Start-local version check fails on WSL2

[ndrwrbgs]

Type of issue

Inaccurate

What documentation page is affected

https://www.elastic.co/docs/deploy-manage/deploy/self-managed/local-development-installation-quickstart

What happened?

Text as of bug:

[Prerequisites](https://www.elastic.co/docs/deploy-manage/deploy/self-managed/local-development-installation-quickstart#local-dev-prerequisites)
If you don’t have Docker installed, [download and install Docker Desktop](https://www.docker.com/products/docker-desktop) for your operating system.
If you’re using Microsoft Windows, then install [Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL)](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/install).
[Step 1: Run start-local script](https://www.elastic.co/docs/deploy-manage/deploy/self-managed/local-development-installation-quickstart#local-dev-quick-start)
To set up Elasticsearch and Kibana locally, run the start-local script in the command line:

curl -fsSL https://elastic.co/start-local | sh
After running the script, you can access Elastic services at the following endpoints:

Elasticsearch: http://localhost:9200/
Kibana: http://localhost:5601/
That's it! There's no step 2.

The steps as documented are:

• Have Docker installed
• if (Windows) then install WSL
• curl -fsSL https://elastic.co/start-local | sh
• "That's it! There's no step 2"

However, the start-local script in wsl is finding the host docker command and outputs this after a version check

  ______ _           _   _
 |  ____| |         | | (_)
 | |__  | | __ _ ___| |_ _  ___
 |  __| | |/ _` / __| __| |/ __|
 | |____| | (_| \__ \ |_| | (__
 |______|_|\__,_|___/\__|_|\___|
-------------------------------------------------
🚀 Run Elasticsearch and Kibana for local testing
-------------------------------------------------

ℹ️  Do not use this script in a production environment

Unfortunately we don't support docker compose . The minimum required version is 1.29.0.
You can migrate you docker compose from https://docs.docker.com/compose/migrate/
sh: 235: folder_to_clean: parameter not set

If I understand it correctly, WSL is running inside of docker itself and docker-on-wsl doesn't make sense, so was the script meant to be running in windows (which doesn't have sh)?

If I understand right then the action for the bug is one of:

• Modify the document to remove the suggestion Windows/WSL will work with these directions
• Update the script to work from within WSL (docker-compose will not work as normal)
• Provide a windows start local script?

cc @ezimeul who seems most active on the script, in case docs & code repo are organizationally distant

Additional info

No response

[flobernd]

Hi @ndrwrbgs ,

The minimum required version is 1.29.0.

It seems you are running an outdated version of Docker Compose. Docker and Compose is usually integrated in WSL2 through Docker Desktop. Please try to update Docker Desktop on Windows.

If you are using the old WSL(1/original), you have to update the docker-compose plugin or even better, switch to a newer version of Docker (these do ship with compose by default). For the latter you might have to also switch to WSL2.

More resources:

• https://docs.docker.com/compose/install/standalone/ (standalone compose plugin information + update instructions; deprecated)
• https://docs.docker.com/desktop/features/wsl/ (Docker [including compose] on WSL2)
• https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/install#upgrade-version-from-wsl-1-to-wsl-2 (upgrade WSL1 to WSL2)

[ndrwrbgs]

Hey Florian that is not the correct conclusion, I am on 2.31.0 (>1.29) of docker compose. The issue as noted is how wsl invokes the docker command when executed. The script infers the output will be the version, which is not the case from WSL, ergo the 3 fixes proposed. I am not on WSL 1, I am on WSL2 as required. The problem is not the one claimed by the script.

[flobernd]

@ndrwrbgs This context was missing in your original issue which lead me to the conclusion that you are running an outdated version.

Now that we have all facts, it shouldn't be a problem to fix this version check in the script 🙂

Just to be on the same page:

• You are on WSL2
• You use the Docker Desktop WSL2 integration

Could you please tell me the version of your Docker Desktop as shown in the Windows app and also the output of docker version from inside the WSL2 shell? I want to double check if these versions do mismatch.

