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Windows Testing Setup

Requirements

⚠️ Important: Windows Docker containers can only be built and run on:

  • Windows 10/11 Pro, Enterprise, or Education (with Hyper-V support)
  • Windows Server 2019 or later
  • Docker Desktop for Windows configured to use Windows containers (not Linux containers)

Why Can't I Test on Mac/Linux?

Docker uses the host OS kernel. Windows containers require the Windows kernel, which is only available on Windows hosts. This is different from Linux containers, which can run on Mac/Linux using virtualization.

Testing on Windows

If you have access to a Windows machine, follow these steps:

1. Switch Docker to Windows Containers

In Docker Desktop:

  • Right-click the Docker icon in system tray
  • Select "Switch to Windows containers..."

2. Build the Windows Image

docker build -f Dockerfile.windows -t npm-practice-windows .

Note: First build may take 10-30 minutes as it downloads Windows Server Core base image (~4-5GB)

3. Run Automated Tests

test-windows-auto.cmd

Or manually:

docker run --rm npm-practice-windows powershell -Command "cd C:\npm-practice-source; node test-cli.js"

4. Interactive Testing

docker run -it --rm npm-practice-windows

Then inside the container:

cd C:\npm-practice-source
node index.js

Expected Test Results

Based on Mac and Linux testing, we expect:

  • ~80-90 tasks to pass
  • ~18-22 tasks to skip (authentication required)
  • ~0-5 tasks to potentially fail (platform-specific issues)

Known Differences on Windows

  1. No sudo needed - Windows doesn't use sudo, but may require admin privileges for global installs
  2. Path separators - Windows uses backslashes (\) instead of forward slashes (/)
  3. Shell commands - Some Unix commands may not work (e.g., rm, ls, grep)
  4. windowsCheckCommand - tasks.json includes Windows-specific validation commands

CI/CD for Windows

For automated Windows testing, you can use:

  • GitHub Actions: windows-latest runner with Docker Desktop
  • Azure Pipelines: Native Windows containers support
  • AppVeyor: Windows CI/CD platform

Example GitHub Actions workflow:

name: Test on Windows

on: [push, pull_request]

jobs:
  test-windows:
    runs-on: windows-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
      
      - name: Switch to Windows containers
        run: |
          & "C:\Program Files\Docker\Docker\DockerCli.exe" -SwitchWindowsEngine
      
      - name: Build and test
        run: |
          docker build -f Dockerfile.windows -t npm-practice-windows .
          docker run --rm npm-practice-windows powershell -Command "cd C:\npm-practice-source; node test-cli.js"

Alternative: Testing on Windows Without Docker

If Docker Windows containers aren't available, you can test directly on Windows:

  1. Install Node.js from https://nodejs.org
  2. Clone the repository
  3. Run node test-cli.js directly

This tests the npm commands natively without containerization.

Troubleshooting

Error: "image operating system 'windows' cannot be used on this platform"

Solution: You're trying to run Windows containers on Mac/Linux. See "Requirements" section above.

Build takes forever

Solution: First Windows container build downloads large base image. Subsequent builds are much faster.

PowerShell execution policy errors

Solution: Run in elevated PowerShell:

Set-ExecutionPolicy -ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned -Scope CurrentUser