3. First containers

Finding your way around the CLI

wslc --help              # all commands
wslc <COMMAND> --help    # help for a command
wslc image list          # images available locally
wslc container list      # running containers
wslc container list --all  # including stopped containers
wslc stats               # container CPU / memory usage

A throwaway container

wslc run --rm -it ubuntu:latest bash -c "echo Hello world from WSL container!"

Option	Effect
--rm	removes the container as soon as it stops
-it	interactive mode with a terminal
ubuntu:latest	the image (downloaded automatically if missing)
bash -c "…"	the command to run in the container

A web server in the background

# Run nginx in the background, Windows port 8080 → container port 80
wslc run -d --rm -p 8080:80 --name web nginx

# Query the server from Windows
curl localhost:8080

# See the container
wslc container list

# Run a command in the running container
wslc exec web cat /etc/os-release

# Stop it (and, thanks to --rm, remove it)
wslc container stop web

Option	Effect
-d	detached: the container runs in the background
-p 8080:80	publishes the port: host:container
--name web	readable name, usable instead of the ID

If you know Docker

These commands are almost identical to docker run, docker exec, etc. The main visible difference: subcommands are grouped (wslc container list rather than docker ps).

Key takeaways

• run creates and starts a container; --rm avoids piling up stopped containers.
• -p host:container makes a service reachable from Windows.
• exec runs a command in an already running container.

Exercises

1. Run an nginx container reachable on Windows port 9090, named site, then check that it responds.

Solution

wslc run -d --rm -p 9090:80 --name site nginx
curl localhost:9090
wslc container stop site

2. How can you find out which Linux distribution the nginx image uses without opening an interactive shell?

Solution

wslc run -d --rm --name site nginx
wslc exec site cat /etc/os-release
wslc container stop site

3. What is the difference between wslc container list and wslc container list --all?

Solution

Without --all, only running containers are listed. With --all, stopped (but not removed) containers appear as well.