[ndrwrbgs]

wsl --version

WSL version: 2.6.1.0
Kernel version: 6.6.87.2-1
WSLg version: 1.0.66
MSRDC version: 1.2.6353
Direct3D version: 1.611.1-81528511
DXCore version: 10.0.26100.1-240331-1435.ge-release
Windows version: 10.0.26200.7623

From the line reported, adapted to run in windows (since head does not natively exist in windows, just like sh):

docker-compose --version

Docker Compose version v2.30.3-desktop.1

To demonstrate why the error message did not tell you my version (and has that space before a period):

wsl -e sh -c "docker-compose --version | head -n 1 | grep -Eo '[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+'"

That output is not missing, this is the output

To demonstrate why this could not work as coded:

wsl -e sh -c "docker-compose --version"

The command 'docker-compose' could not be found in this WSL 2 distro.
We recommend to activate the WSL integration in Docker Desktop settings.

For details about using Docker Desktop with WSL 2, visit:

https://docs.docker.com/go/wsl2/

👆 This is probably the missing context you needed.

Apologies for the original gap! I was operating under the assumption that the WSL/Docker Desktop invocation was a known enough pattern to make the repro a quick win for the team as I've seen it noted and directed before to make sure to be running docker-compose from the Windows host.

Since I’m providing this feedback as a community contribution rather than a paid engagement, I’ve had to transition to another software option for my immediate needs. However, I still wanted to ensure this didn't fall through the cracks for the sake of "The Next Person"[TM].

The core issue appears to be the parsing logic’s handling of Docker Desktop’s state within WSL. docker-compose, while it runs as expected within Windows at all times, returns the response above from within WSL if Docker Desktop is not presently executing. As the parsing logic does not handle the unexpected output, echo, or throw, it took longer than would've been ideal to track this down.

This led to the conclusion that the doc needs an update, the script needs an update, or a docker-compose-first Windows option is needed. I reiterate because I worry that both of the former, while easier and more direct, leave open further undiscovered edge cases and future WSL-contract changes like this inconsistency in how docker-compose executes natively on Windows, Linux, vs WSL's custom integration.

Hopefully the team is able to do something with it for future users!

[ndrwrbgs]

Could you please tell me the version of your Docker Desktop as shown in the Windows app and also the output of docker version from inside the WSL2 shell? I want to double check if these versions do mismatch

Version of Docker Desktop as shown: 4.37.1 (178610)
Also the version of Compose therein: 2.31.0-desktop.2

docker version output and notes are above, #crossed-wires, was being collected and composed during your message.

[flobernd]

Thank you for this detailed report @ndrwrbgs 🙂

It definitely looks like the version parsing is the problem here. We will take care and fix this.

Interestingly, the script worked fine on WSL2 earlier (I tested it myself multiple times). I suspect that Docker changed the version string for the WSL2 integrated versions. Anyway - thanks for reporting, we will check this in detail.

[flobernd]

@ndrwrbgs

Could you please try to update your Docker Desktop anyway and report back, if that solves your issue? The latest version of Docker Desktop is 4.56.0 and this ships with docker compose 5.0.0.

Also please double check if you have the WSL2 integration enabled in Docker Desktop. Your earlier message indicates that this is not the case:

The command 'docker-compose' could not be found in this WSL 2 distro.
We recommend to activate the WSL integration in Docker Desktop settings.

Please also note, that the proper command is docker compose (space instead of hyphen) for the recent Docker versions.

Unfortunately I can not reproduce the issue locally:

echo 'Docker Compose version v2.30.3-desktop.1' | head -n 1 | grep -Eo '[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+'
2.30.3

The version parsing, even when using the version string provided by you, works perfectly fine and so does the start-local script for me.

Could you please provide the full output of docker info from inside WSL (start the WSL bash / Debian / Ubuntu and execute the command from there).