part of WSL 3.0.1. Until now WSL was mostly about running Linux distributions. WSLC extends it to building, running and deploying Linux OCI containers directly on Windows. Running `wsl --update` installs it. ## What you get The main interface is a new CLI, `wslc.exe`, which is also aliased as `container.exe`. There is also a WSL Containers API, so native Windows apps can manage containers programmatically. The project is open source on GitHub. The GA release fills in several things that were missing in preview: - restarting containers - copying files in and out - health checks - network connect and disconnect, with driver options - real-time event streaming (`wslc events`) - `--mount` and `--stop-timeout` flags - configurable storage and system info Compose-style support (`wslc compose`) is still in development. ## How it works WSLC doesn't behave quite like classic WSL. `wslservice.exe` starts a separate `wslcsession.exe` process for each user. That gives each user an isolated session and lets container lifecycle operations run in user space with reduced privilege. Storage comes in three forms: session VHDs, container volumes, and VHD-backed volumes. Volumes and bind mounts go over VirtioFS, which is about twice as fast as plan9. Microsoft claims up to 2x faster file access from Linux environments. VHD-backed volumes use native ext4. Networking uses a new model called Consommé. A Windows process handles DNS, routing and port mapping on the user's behalf. Because the traffic leaves from Windows rather than directly from the VM, it should play better with VPNs and firewalls, which has long been a sore spot for WSL networking. ## Enterprise controls Intune gets settings to turn WSLC on or off and to enforce a container registry allow list. Microsoft Defender for Endpoint now covers container-level activity. ## Ecosystem VS Code Dev Containers, the VS Code Containers extension and .NET Aspire (as a container runtime) all support WSLC. Community tools include Lazywslc and WSL Container Desktop. Docker, meanwhile, has shipped Docker Cloud Sandboxes and teamed up with the CNCF on a Docker Sandbox Kit Spec. Whether native Windows container tooling changes how many people reach for Docker Desktop is the interesting question. The enterprise controls make WSLC an easier sell to IT departments, and that may matter more than the speed numbers. ## Questions this post answers ### What's new in WSL Containers now that it's generally available compared to the preview? General availability adds container restarts, copying files in and out, health checks, connecting and disconnecting networks, real-time events, mount support, and configurable storage, none of which were in the preview. Microsoft also claims up to 2x faster file access from Linux environments, driven largely by a switch to the virtiofs storage protocol. _Track WSL Containers updates on daily.dev before rolling out GA to your Windows dev environment._ ### How does WSL Containers networking handle corporate VPNs and firewalls? WSL Containers uses a networking model called Consommé, where VM traffic is routed through a Windows process acting on behalf of the user instead of the VM talking to the network directly. This design specifically targets compatibility with VPNs and firewalls, addressing a longstanding pain point for anyone running WSL behind a corporate VPN. _Developers wrestling with WSL networking behind VPNs can follow Consommé's progress on daily.dev._ ### Is Docker Compose supported in WSL Containers yet? Not fully. A Compose-style workflow called wsl compose up is still in development, so multi-container setups aren't completely covered even though WSL Containers is now generally available with VS Code Dev Containers, Aspire, and the VS Code Containers extension support. _Anyone planning multi-container Windows setups can watch wsl compose progress via daily.dev._ ## Community take How the wider developer community reacted, aggregated from 4 discussions and 7 comments across lobsters, hackernews (as of 2026-10-02). **TL;DR:** Discussion focuses on the architecture (control plane moved into Windows while containers still run in a paravirtualized Linux VM) and draws comparisons to Docker Desktop's licensing costs and security model versus Apple's per-VM container isolation, with some skepticism about Microsoft's framing of Windows as a Linux host. **Sentiment:** 20% positive · 40% mixed · 40% skeptical **The case for** - It's seen as a convenient built-in alternative to manually installing a Linux distro in WSL and then Docker engine. - Likely developed partly to avoid Microsoft's own per-seat Docker Desktop licensing costs. **The pushback** - The shared one-VM-for-all-containers model is considered a weaker security model than per-container VM isolation like Apple's Container tool. - A container escape in this shared-VM model could give read-write access to the entire mounted home directory. - Some find it ironic or absurd that Microsoft frames Windows as 'the best place to build, run and manage Linux workloads.' **By community** - lobsters (mixed): Technical interest in the architecture mixes with skepticism about Microsoft's security model and messaging. **Hottest debate:** Whether the shared-VM container model is a security regression compared to per-container VM isolation approaches like Apple's. **Open questions** - How does the new architecture's security posture compare in practice to per-VM isolation models? **Highlights** > The 'normal' flow on Windows is to use Docker Desktop, which does this for you. The same is true on macOS, where Docker Desktop uses Virtualization.framework to manage a Linux VM. This is now problematic because Docker Desktop has a license that requires paying per seat for companies above a certain size (including Microsoft, which actually pays the license). I suspect that developing this cost less than Microsoft's annual license fee to Docker. It looks as if this uses the same one-VM-for-all-containers model as Docker Desktop. Apple's Container tool instead uses one VM per container, which is a better security