Docker Setup for Business Central

Why Docker for BC Development?

Docker containers provide isolated, reproducible Business Central environments. Benefits:

• Fast setup — Spin up a BC sandbox in minutes
• Clean state — Delete and recreate without affecting your machine
• Version flexibility — Run different BC versions side by side
• Team consistency — Same environment for all developers

Prerequisites

• Windows 10/11 Pro or Enterprise (version 1607+)
• OR Windows Server 2016/2019/2022
• Administrator privileges
• At least 16 GB RAM (32 GB recommended)
• 50+ GB free disk space

Step 1: Enable WSL 2

Open PowerShell as Administrator:

wsl --install

Restart your computer when prompted. WSL 2 is required for Docker Desktop on Windows.

Step 2: Enable Hyper-V

Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName Hyper-V -All

On Windows Server:

Install-WindowsFeature Hyper-V

Step 3: Install Docker Desktop

Download from docker.com/products/docker-desktop.

During installation:

1. Enable WSL 2 backend
2. Add Docker to PATH
3. Restart when complete

Verify installation:

docker --version
docker run hello-world

Understanding BC Docker Images

A Docker image is a template; a container is a running instance.

BC images are hosted on Microsoft's container registry (mcr.microsoft.com). They include:

• Windows Server Core base
• Business Central application
• SQL Server database
• Cronus demo database (for sandboxes)

BC Container Helper

Install the PowerShell module that simplifies BC container management:

Install-Module BcContainerHelper -Force

This module provides commands like New-BcContainer, Get-BcContainerAppInfo, and Publish-BcContainerApp.

Container Isolation Modes

Windows containers support two runtime modes:

Next Steps

In the next lesson, you'll create your first BC container and AL project using a single PowerShell script.