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docker image load does not support xz specifically in Windows Containers mode #15034
Description
Description
I was pleasantly surprised to discover recently that docker image load supports compressed tar input including xz
https://docs.docker.com/reference/cli/docker/image/load/
Load an image or repository from a tar archive (even if compressed with gzip, bzip2, xz or zstd) from a file or STDIN. It restores both images and tags.
This works well when in "linux containers" mode, to load an image (previously saved with docker save & then xz'd).
Unfortunately it does not work in "windows containers" mode, I just see this:
> docker image load -i myimage.tar.xz
exec: "xz": executable file not found in %PATH%
Reproduce
- switch to windows containers mode
- run
docker image load -i myimage.tar.xz
Expected behavior
I expect to see Loaded image: myimage:mytag but instead it says exec: "xz": executable file not found in %PATH%
docker version
Client:
Version: 29.2.0
API version: 1.53
Go version: go1.25.6
Git commit: 0b9d198
Built: Mon Jan 26 19:28:56 2026
OS/Arch: windows/amd64
Context: desktop-windows
Server: Docker Desktop 4.59.0 (217644)
Engine:
Version: 29.2.0
API version: 1.53 (minimum version 1.44)
Go version: go1.25.6
Git commit: 9c623849
Built: Mon Jan 26 19:25:53 2026
OS/Arch: windows/amd64
Experimental: falsedocker info
Client:
Version: 29.2.0
Context: desktop-windows
Debug Mode: false
Plugins:
ai: Docker AI Agent - Ask Gordon (Docker Inc.)
Version: v1.17.2
Path: C:\Program Files\Docker\cli-plugins\docker-ai.exe
buildx: Docker Buildx (Docker Inc.)
Version: v0.31.1-desktop.1
Path: C:\Program Files\Docker\cli-plugins\docker-buildx.exe
compose: Docker Compose (Docker Inc.)
Version: v5.0.2
Path: C:\Program Files\Docker\cli-plugins\docker-compose.exe
debug: Get a shell into any image or container (Docker Inc.)
Version: 0.0.47
Path: C:\Program Files\Docker\cli-plugins\docker-debug.exe
desktop: Docker Desktop commands (Docker Inc.)
Version: v0.2.0
Path: C:\Program Files\Docker\cli-plugins\docker-desktop.exe
extension: Manages Docker extensions (Docker Inc.)
Version: v0.2.31
Path: C:\Program Files\Docker\cli-plugins\docker-extension.exe
init: Creates Docker-related starter files for your project (Docker Inc.)
Version: v1.4.0
Path: C:\Program Files\Docker\cli-plugins\docker-init.exe
mcp: Docker MCP Plugin (Docker Inc.)
Version: v0.37.0
Path: C:\Program Files\Docker\cli-plugins\docker-mcp.exe
model: Docker Model Runner (Docker Inc.)
Version: v1.0.8
Path: C:\Program Files\Docker\cli-plugins\docker-model.exe
offload: Docker Offload (Docker Inc.)
Version: v0.5.41
Path: C:\Program Files\Docker\cli-plugins\docker-offload.exe
pass: Docker Pass Secrets Manager Plugin (beta) (Docker Inc.)
Version: v0.0.24
Path: C:\Program Files\Docker\cli-plugins\docker-pass.exe
sandbox: Docker Sandbox (Docker Inc.)
Version: v0.10.1
Path: C:\Program Files\Docker\cli-plugins\docker-sandbox.exe
sbom: View the packaged-based Software Bill Of Materials (SBOM) for an image (Anchore Inc.)
Version: 0.6.0
Path: C:\Program Files\Docker\cli-plugins\docker-sbom.exe
scout: Docker Scout (Docker Inc.)
Version: v1.19.0
Path: C:\Program Files\Docker\cli-plugins\docker-scout.exe
Server:
Containers: 0
Running: 0
Paused: 0
Stopped: 0
Images: 39
Server Version: 29.2.0
Storage Driver: windowsfilter
Windows:
Logging Driver: json-file
Plugins:
Volume: local
Network: ics internal l2bridge l2tunnel nat null overlay private transparent
Log: awslogs etwlogs fluentd gcplogs gelf json-file local splunk syslog
CDI spec directories:
/etc/cdi
/var/run/cdi
Swarm: inactive
Default Isolation: hyperv
Kernel Version: 10.0 26200 (26100.1.amd64fre.ge_release.240331-1435)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows Version 25H2 (OS Build 26200.7628)
OSType: windows
Architecture: x86_64
CPUs: 20
Total Memory: 95.43GiB
Name: my-hostname
ID: e501fa71-f5b0-4c9d-84dd-f462b89820e9
Docker Root Dir: C:\ProgramData\Docker
Debug Mode: false
Labels:
com.docker.desktop.address=npipe://\\.\pipe\docker_cli
Experimental: false
Insecure Registries:
::1/128
127.0.0.0/8
Live Restore Enabled: false
Product License: Community EngineDiagnostics ID
6189F7DB-7300-4002-852C-EB7E4BC00871/20260205110924
Additional Info
May be irrelevant but I'm on a recent enough windows (25H2) that has native xz support in the built-in windows tar.exe so for example this command works tar -xJf myimage.tar.xz
Activity
sparrowt commentedon Feb 5, 2026
In the meantime this is a workaround if you can find an
xzbinary (e.g. one comes with Git for Windows)(piping
tar -xJf myimage.tar.xz | docker loaddoesn't work:docker loadexpects the uncompressedtarnot its extracted contents)newTam commentedon Feb 8, 2026
Application Error
We've reported this to our error tracker.
Cannot read properties of undefined (reading 'x')