Extending Kubernetes to Windows Server with Docker Enterprise Edition

Docker and Microsoft have been working together since 2014 to bring containers to Windows and .NET applications. Today at DockerCon, we share the next step in this partnership with the preview and demonstration of Kubernetes on Windows Server with Docker Enterprise Edition.

Docker and Microsoft Advance Windows Containers

Docker and Microsoft brought container technology into Windows Server 2016, ensuring consistency for the same Docker Compose file and CLI commands across both Linux and Windows. Windows Server ships with a Docker Enterprise Edition engine, meaning all Windows containers today are based on Docker. Recognizing that most enterprise organizations have both Windows and Linux applications in their environment, we followed that up in 2017 with the ability to manage mixed Windows and Linux clusters in the same Docker Enterprise Edition environment, enabling support for hybrid applications and driving higher efficiencies and lower overhead for organizations. Using Swarm orchestration, operations teams could support different application teams with secure isolation between them, while also allowing Windows and Linux containers to communicate over a common overlay network.

Since then, Docker has seen the rapid rise of Windows containers as organizations recognize the benefits of containerization and want to apply them across their entire application portfolio and not just their Linux-based applications. Some of the Docker Enterprise Edition customers leveraging Windows Containers today are presenting at DockerCon, including Jabil and GE Digital.

Delivering Choice of Orchestration and Operating System

Docker recently introduced Docker Enterprise Edition 2.0, supporting both Swarm and Kubernetes interchangeably in the same cluster. Docker and Microsoft are now working together to let your Windows workloads run while leveraging all the features of both Kubernetes and Docker Enterprise Edition combined. That means organizations can choose to deploy Windows and .NET applications with either Swarm or Kubernetes, running along alongside Linux applications.

Deploying a .NET Application with Kubernetes

Docker Enterprise Edition allows you to deploy an application with Kubernetes using either a Docker Compose file or with a Kubernetes YAML file. This allows an organization that already has a containerized Windows application with Docker Compose to migrate the application to Kubernetes simply by re-deploying it (as shown below):

And since this is getting deployed into a cluster that can support both Swarm and Kubernetes interchangeably at the same time, we can use Powershell with both Docker CLI commands and Kubernetes CLI commands:

The result is a container platform that can support multiple application teams that each have their own requirements.

Next Steps

To learn more about this Tech Preview, make sure to watch the demo in the DockerCon keynote. The replay will be posted shortly after the live event. If you’re interested in learning more about the beta, sign up at https://beta.docker.com

To learn more about Docker Enterprise Edition:

• Read the press release
• Watch the keynote replay or sign up to watch the live stream of the Day 2 keynote
• Learn more about the other announcements made today: Federated Application Management in Docker Enterprise Edition and New Application Creation Workflows in Docker Desktop