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Install on Windows

Docker Desktop runs the agent the same way Linux does. You never touch WSL directly — Docker Desktop installs and manages its own WSL2 backend, and the agent runs inside it.

1. Install the pieces​

  1. NVIDIA driver — the normal Windows driver from nvidia.com/drivers, version 575 or newer. There is no separate driver for WSL; the Windows one covers it.
  2. Docker Desktop with the WSL2 backend (the default). Let it finish its first-run setup.

Then check both in PowerShell:

docker run hello-world
docker run --rm --gpus all nvidia/cuda:12.4.1-base-ubuntu22.04 nvidia-smi

The second must print your card. If it does not, the driver is too old or Docker Desktop is not on the WSL2 backend.

2. Choose a password and keep it​

Windows has no openssl, so borrow one from a container — this works on any machine that can run Docker.

$pw = docker run --rm alpine sh -c "head -c 32 /dev/urandom | base64 -w0"
echo $pw   # write this down now

3. Run it​

Note the backtick ` for line continuations — PowerShell's equivalent of \.

docker run -d --name neurogrid-agent `
  --gpus all --restart unless-stopped `
  --dns 1.1.1.1 --dns 8.8.8.8 `
  -v neurogrid-data:/data `
  -v /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock `
  -v /var/lib/neurogrid/workloads:/var/lib/neurogrid/workloads `
  -e AGENT_ENCRYPTION_PASSWORD="$pw" `
  ghcr.io/neurogrid-ai-exchange/neurogrid-agent:latest --token ng_live_xxxxxxxx

Then watch it register:

docker logs -f neurogrid-agent

Look for Bootstrap sent successfully, then Heartbeat sent successfully every 30 seconds.

Those Unix-looking paths are correct

/var/run/docker.sock and /var/lib/neurogrid/workloads are not Windows paths and you do not need to create them. They resolve inside Docker Desktop's Linux VM, where both the agent container and the Docker daemon live.

Keep the machine awake​

A Windows laptop that sleeps stops serving, and a job in flight fails. Before leaving a host running:

  • Settings → System → Power & battery → Screen and sleep — set sleep to Never while plugged in.
  • Disable Fast Startup if the machine reboots unattended (Control Panel → Power Options → Choose what the power buttons do).

Docker Desktop must be running​

The agent is a container, so it only runs while Docker Desktop does. Turn on Start Docker Desktop when you log in (Settings → General), and note that this means the machine has to log in after a reboot — an unattended host is better off on Linux.

Next​