BcContainerHelper is a PowerShell module designed to simplify the management of Business Central and Dynamics NAV containers on Docker. As a work-in-progress project, it welcomes contributions through pull requests and ideas. Comprehensive documentation is available in the NavContainerHelper.md.
There are two primary methods for running these Docker containers: as a VM on Azure or locally.
Using a VM on Azure provides a ready-to-go environment within approximately 30 minutes, eliminating the need for manual installation. If you have Azure credits as part of a Visual Studio subscription, you can use them for these VMs, making it a cost-effective option.
While local installation requires more initial setup, it offers a fully configured local environment where you can work with Business Central containers even offline.
To set up a VM on Azure, follow the steps provided at aka.ms/getbc.
Local installation depends on whether you use Windows 10 or 11 or Windows Server.
You can choose between Hyper-V isolation or Process isolation:
Feature | Hyper-V Isolation | Process Isolation |
---|---|---|
Isolation Level | High: Uses a separate hypervisor-based virtual machine | Moderate: Uses namespace and resource control to isolate containers within the same OS instance |
Performance | Lower: Due to the overhead of running a full VM | Higher: Less overhead, as it runs directly on the host OS kernel |
Compatibility | Can run different OS versions from the host | Limited to running containers that share the same OS and kernel version as the host |
Resource Requirements | Higher: Requires more CPU and memory due to full VM overhead | Lower: More efficient use of CPU and memory resources |
Startup Time | Slower: Takes longer to start due to VM initialization | Faster: Quick startup as it leverages the host OS directly |
Host OS Requirements | Requires Windows or Windows Server with Hyper-V enabled | Requires Windows or Windows Server with container support enabled |
If you can use Process isolation, choose Hyper-V only if necessary due to compatibility issues like using Windows 10.
For more details on setting up your environment, visit the official documentation.
You can choose between Docker Desktop and installing the Docker Engine via PowerShell.
Before installing Docker, ensure your system meets the following requirements:
- Windows 11 Pro, Enterprise, or Education edition.
- Recommended minimum of 16 GB memory (more is better for running multiple containers simultaneously).
For Hyper-V:
- More memory is recommended as the whole OS runs inside the Docker container VMs.
- A 64-bit processor with Second Level Address Translation (SLAT).
- CPU support for VM Monitor Mode Extension (VT-c on Intel CPUs). Enable hardware virtualization support in the BIOS settings.
Note: Docker Desktop may require a license. Please review the licensing rules before installing and also check out the System Requirements.
Download and install Docker Desktop from docker.com. It will install the Windows Features Containers and Hyper-V.
By default, the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) is enabled, which runs Linux instead of Windows containers.
During installation, set the default container type to Windows containers. To switch after installation, open the system tray, right-click on the Docker icon, and select Switch to Windows containers....
For more details, visit this Microsoft guide.
Install the Windows Feature Containers and optionally Hyper-V.
-
Open Control Panel:
- Press
Win + R
to open the Run dialog box. - Type
Control Panel
and pressEnter
.
- Press
-
Navigate to Programs and Features:
- In the Control Panel, click on
Programs
. - Under
Programs and Features
, clickTurn Windows features on or off
.
- In the Control Panel, click on
-
Enable Containers:
- In the Windows Features dialog, scroll down and locate
Containers
. - Check the box next to
Containers
to enable it.
- In the Windows Features dialog, scroll down and locate
-
(Optionally) Enable Hyper-V:
- In the Windows Features dialog, scroll down and locate
Hyper-V
. - Check the box next to
Hyper-V
to enable it.
- In the Windows Features dialog, scroll down and locate
-
Apply Changes and Restart:
- Click
OK
to apply the changes. - Windows will begin installing Containers and Hyper-V, which might take a few minutes.
- After the installation is complete, you will be prompted to restart your computer. Click
Restart now
to complete the installation.
- Click
Your computer will restart.
