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Installing Podman on Windows

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David Anderson edited this page Feb 23, 2026 · 9 revisions

Install or update the BOINC WSL distro

  1. Download latest release from https://github.com/BOINC/boinc-buda-runner-wsl-installer/releases
  2. Navigate to the directory where you downloaded the release
  3. Double-click on the boinc-buda-runner-wsl-installer.exe file
  4. Follow the instructions in the installer

That's it! You're done.

In case of problems:

  • Create an issue here
  • After the installer finishes, click the 'Open Log' button. Copy and paste the log contents into the issue.

Manual steps (for advanced users only)

NOTE: instructions for updating the BOINC WSL distro are here.

Windows 10: enable WSL

On Windows, Docker requires Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL). Windows 11 has WSL already enabled. On Windows 10, you need to enable WSL:

  • click in the Windows search bar (lower left corner)
  • click 'Control Panel'
  • click 'Programs and Features'
  • click 'Turn Windows features on or off'
  • check the box for 'Windows Subsystem for Linux'
  • click OK
  • Restart the computer

Update WSL

Once WSL is enabled, install the latest version of WSL for your type of computer.

NOTICE: the latest versions (2.6.0 and 2.6.1) doesn't seem to work with BOINC. We recommend 2.5.9:

For Intel:

https://github.com/microsoft/WSL/releases/download/2.5.9/wsl.2.5.9.0.x64.msi

For ARM:

https://github.com/microsoft/WSL/releases/download/2.5.9/wsl.2.5.9.0.arm64.msi

Install BOINC WSL image

BOINC provides a WSL 'image' that contains Docker.

  • Download it from https://github.com/BOINC/boinc-buda-runner-wsl.

  • Right-click on 'boinc-buda-runner-wsl' and select 'Open with' -> 'Windows Subsystem for Linux'

  • Open a terminal window (type 'cmd' in the Windows search box). In this window, type

wsl -d boinc-buda-runner

This will print some messages, ending with Podman setup complete. Close the terminal window.

Check that it worked

Run the BOINC client and open the Event Log. You should see something like

3/25/2025 3:15:16 PM |  | Usable WSL distros:
3/25/2025 3:15:16 PM |  | -   boinc-buda-runner (WSL 2) (default)
3/25/2025 3:15:16 PM |  | -      OS: Alpine Linux (Alpine Linux v3.21)
3/25/2025 3:15:16 PM |  | -      Docker version 5.3.2 (podman)

VirtualBox incompatibility

Docker and VirtualBox are incompatible on Windows. If you're using VirtualBox for something other than BOINC, do not install Docker.

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