page_title: Installation on Windows
page_description: Docker installation on Microsoft Windows
page_keywords: Docker, Docker documentation, Windows, requirements, virtualbox, boot2docker
# Windows
> **Note:**
> Docker has been tested on Windows 7.1 and 8; it may also run on older versions.
> Your processor needs to support hardware virtualization.
The Docker Engine uses Linux-specific kernel features, so to run it on Windows
we need to use a lightweight virtual machine (vm). You use the Windows Docker client to
control the virtualized Docker Engine to build, run, and manage Docker containers.
To make this process easier, we've designed a helper application called
[Boot2Docker](https://github.com/boot2docker/boot2docker) that installs the
virtual machine and runs the Docker daemon.
## Demonstration
## Installation
1. Download the latest release of the [Docker for Windows Installer](https://github.com/boot2docker/windows-installer/releases)
2. Run the installer, which will install VirtualBox, MSYS-git, the boot2docker Linux ISO,
and the Boot2Docker management tool.
![](/installation/images/windows-installer.png)
3. Run the `Boot2Docker Start` shell script from your Desktop or Program Files > Boot2Docker for Windows.
The Start script will ask you to enter an ssh key passphrase - the simplest
(but least secure) is to just hit [Enter].
![](/installation/images/windows-boot2docker-start.png)
The `Boot2Docker Start` script will connect you to a shell session in the virtual
machine. If needed, it will initialize a new VM and start it.
## Upgrading
1. Download the latest release of the [Docker for Windows Installer](
https://github.com/boot2docker/windows-installer/releases)
2. Run the installer, which will update the Boot2Docker management tool.
3. To upgrade your existing virtual machine, open a terminal and run:
boot2docker stop
boot2docker download
boot2docker start
## Running Docker
Boot2Docker will log you in automatically so you can start using Docker right away.
Let's try the `hello-world` example image. Run
$ docker run hello-world
This should download the very small `hello-world` image and print a `Hello from Docker.` message.
# Further Details
The Boot2Docker management tool provides several commands:
$ ./boot2docker
Usage: ./boot2docker [] {help|init|up|ssh|save|down|poweroff|reset|restart|config|status|info|ip|delete|download|version} []
## Container port redirection
If you are curious, the username for the boot2docker default user is `docker` and the password is `tcuser`.
The latest version of `boot2docker` sets up a host only network adaptor which provides access to the container's ports.
If you run a container with an exposed port:
docker run --rm -i -t -p 80:80 nginx
Then you should be able to access that nginx server using the IP address reported
to you using:
boot2docker ip
Typically, it is 192.168.59.103, but it could get changed by Virtualbox's DHCP
implementation.
For further information or to report issues, please see the [Boot2Docker site](http://boot2docker.io)