Run PowerShell as an administrator:
Invoke-WebRequest -UseBasicParsing -Uri 'https://raw.githubusercontent.com/microsoft/nav-arm-templates/main/InstallOrUpdateDockerEngine.ps1' -OutFile (Join-Path $ENV:TEMP 'installOrUpdateDocker.ps1')
. (Join-Path $ENV:TEMP 'installOrUpdateDocker.ps1')
Run PowerShell as an administrator:
Install-PackageProvider -Name NuGet -Force
Install-Module BcContainerHelper -Force
Set-ExecutionPolicy -ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned
Note: On Windows 11, you also need to allow running modules with Set-ExecutionPolicy -ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned
. For more details, see this link.
Run PowerShell as an administrator:
$url = Get-BCArtifactUrl -Select Latest -Type OnPrem -Country w1
$cred = Get-Credential
New-BcContainer -accept_eula -artifactUrl $url -Credential $cred -auth UserPassword
With these steps, you should be able to set up your environment and start using BcContainerHelper to create and manage Business Central containers on Docker.
Before installing Docker, ensure your system meets the following requirements:
- Windows Server 2016, 2019, or 2022 Standard or Datacenter Edition.
- Recommended minimum of 16 GB memory (more is better for running multiple containers simultaneously).
For Hyper-V:
- More memory is recommended as the whole OS runs inside the VM.
- A 64-bit processor with Second Level Address Translation (SLAT).
- CPU support for VM Monitor Mode Extension (VT-c on Intel CPUs). Enable hardware virtualization support in the BIOS settings.
Run PowerShell as an administrator:
Install-WindowsFeature Containers -Restart
If you want to use Hyper-V, run Install-WindowsFeature Hyper-V, Containers -Restart
instead. More details on using Hyper-V can be found in the Business Central Generic Images section.
Your computer will restart.
Run PowerShell as an administrator:
Invoke-WebRequest -UseBasicParsing -Uri 'https://raw.githubusercontent.com/microsoft/nav-arm-templates/main/InstallOrUpdateDockerEngine.ps1' -OutFile (Join-Path $ENV:TEMP 'installOrUpdateDocker.ps1')
. (Join-Path $ENV:TEMP 'installOrUpdateDocker.ps1')
Run PowerShell as an administrator:
Install-PackageProvider -Name NuGet -Force
Install-Module BcContainerHelper -Force
Run PowerShell as an administrator:
$url = Get-BCArtifactUrl -Select Latest -Type OnPrem -Country w1
$cred = Get-Credential
New-BcContainer -accept_eula -artifactUrl $url -Credential $cred -auth UserPassword
With these steps, you should be able to set up your environment and start using BcContainerHelper to create and manage Business Central containers on Docker.
Business Central Generic images are named mcr.microsoft.com/businesscentral:osversion
, where osversion
is the version of the Operating System.
BcContainerHelper attempts to find the best matching generic image for your OS. A new generic image is created monthly for all supported long-term servicing channels (LTSC). Currently, this includes three images:
mcr.microsoft.com/businesscentral:ltsc2016
mcr.microsoft.com/businesscentral:ltsc2019
mcr.microsoft.com/businesscentral:ltsc2022
These images will also be tagged with the osversion
, but BcContainerHelper's Get-BestGenericImage
will (by default) always return one of the three images above.
- Windows 10 will always get
ltsc2019
and will need Hyper-V isolation to run these. - Windows 11 will always get
ltsc2022
and can still run process isolation. - Windows Server 2019 can run process isolation with a matching image.
- Windows Server 2022 can run process isolation with the latest image
NavContainerHelper is the main branch for the NavContainerHelper PowerShell module on PowerShell Gallery. NavContainerHelper is no longer supported.
main is the main branch for the BcContainerHelper PowerShell module on PowerShell Gallery. BcContainerHelper will from August 1st 2020 ship as release and pre-release.
Please report issues in the issues list.
This project welcomes contributions and suggestions. Most contributions require you to agree to a Contributor License Agreement (CLA) declaring that you have the right to, and actually do, grant us the rights to use your contribution. For details, visit https://cla.microsoft.com.
When you submit a pull request, a CLA-bot will automatically determine whether you need to provide a CLA and decorate the PR appropriately (e.g., label, comment). Simply follow the instructions provided by the bot. You will only need to do this once across all repos using our CLA.
This project has adopted the Microsoft Open Source Code of Conduct. For more information see the Code of Conduct FAQ or contact [email protected] with any additional questions or comments.