model. I haven't looked in detail at how Docker Desktop works on macOS, but Podman's `podman machine` command defaults to mounting the user's home directory and a bunch of other things in the VM so that bind mount into individual containers. This means that a container escape in the Linux VM can give you complete read-write access to the entire home directory. In contrast, Apple's `container` tool attaches host filesystems on demand and isolates them to each VM, so a container escape in the VM can access only files exposed to the container (a VM escape can still damage a lot more things, but that's harder). > — [david\_chisnall on lobsters · 7 points](https://lobste.rs/s/8ckgq8/wsl_containers_are_now_generally#c_aoxtnh) > At first I thought this might be a stunning return to the WSL 1 architecture where Linux syscalls were translated into Windows syscalls at the container boundary, but reading [the architecture blog post](https://devblogs.microsoft.com/commandline/wslc-architecture-deep-dive/) makes clear the containers are all running in the WSL 2-style heavily-paravirtualized Linux VM on Hyper-V, just with container control machinery located outside the VM in Windows itself instead of inside the VM like before. > — [ahelwer on lobsters · 7 points, 1 comments](https://lobste.rs/s/8ckgq8/wsl_containers_are_now_generally#c_jbccip) > > WSL is central to our commitment to making Windows the best place to build, run and manage Linux workloads. This is one of the most bonker sentences i've ever read. > — [marco on lobsters · 1 points](https://lobste.rs/s/8ckgq8/wsl_containers_are_now_generally#c_njgujf) > Seems like a convenient alternative to the normal route of installing a linux distro in WSL, then installing docker engine. > — [JulianSildenLanglo on lobsters · 2 points, 2 comments](https://lobste.rs/s/8ckgq8/wsl_containers_are_now_generally#c_nolvhz) **Source threads** - [lobsters](https://lobste.rs/s/8ckgq8/wsl_containers_are_now_generally) · 21 points · 7 comments - [hackernews](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49897042) · 8 points · 0 comments - [hackernews](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49904417) · 4 points · 0 comments - [hackernews](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49923967) · 3 points · 0 comments ## Community discussion Top comments from developers on daily.dev. **@trevorsuna** · 0 upvotes > The per-user session model and Consommé networking sound like the biggest operational wins, especially on managed Windows fleets. I’d still pilot VPN behavior, registry allowlists, storage growth, and restart semantics before replacing Docker Desktop, and treat Compose support as a hard dependency where teams rely on it. ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [WSL container is now available for public preview](https://daily.dev/posts/wsl-container-is-now-available-for-public-preview-qszgs39xw) · Windows Command Line · 110 upvotes · 8 comments - [WSL containers are about to make Docker on Windows obsolete](https://daily.dev/posts/wsl-containers-are-about-to-make-docker-on-windows-obsolete-llgbqissf) · XDA Developers · 4 upvotes · 1 comments - [Microsoft Announces Public Preview For Linux Containers On WSL](https://daily.dev/posts/microsoft-announces-public-preview-for-linux-containers-on-wsl-0kzbappo1) · Phoronix · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [WSL containers are here, bringing Linux development straight into Windows without extra tools](https://daily.dev/posts/wsl-containers-are-here-bringing-linux-development-straight-into-windows-without-extra-tools-7tvl6ztrw) · XDA Developers · 40 upvotes · 7 comments --- Tags: [#infrastructure](https://daily.dev/tags/infrastructure), [#windows](https://daily.dev/tags/windows), [#docker](https://daily.dev/tags/docker), [#containers](https://daily.dev/tags/containers) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/wsl-containers-is-now-generally-available-what-ships-and-how-it-works-4r2yqisdz) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"WSL Containers is now generally available: what ships and how it works","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/wsl-containers-is-now-generally-available-what-ships-and-how-it-works-4r2yqisdz","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/wsl-containers-is-now-generally-available-what-ships-and-how-it-works-4r2yqisdz"},"datePublished":"2026-09-30T01:06:32.671Z","dateModified":"2026-10-02T16:02:46.953Z","description":"WSL Containers (WSLC) has reached general availability, letting developers build, run, and deploy Linux containers directly on Windows without a separate...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/5592fc17df09c470862bd1dc85c376ae?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/5592fc17df09c470862bd1dc85c376ae?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"Collections","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Collections","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--fk_6ycEi--/f_auto,q_auto/v1780996001/logos/collections?_a=BAMAMiWQ0","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/collections"},"commentCount":1,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/wsl-containers-is-now-generally-available-what-ships-and-how-it-works-4r2yqisdz","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":35},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":1}],"keywords":"infrastructure,windows,docker,containers","timeRequired":"PT2M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Collections","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/collections"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"WSL Containers is now generally available: what ships and how it works"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/wsl-containers-is-now-generally-available-what-ships-and-how-it-works-4r2yqisdz","comment":[{"@type":"Comment","text":"The per-user session model and Consommé networking sound like the biggest operational wins, especially on managed Windows fleets. 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