Docker: Binding to Docker Socket on Windows Host from Linux Containers

Symptoms

When trying to bind docker socket on Windows host from Linux containers with the following command:

$ docker run -v /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock ...

It won’t work.

Environment

• Docker 19.03.5

Solution

Use double slashes instead for docker path on Windows:

$ docker run -v //var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock ...

From Wikipedia, it says the double slash syntax is from Universal Naming Convention:

The Microsoft Windows UNC, short for Universal Naming Convention or Uniform Naming Convention, specifies a common syntax to describe the location of a network resource, such as a shared file, directory, or printer.

Reference

• Bind to docker socket on Windows - Stack Overflow
• Path (computing) - Wikipedia