Modern containers (Docker) require Linux to run. So you have to install a virtual machine one way or another. Most don’t know that this is exactly what Docker Desktop and Rancher Desktop do. Why not install Linux in a light-weight, headless, bridged VM and accomplish the same thing? Plus, you get full access to a Linux machine and terminal for all your other needs (not one emulated inside a container).
This approach has the added benefit of allowing you to create the exact same Linux setup that you would have for a Kubernetes control-plane or worker node. Why would you throw away that opportunity? Because you are unable or too lazy to install a container engine as god intended? Fine, if you are. I’m not.
It is worth mentioning that Docker is proprietary software and the company continue to surprise the FOSS community with new revelations and price-tags even though they barely wrapped the existing FOSS Linux container technology in order to create Docker in the first place. Honestly, other than Docker Hub I find no value in Docker as a company and want to avoid it whenever possible.
Here are the steps to run containers in a light-weight VM:
docker-ce or containerd or whatever engine you want