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Defaulting to Docker for Windows with Docker Tools for Visual Studio

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When using Docker Tools for Visual Studio, we default the Docker host to use Docker Toolbox. Or, more specifically, we set the default docker machine to be named default, which people typically create a VirtualBox host named default. This is documented here.

Docker for Windows doesn't use Docker-Machine, rather assumes no HOST entries are set. To make Docker Tools for Visual Studio work with Docker for Windows, we'll need to change the host. In the Debugging apps in a local Docker container walk through, we show how to change the host once added to your project. However, if you're always using Docker for Windows, why not change the default template?

Our intention is to move to Docker for Windows as the default host once it's released publicly, and make this docker.props an easier file/designer to edit. In the meantime, if you're using Docker for Windows, and want to set the default to use it as your host, you can edit the Visual Studio template with the following steps.

    • Launch Notepad as Administrator
    • Open C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 14.0\Common7\IDE\ItemTemplatesCache\CSharp\Docker\1033\Docker.ASPNetTemplate.zip\Properties\Docker.props
    • Remove  $DockerMachineName$  from the following line
      <DockerMachineName Condition=" '$(DockerMachineName)'=='' ">$DockerMachineName$</DockerMachineName>
      it should now look like:
      <DockerMachineName Condition=" '$(DockerMachineName)'=='' "></DockerMachineName>
    • Save the file

You're all set. The next time you Add Docker Support to your project, it will now default to the Docker for Windows beta.

Comments

  • Anonymous
    June 05, 2016
    Steve,I have built a Windows 2016 TP5 Server as a Docker Host in a Lab Data Center. I have Visual Studio 2015 Update 2 with Docker ToolBox installed. To use my Windows 2016 in my VPN network, I have couple of questions1. Must I use TLSVerify? If I turn that off Do I still need to go through certs etc...? I am trying to skip it being secure since it is behind my firewall.2. What configuration Do I need to set on the Docker.props file to be able to connect to my Windows 2016 TP5 Host?Thank you.
  • Anonymous
    December 03, 2016
    Hi Steve, just finished setting up everything ad can see "Add docker support" item in the menu, However, I visited my C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 14.0\Common7\IDE\ItemTemplatesCache\CSharp directory, no Docker directory exists.I only found a docker directory atE:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 14.0\Common7\IDE\Extensions\MicrosoftThanks for your help
    • Anonymous
      December 04, 2016
      Hi Salam,As we've been iterating quickly on the Visual Studio Docker Tools, this post is fairly outdated and not representative of the current tools shipping with Visual Studio 2015, or the most recent tools with Visual Studio 2017 RC.Steve