I have the following setup:

• Windows (Host) – running docker desktop
• WSL2 – /home/user/workspace/nxg contains my project files
• Vscode connected with a Devcontainer

Project directory with relevant docker files:

.
├── .devcontainer
│   ├── devcontainer.json
│   ├── docker-compose.yaml
│   └── Dockerfile
├── docker-compose.build.yaml
├── docker-compose.yaml
├── Dockerfile
├── .dockerignore
├── .env
├── .env.docker
├── .env.sample
└── .vscode
    ├── launch.json
    └── tasks.json

devcontainer.json:

{
  "dockerComposeFile": ["../docker-compose.yaml", "docker-compose.yaml"],
  "service": "nxg",
  "workspaceFolder": "/workspace-nxg",
  "shutdownAction": "stopCompose",
    "customizations": {
    "vscode": {
      "settings": {
        "terminal.integrated.shell.linux": "/bin/bash"
      },
      "extensions": [
        "esbenp.prettier-vscode",
        "ms-vscode.vscode-typescript-next",
        "dbaeumer.vscode-eslint"
      ]
    }
  },
    "features": {
    "ghcr.io/devcontainers/features/docker-in-docker:2": {}
  },
  "postCreateCommand": {
        "chown .pnpm-store" : "sudo chown node /workspace-nxg-/.pnpm-store", 
        "chown node_modules": "sudo chown node /workspace-nxg-/node_modules"
    }
}

When I start DD (Docker desktop) and then VSC (visual studio code) to load my project I see 3/3 containers running:

• dev container
• postgres container
• nats container

This works great, I can query these container with docker ps -a and docker compose ls and both the containers are listed and the merged compose file by the devcontainer plugged is listed.

The problem and question:

The problem and question now is that I have another set of the exact same containers living somewhere in WSL. If I start VSC without DD it still works, these containers are not visible with docker ps -a and they’re always running the moment I start WSL.

In this situation where DD is not running here is the output of various commands:

On Windows:

C:UsersRohan>docker compose ls
NAME                STATUS              CONFIG FILES

C:UsersRohan>docker container ls
CONTAINER ID   IMAGE     COMMAND   CREATED   STATUS    PORTS     NAMES

On WSL:

➜  ~ docker compose ls
NAME                STATUS              CONFIG FILES

➜  ~ docker container ls
CONTAINER ID   IMAGE     COMMAND   CREATED   STATUS    PORTS     NAMES

➜  ~ docker container ls -a
CONTAINER ID   IMAGE                                                                                       COMMAND                  CREATED        STATUS                      PORTS     NAMES
86ca41fac541   nxg_postgres                                                                   "docker-entrypoint.s…"   24 hours ago   Exited (137) 17 hours ago             nxg-postgres-1
c5daa37c18a5   vsc-nxg-b04a8eb6a5643967ef9d6f249b515bf6a6b34dac403c5f6bdd4897ad7c3a9c67-uid   "/bin/sh -c 'echo Co…"   24 hours ago   Exited (137) 17 hours ago             nxg-1
e722162a3b66   nats:2.10.12                                                                                "/nats-server --name…"   4 days ago     Exited (1) 17 hours ago               nxg-nats-main-1

➜  ~ ls -l $(which docker)
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 35939040 Oct 26  2023 /usr/bin/docker
➜  ~ ls -l $(which kubectl)
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 55 Jul 25 16:18 /usr/local/bin/kubectl -> /mnt/wsl/docker-desktop/cli-tools/usr/local/bin/kubectl
➜  ~ ls -l $(which dockerd)
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 93546720 Oct 26  2023 /usr/bin/dockerd
➜  ~ ls -l $(which containerd)
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 52632728 Sep 15  2023 /usr/bin/containerd

Inside the devcontainer:

node ➜ /workspace-nxg (master) $ docker compose ls
NAME                STATUS              CONFIG FILES

node ➜ /workspace-nxg (master) $ docker container ls
CONTAINER ID   IMAGE     COMMAND   CREATED   STATUS    PORTS     NAMES

node ➜ /workspace-nxg (master) $ docker container ls -a
CONTAINER ID   IMAGE     COMMAND   CREATED   STATUS    PORTS     NAMES

