This page lists all the environment variables that can be used to configure the container.
An empty default means the variable is unset and its value is determined automatically when applicable.
| Variable | Default | Description |
|---|
VERSION | 11 | Windows version to install, such as 10 or 11. |
EDITION | | Windows edition to install, such as core for Windows Server Core. |
LANGUAGE | en-US | Windows display language, such as English, en-US, or en. |
KEY | | Windows product key used to install and activate Windows. |
REGION | | Regional format. Uses LANGUAGE when unset. |
KEYBOARD | | Keyboard layout. Uses LANGUAGE when unset. |
USERNAME | Docker | Name of the Windows user account. |
PASSWORD | admin | Password for the Windows account. |
AUTOLOGIN | Y | Automatically signs in to Windows after startup. |
DOMAIN | | Active Directory domain to join during installation. |
DOMAIN_OU | | Distinguished name of the organizational unit. |
WORKGROUP | | Name of the Windows workgroup to join. |
| Variable | Default | Description |
|---|
CPU_CORES | 2 | Number of virtual CPU cores, such as 4, half, or max. |
CPU_MODEL | host | QEMU CPU model. |
CPU_FLAGS | | Additional QEMU CPU flags. |
SMP | | Custom CPU topology. Determined from CPU_CORES when unset. |
KVM | Y | Enables KVM hardware acceleration. |
VMX | N | Exposes Intel VMX virtualization extensions to the guest. |
HV | Y | Enables Hyper-V enlightenments for Windows guests. |
RAM_SIZE | 4G | Amount of RAM assigned to Windows, such as 8G, half, or max. |
RAM_CHECK | Y | Checks whether enough host memory is available before starting Windows. |
| Variable | Default | Description |
|---|
DISK_SIZE | 64G | Size of the primary disk. |
DISK_FMT | raw | Disk image format: raw or qcow2. |
DISK_TYPE | scsi | Disk device type, such as ide, scsi, or blk. |
DISK_CACHE | none | Disk cache mode, such as none or writeback. |
DISK_IO | native | Disk I/O mode, such as native, threads, or io_uring. |
DISK_DISCARD | unmap | Discard/TRIM mode for the primary disk. |
DISK_ROTATION | 1 | Rotation rate reported to the guest. Use 1 to identify the disk as an SSD. |
DISK_FLAGS | | Additional options used when creating qcow2 disks. |
DISK_OPTIONS | | Additional options appended to QEMU disk devices. |
ALLOCATE | N | Preallocates space for the primary disk. |
STORAGE | /storage | Storage directory used for disks, firmware variables, and downloads. |
| Variable | Default | Description |
|---|
NETWORK | | Network mode, such as nat, user, or N to disable networking. |
DHCP | N | Enables macvtap networking so Windows receives a DHCP address. |
HOST | | Optional Windows computer name and advertised network hostname. |
IP | | Overrides the automatically selected guest IPv4 address. |
MAC | | Guest network adapter MAC address. |
ADAPTER | virtio-net-pci | QEMU network adapter model. |
DEV | eth0 | Container network interface used as the uplink. |
MTU | | MTU assigned to the guest network interface. |
MASK | 255.255.255.0 | IPv4 netmask for guest network. |
TAP | qemu | TAP or macvtap interface name. |
BRIDGE | docker | Bridge name used for NAT networking. |
HOST_PORTS | | Ports excluded from guest forwarding. |
USER_PORTS | | Additional ports to forward to Windows when using user-mode networking. |
DNSMASQ_OPTS | | Additional options passed to dnsmasq. |
DNSMASQ_DEBUG | N | Enables dnsmasq debug output. |
DNSMASQ_DISABLE | N | Disables the internal dnsmasq resolver. |
PASST_OPTS | | Additional options passed to passt. |
PASST_DEBUG | N | Enables passt debug output. |
| Variable | Default | Description |
|---|
DISPLAY | web | Display backend, such as web, vnc, disabled, or none. |
VGA | virtio | QEMU video adapter model. |
WIDTH | 1280 | Display width configured in Windows. |
HEIGHT | 720 | Display height configured in Windows. |
GPU | N | Enables experimental GPU acceleration. |
RENDERNODE | /dev/dri/renderD128 | Render node used for GPU acceleration. |
