WSL2 + Docker Desktop + DDEV Setup Guide

A complete walkthrough for Windows 11 users

Overview

This guide walks you through setting up a full WSL2 + Docker Desktop + DDEV environment on Windows 11.
When finished, you’ll have:

  • WSL2 installed and working
  • A Linux distro of your choice
  • Docker Desktop (supporting both Windows and Linux containers)
  • DDEV configured to use Docker Desktop
  • A working PHP “Hello World” development site at https://php-hello.ddev.site

This is ideal for PHP, Drupal, WordPress, Laravel, or general web development using containerized environments.

1. Install Prerequisites

Install Chocolatey (if not already installed)

Set-ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Scope Process -Force
[System.Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol = [System.Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol -bor 3072
Invoke-Expression ((New-Object System.Net.WebClient).DownloadString('https://community.chocolatey.org/install.ps1'))

Install Winget (if missing)

choco install winget -y

2. Install and Test WSL2

Enable WSL features:

dism.exe /online /enable-feature /featurename:Microsoft-Windows-Subsystem-Linux /all /norestart
dism.exe /online /enable-feature /featurename:VirtualMachinePlatform /all /norestart

Install WSL2 base components (no distro):

wsl --install --no-distribution

Set WSL2 as default:

wsl --set-default-version 2

Check status:

wsl --status

Reboot if required.

3. Choose and Install a Linux Distro

List available distros:

wsl --list --online

Install one by NAME:

wsl --install -d Ubuntu-24.04

Launch it once from the Start menu to finish initialization.

4. Start Docker Desktop BEFORE Installing DDEV

This step prevents the error:

Cannot connect to the Docker daemon at unix:///var/run/docker.sock

Install Docker Desktop

winget install -e --id Docker.DockerDesktop --accept-package-agreements --accept-source-agreements

Start Docker Desktop now

  1. Open Docker Desktop
  2. Wait until it shows Running

Enable WSL Integration

Docker Desktop → Settings:

  • General
    ✔ Enable “Use the WSL 2 based engine”
  • Resources → WSL Integration
    ✔ Turn on
    ✔ Check Ubuntu-24.04

Click Apply & Restart.

Test Docker inside WSL

docker version

You must see both Client and Server.

5. Install DDEV (AFTER Docker Desktop is running)

Install using Chocolatey:

choco install ddev -y

Test in PowerShell:

ddev version

Test in Ubuntu:

ddev version

If not found inside WSL, install it there:

curl -LO https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ddev/ddev/main/scripts/install_ddev.sh
chmod +x install_ddev.sh
./install_ddev.sh

6. Create a PHP “Hello World” App Using DDEV

Create project folder:

mkdir "$env:USERPROFILE\Documents\DDEV\php-hello"
cd "$env:USERPROFILE\Documents\DDEV\php-hello"

Initialize project:

ddev config --project-type=php --project-name=php-hello --docroot=. --php-version=8.2

Create index.php:

@'
<?php
echo "<h1>Hello from DDEV + Docker + PHP!</h1>";
echo "<p>Your development environment is working!</p>";
?>
'@ | Out-File -FilePath "index.php" -Encoding utf8

Start:

ddev start

Open:

https://php-hello.ddev.site

7. Common Commands

ddev stop
ddev restart
ddev list
ddev delete -O

Conclusion

You now have:

  • WSL2 installed
  • Linux distro configured
  • Docker Desktop running with WSL2 integration
  • DDEV installed after Docker Desktop was running
  • A functional PHP development environment

This avoids Docker socket errors and provides a stable workflow.