WSL pgrep:

➜  ~ pgrep -ax "docker"
2016 docker exec -i -u root fc27d0ab8cb33c55a21abe7091464e5a100df6cd164ecb6af24665b448e9bb95 /bin/sh -c echo "New container started. Keep-alive process started." ; export VSCODE_REMOTE_CONTAINERS_SESSION=38abadb3-e52c-42a3-b8a4-29b11bc302a91721385658625 ; /bin/sh
2039 docker exec -i -u node -e VSCODE_REMOTE_CONTAINERS_SESSION=38abadb3-e52c-42a3-b8a4-29b11bc302a91721385658625 fc27d0ab8cb33c55a21abe7091464e5a100df6cd164ecb6af24665b448e9bb95 /bin/sh
2131 docker exec -i -u root fc27d0ab8cb33c55a21abe7091464e5a100df6cd164ecb6af24665b448e9bb95 /bin/sh
2216 docker exec -i -u node fc27d0ab8cb33c55a21abe7091464e5a100df6cd164ecb6af24665b448e9bb95 /bin/sh
2391 docker exec -i -u node -e SHELL=/bin/bash -e VSCODE_AGENT_FOLDER=/home/node/.vscode-server -w /home/node/.vscode-server/bin/f1e16e1e6214d7c44d078b1f0607b2388f29d729 fc27d0ab8cb33c55a21abe7091464e5a100df6cd164ecb6af24665b448e9bb95 /home/node/.vscode-server/bin/f1e16e1e6214d7c44d078b1f0607b2388f29d729/bin/code-server --log debug --force-disable-user-env --server-data-dir /home/node/.vscode-server --use-host-proxy --telemetry-level all --accept-server-license-terms --host 127.0.0.1 --port 0 --connection-token-file /home/node/.vscode-server/data/Machine/.connection-token-f1e16e1e6214d7c44d078b1f0607b2388f29d729 --extensions-download-dir /home/node/.vscode-server/extensionsCache --install-extension ms-azuretools.vscode-docker --install-extension esbenp.prettier-vscode --install-extension ms-vscode.vscode-typescript-next --install-extension dbaeumer.vscode-eslint --start-server --disable-websocket-compression --skip-requirements-check
2466 docker exec -i -u node -e VSCODE_REMOTE_CONTAINERS_SESSION=38abadb3-e52c-42a3-b8a4-29b11bc302a91721385658625 fc27d0ab8cb33c55a21abe7091464e5a100df6cd164ecb6af24665b448e9bb95 /home/node/.vscode-server/bin/f1e16e1e6214d7c44d078b1f0607b2388f29d729/node -e                               const net = require('net');                             const fs = require('fs');                               process.stdin.pause();                          const client = net.createConnection({ host: '127.0.0.1', port: 42707 }, () => {                                         console.error('Connection established');                                        client.pipe(process.stdout);                                    process.stdin.pipe(client);                             });                             client.on('close', function (hadError) {                                        console.error(hadError ? 'Remote close with error' : 'Remote close');          process.exit(hadError ? 1 : 0);                          });                             client.on('error', function (err) {                                     process.stderr.write(err && (err.stack || err.message) || String(err));        });                              process.stdin.on('close', function (hadError) {                                        console.error(hadError ? 'Remote stdin close with error' : 'Remote stdin close');                                       process.exit(hadError ? 1 : 0);                          });                             process.on('uncaughtException', function (err) {                                        fs.writeSync(process.stderr.fd, `Uncaught Exception: ${String(err && (err.stack || err.message) || err)}n`);                           });
2536 docker exec -i -u node -e VSCODE_REMOTE_CONTAINERS_SESSION=38abadb3-e52c-42a3-b8a4-29b11bc302a91721385658625 fc27d0ab8cb33c55a21abe7091464e5a100df6cd164ecb6af24665b448e9bb95 /home/node/.vscode-server/bin/f1e16e1e6214d7c44d078b1f0607b2388f29d729/node -e                               const net = require('net');                             const fs = require('fs');                               process.stdin.pause();                          const client = net.createConnection({ host: '127.0.0.1', port: 42707 }, () => {                                         console.error('Connection established');                                        client.pipe(process.stdout);                                    process.stdin.pipe(client);                             });                             client.on('close', function (hadError) {                                        console.error(hadError ? 'Remote close with error' : 'Remote close');          process.exit(hadError ? 1 : 0);                          });                             client.on('error', function (err) {                                     process.stderr.write(err && (err.stack || err.message) || String(err));        });                              process.stdin.on('close', function (hadError) {                                        console.error(hadError ? 'Remote stdin close with error' : 'Remote stdin close');                                       process.exit(hadError ? 1 : 0);                          });                             process.on('uncaughtException', function (err) {                                        fs.writeSync(process.stderr.fd, `Uncaught Exception: ${String(err && (err.stack || err.message) || err)}n`);                           });
21866 docker events --since 1721391815 --until 1721392115 --filter type=container --filter type=image --filter type=network --filter type=volume --filter event=create --filter event=destroy --filter event=die --filter event=kill --filter event=pause --filter event=rename --filter event=restart --filter event=start --filter event=stop --filter event=unpause --filter event=update --filter event=delete --filter event=import --filter event=load --filter event=pull --filter event=save --filter event=tag --filter event=untag --filter event=remove --filter event=prune --format {{json .}}