| Variable | Default | Description |
|---|
WEB | Y | Enables the web interface. |
WEB_PORT | 8006 | Port for the web interface. |
VNC_PORT | 5900 | Port for the VNC server. |
LOSSY | N | Enables lossy VNC compression to reduce bandwidth usage. |
AUDIO | N | Streams guest audio to the web viewer. |
PROTECT | N | Enables password protection for the web interface. |
| Variable | Default | Description |
|---|
SAMBA | Y | Enables the Samba shared folder. |
SAMBA_DEBUG | N | Enables Samba debug output. |
SAMBA_READONLY | N | Enables read-only mode for the shared folder. |
SHORTCUT | Y | Creates desktop and drive shortcuts to the shared folder. |
| Variable | Default | Description |
|---|
MACHINE | q35 | QEMU machine type. |
PCI_BUS | pcie.0 | Overrides the PCI bus used for attached devices. |
RNG | Y | Adds the Virtio RNG device to the machine. |
UUID | | UUID assigned to Windows. |
HPET | off | HPET timer setting. |
VMPORT | off | VMware port setting. |
MOUSE | usb-tablet | Pointing device used by the machine. |
SOUND | intel-hda | Audio device used when AUDIO=Y. |
SM_BIOS | | Additional arguments passed to QEMU’s -smbios option. |
ARGUMENTS | | Additional raw arguments appended to the QEMU command line. |
| Variable | Default | Description |
|---|
BOOT_MODE | windows | Boot configuration, such as windows, windows_secure, or windows_legacy. |
BOOT_INDEX | 9 | Boot priority index for the installation media. |
MEDIA_TYPE | | Device type used for installation media. |
USB | qemu-xhci,id=xhci | QEMU USB controller configuration. |
BIOS | | Custom firmware file. |
TPM | N | Enables the TPM emulator, usually set by BOOT_MODE. |
SMM | N | Enables System Management Mode, usually set by BOOT_MODE. |
LOGO | Y | Enables the custom boot logo. |
CLEAR | N | Resets the NVRAM variables on the next boot. |
Also see Dynamic memory allocation for usage instructions and important caveats.
| Variable | Default | Description |
|---|
BALLOONING | N | Enables dynamic memory ballooning. |
BALLOONING_MIN_MEM | 33% | Minimum amount of memory retained by the VM. |
BALLOONING_RAM_THRESHOLD | 80.0 | Host RAM usage percentage at which ballooning begins adjusting memory. |
BALLOONING_RAM_THRESHOLD_HARD | 90.0 | Host RAM usage percentage at which ballooning becomes more aggressive. |
BALLOONING_PSI_PRESSURE | 10.0 | PSI memory pressure level at which ballooning becomes more aggressive. |
BALLOONING_PSI_PRESSURE_MAX | 50.0 | PSI memory pressure level at which ballooning reaches its strongest response. |
BALLOONING_HYSTERESIS | 128M | Minimum memory change before the balloon target is updated. |
BALLOONING_KP | 0.5 | Proportional gain used by the ballooning controller. |
BALLOONING_KI | 0.05 | Integral gain used by the ballooning controller. |
BALLOONING_INTERVAL | 5 | Polling interval in seconds. |
BALLOONING_DEBUG | N | Enables debug output for the ballooning monitor. |
| Variable | Default | Description |
|---|
CONNECTIONS | 4 | Number of connections used for ISO file downloads. |
MIDO | Y | Enables downloading Windows ISO files directly from Microsoft. |
ESD | Y | Enables downloading Windows through the ESD-based installation method. |
VERIFY | N | Verifies downloaded installation media against predefined checksums. |
REMOVE | Y | Deletes the downloaded Windows ISO after installation to save space. |
COMMAND | | Command to be executed during the final step of automatic installation. |
| Variable | Default | Description |
|---|
SHUTDOWN | Y | Enables graceful ACPI shutdown. |
TIMEOUT | 105 | Maximum time, in seconds, to wait before forcing Windows to stop. |
| Variable | Default | Description |
|---|
DEBUG | N | Enables verbose debug output. |
TRACE | N | Enables shell command tracing. |
LOG | N | Saves all output from install.bat to C:\OEM\install.log for troubleshooting. |
SERIAL | mon:stdio | QEMU serial device configuration. |
MONITOR | | QEMU monitor configuration. |
QMP | | QEMU Machine Protocol configuration. |