docker-machine: no machine name, no "default" exists

Question

I downloaded and installed Docker for Windows 1.12.1 which in turn installed the docker-machine and docker-compose. I did not install "Docker Toolbox" since its a duplicate of what was installed and my system meets the requirements.

Everything seems to work fine except for docker-machine, I'm running through a tutorial and when I run various docker-machine commands like "ip" or "env" I get the following message.

Error: No machine name(s) specified and no "default" machine exists.

So when I do a "docker-machine ls" there is nothing in the list even though I do have a Hyper-V docker machine installed and docker commands work fine.

C:\tmp>docker-machine ls
NAME   ACTIVE   DRIVER   STATE   URL   SWARM   DOCKER   ERRORS
C:\tmp>

Am I missing something here? Did I miss something in the documentation? If so can someone please point me in the right direction to fix this?

Thanks for any help,

Jim

Answer 1

Docker Machine is a tool that lets you install Docker Engine on virtual hosts

Docker machine just like building docker on a Vm, so first you have to create a Vm, in your case:

docker-machine create default

Answer 2

You don't need docker-machine to manage the Hyper-V virtual machine. In fact you can't unless you configure it explicitly to do so. If you want to see your IP use the Docker for Windows GUI.

The Docker team wants you to use Docker for Windows like a regular Docker in Linux and not have to bother with virtual machine stuff.

Docker-machine is included in the same way you can install in Linux. It is for managing machines in the cloud for example, or accessing a remote Docker Engine. For example in Linux you issue your Docker commands in a natural way, but you can also have a virtual machine with Docker and manage it using docker-machine in your host. Now in Windows it works in the same way.

Regards

Answer 3

Documentation docker-machine create

docker-machine create --driver virtualbox dev

or

docker-machine create -d virtualbox \
    --engine-label foo=bar \
    --engine-label spam=eggs \
    --engine-storage-driver overlay \
    --engine-insecure-registry registry.myco.com \
    foobarmachine