➜  ~ pgrep -ax "containerd"
56 containerd --config /var/run/docker/containerd/containerd.toml
1930 containerd --config /var/run/docker/containerd/containerd.toml

➜  ~ pgrep -ax "dockerd"
24 /usr/bin/dockerd -p /var/run/docker.pid
1888 dockerd

WSL lsof:

# With containers active

➜  Rohan sudo lsof -i | grep "LISTEN"
[sudo] password for user:
docker-pr 646 root    4u  IPv4  23613      0t0  TCP *:8222 (LISTEN)
docker-pr 653 root    4u  IPv6  26845      0t0  TCP *:8222 (LISTEN)
docker-pr 669 root    4u  IPv4  17628      0t0  TCP *:4222 (LISTEN)
docker-pr 675 root    4u  IPv6  17631      0t0  TCP *:4222 (LISTEN)
docker-pr 757 root    4u  IPv4  26901      0t0  TCP *:postgresql (LISTEN)
docker-pr 764 root    4u  IPv6  18649      0t0  TCP *:postgresql (LISTEN)

#With DD containers shutdown(same result)
➜  Rohan sudo lsof -i | grep "LISTEN"
docker-pr 646 root    4u  IPv4  23613      0t0  TCP *:8222 (LISTEN)
docker-pr 653 root    4u  IPv6  26845      0t0  TCP *:8222 (LISTEN)
docker-pr 669 root    4u  IPv4  17628      0t0  TCP *:4222 (LISTEN)
docker-pr 675 root    4u  IPv6  17631      0t0  TCP *:4222 (LISTEN)
docker-pr 757 root    4u  IPv4  26901      0t0  TCP *:postgresql (LISTEN)
docker-pr 764 root    4u  IPv6  18649      0t0  TCP *:postgresql (LISTEN)

Please keep in mind that I have previously installed docker/k3s on WSL before I switched to DD so when cleaning WSL of the old docker I might have left some files. I feel like the devcontainers plugin has some kind of "backup" manner of managing containers but I don’t understand how to stop these containers and clean up their resources except for a killall and then also prevent this "backup" method.
I assume there’s a service file somewhere that’s starting these containers that I could delete but all of these are not the source of the problems in my opinion.

Hopefully I’ve provided enough info, there’s logs I could add with and without DD of the devcontainer plugin but those contain sensitive information so I’d prefer to scrub them and upload them only if needed.