About Docker Offload

Docker Offload is a fully managed service for building and running containers in the cloud using the Docker tools you already know, including Docker Desktop, the Docker CLI, and Docker Compose. It extends your local development workflow into a scalable, cloud-powered environment, enabling developers to work efficiently even in virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) environments or systems that don't support nested virtualization.

Key features

Docker Offload includes the following capabilities to support modern container workflows:

• Ephemeral cloud runners: Automatically provision and tear down cloud environments for each container session.
• Secure communication: Use encrypted tunnels between Docker Desktop and cloud environments with support for secure secrets and image pulling.
• Port forwarding and bind mounts: Retain a local development experience even when running containers in the cloud.
• VDI-friendly: Use Docker Desktop in virtual desktop environments or systems that don't support nested virtualization.

For more information, see the Docker Offload product page.

How Docker Offload works

Docker Offload replaces the need to build or run containers locally by connecting Docker Desktop to secure, dedicated cloud resources.

Running containers with Docker Offload

When you use Docker Offload to build or run containers, Docker Desktop creates a secure SSH tunnel to a Docker daemon running in the cloud. Your containers are started and managed entirely in that remote environment.

Here's what happens:

1. Docker Desktop connects to the cloud and triggers container creation.
2. Docker Offload builds or pulls the required images and starts containers in the cloud.
3. The connection stays open while the containers run and you remain active.
4. When the containers stop running, the environment shuts down and is cleaned up automatically.

This setup avoids the overhead of running containers locally and enables fast, reliable containers even on low-powered machines, including machines that do not support nested virtualization. This makes Docker Offload ideal for developers using environments such as virtual desktops, cloud-hosted development machines, or older hardware.

Despite running remotely, features like bind mounts and port forwarding continue to work seamlessly, providing a local-like experience from within Docker Desktop and the CLI.

Cloud resources

Docker Offload uses cloud hosts with 4 vCPUs and 8 GiB of memory. If you have different requirements, contact Docker to explore options.

Session management and idle state

Docker Offload uses session management and idle state policies to ensure fair use of cloud resources across all users, see Fair use.

Each user can run one Docker Offload session at a time. When Docker Desktop is in an Offload idle state, it waits for activity on the Docker API and only connects to a cloud environment when needed. Once connected, the session moves to an Offload running state and stays connected as long as Docker detects activity. Activity includes any Docker API call, a running container, or an active build.

When you'll see a prompt

While Docker Offload is running, Docker Desktop shows prompts in the Dashboard to check if you're still active. Prompts appear in two cases:

1. No activity is detected for more than 3 minutes.
2. The session has been running for a long time.

When a prompt appears, you can:

• Select Ask me again later to confirm you're still active and continue your session.
• Select Idle now to return to an idle state immediately.
• Do nothing, and the session returns to an idle state automatically.

What happens when your session goes idle

After your session returns to an idle state, there is a 5-minute grace period. You can resume the session during this time by running any Docker command.

Important

If the idle period exceeds 5 minutes without activity, the session is terminated. Docker Offload environments are ephemeral, so the remote environment and any containers, images, or volumes in it are deleted. To keep work between sessions, push images to a registry such as Docker Hub before your session ends.

Long session prompts

Long session prompts appear every 3 hours during a session. After 8 hours of cumulative usage in a day, prompts appear every hour. The 8-hour counter resets at the start of each day.

Fair use

Docker Offload enforces a fair use policy to prevent resource abuse. Fair use is defined as up to 8 compute hours per named user per day, totaled across all user sessions. Usage in excess of this threshold may be subject to session management at Docker's discretion.

What's next

Get hands-on with Docker Offload by following the Docker Offload quickstart.