Windows Quick Start

Windows 10/11 Quick Start

DOCSight has two Windows paths:

If you want to...	Start here
Try DOCSight without Docker	Download the portable Desktop Preview, then read the Desktop Preview usage notes
Monitor your connection continuously	Docker Desktop quick start below

The Desktop Preview is an unsigned portable ZIP for demos and short local tryouts. It is published through GitHub Releases. For 24/7 monitoring, use Docker Desktop or another always-on Docker host.

DOCSight runs on Windows through Docker Desktop for continuous monitoring. Docker Desktop provides the Linux container runtime and DOCSight keeps its data in a Docker volume.

1. Install and verify Docker Desktop

1. Install Docker Desktop for Windows.
2. During setup, allow Docker Desktop to use WSL 2 when prompted. Hyper-V also works when your Windows edition and Docker Desktop settings use it.
3. Restart Windows if the installer asks you to.
4. Open Docker Desktop and wait until it says the engine is running.
5. Open PowerShell and verify Docker is available:

docker --version

Then verify the engine is reachable:

docker info

If docker --version works but docker info fails, Docker Desktop is installed but the engine is not running yet. Open Docker Desktop and wait for it to finish starting.

2. Start DOCSight from PowerShell

Copy and paste this one-line command into PowerShell:

docker run -d --name docsight --restart unless-stopped -p 8765:8765 -v docsight_data:/data ghcr.io/itsdnns/docsight:stable

What this does:

Part	Meaning
--name docsight	Names the container so you can manage it later
--restart unless-stopped	Starts DOCSight again after Windows or Docker restarts
-p 8765:8765	Makes the web UI available at http://localhost:8765
-v docsight_data:/data	Keeps configuration and history in a persistent Docker volume
ghcr.io/itsdnns/docsight:stable	The newest tagged release. Use :latest only if you want unreleased changes from main; see Image tags.

3. Open DOCSight

Open this URL in your browser:

http://localhost:8765

The first-run page lets you open a populated local demo in one click, connect a supported DOCSIS modem or Generic Router, or restore a backup. See First-Time Setup for the wizard steps.

Optional: try Demo Mode first

Select View demo on the first-run page. It uses the same local DOCSight instance and does not require modem details or credentials.

For an automatically starting, dedicated demo container instead, run:

docker run -d --name docsight-demo --restart unless-stopped -p 8765:8765 -e DEMO_MODE=true ghcr.io/itsdnns/docsight:stable

Use either the demo container or the normal docsight container on port 8765, not both at the same time.

Windows troubleshooting

Symptom	What to check	Fix
docker is not recognized	Docker Desktop is not installed or PowerShell was opened before installation finished	Install Docker Desktop, restart Windows if requested, then open a new PowerShell window
docker info says it cannot connect to the Docker daemon	Docker Desktop is installed but the engine is not running	Open Docker Desktop and wait until the engine is running, then retry docker info
Docker Desktop asks for WSL 2 or fails during startup	WSL 2 integration is missing or disabled	In Docker Desktop settings, enable WSL 2 integration. If Windows prompts you to install WSL components, complete that setup and restart
Port 8765 is already allocated or already in use	Another app or an older DOCSight container is using the port	Stop the old container with docker stop docsight, or run DOCSight on another local port such as -p 8766:8765 and open http://localhost:8766
The name docsight is already in use	A previous container with the same name already exists	Start it with docker start docsight, or remove it with docker rm docsight before running the command again. Removing the container does not remove the docsight_data volume
http://localhost:8765 does not open	The container may still be starting, may have exited, or may be on a different port	Check docker ps -a, then inspect logs with docker logs docsight. If you used -p 8766:8765, open http://localhost:8766
A copied multi-line command fails in PowerShell	Bash line continuations with \ do not work in PowerShell	Use the one-line PowerShell commands on this page

If setup or collection still does not behave as expected, run the passive local doctor in the same container:

docker exec docsight python -m app.doctor

See Doctor Diagnostics for the JSON output and redaction notes.

Updating later

When a new DOCSight release is available, update the container image and recreate the container while keeping the same docsight_data volume:

docker pull ghcr.io/itsdnns/docsight:stable
docker stop docsight
docker rm docsight
docker run -d --name docsight --restart unless-stopped -p 8765:8765 -v docsight_data:/data ghcr.io/itsdnns/docsight:stable

The full update flow, including backups before updating, is covered in Updating DOCSight.

Related

• Windows Desktop Preview
• Installation
• Backup & Restore