Install on Windows

Ringleader ships for Windows as an MSI installer (Ringleader-<version>-amd64.msi). Installing it gives you three things at once:

• the Ringleader Windows app: a native app that lives in your system tray, fronts the local container runtime, and boots your workstations.
• the rl CLI (plus the bundled docker, kubectl, kind, and helm tools, and the Docker compose/buildx plugins), added to the machine PATH.
• the Ringleader VM Service, a Windows service that runs the Hyper-V virtual machines of hcs workstations. The installer adds it whether or not you use hcs.

On Windows, a local workstation runs as a WSL2 distribution unless it names the hcs provider, which runs it as its own Hyper-V virtual machine. Neither needs a separate virtual-machine tool to install or manage.

Requirements

• A 64-bit (x64) PC running Windows 11, or Windows 10 with WSL2 available.
• WSL2 enabled. If you have never used WSL, run wsl --install from an elevated (Administrator) terminal and reboot when prompted. A workstation that names no provider runs on WSL2.
• Administrator rights (the installer is per-machine and updates the machine PATH).

To run a workstation on hcs as well, the PC also needs Hyper-V and Virtual Machine Platform turned on. Open Turn Windows features on or off, tick both, and restart when Windows asks. Ringleader has tested hcs only on Windows 11 Pro.

You do not need Docker Desktop: Ringleader bundles its own container runtime. If you already use Docker Desktop or Rancher Desktop, Ringleader installs alongside it. The installer adds its tools to the end of the machine PATH, so your existing docker stays the one your terminal runs, and the first-run wizard switches docker to Ringleader’s runtime only if you ask it to.

1. Download the installer

Your invitation arrives as an email from Ringleader saying you can sign in with your Google account. Sign in at app.ringleader.dev with that address, open Downloads in the top menu, and download the latest Ringleader-<version>-amd64.msi.

2. Run the installer

Double-click the .msi and follow the steps. Windows will ask for administrator approval to complete the installation.

The installer places the app and the bundled command-line tools and updates the machine PATH. Unlike the macOS installer, there is no separate “installation complete” dialog. When the progress window closes, the install is finished.

What gets installed

The package installs the tray app and puts the bundled command-line tools on the machine PATH:

The package also installs the Ringleader VM Service. It starts with Windows and runs as the Local System account. For the Windows account that asks, it creates, starts and stops the Hyper-V virtual machines of hcs workstations, which is why creating one needs no administrator after the install. It acts for no other account. Any account on the PC can ask it, and nothing from another PC can. Windows lists it under Services as Ringleader VM Service.

Unlike the macOS package there is no lima/limactl. On Windows a workstation runs as a WSL2 distribution, the default, or as a Hyper-V virtual machine when it names the hcs provider, instead of a vz or Lima VM.

3. Verify the install

Open a new terminal (so it picks up the updated PATH) and confirm the CLI is available:

rl version

4. Start the app

Open Ringleader from the Start menu. On first launch it starts the background rl daemon, the control loop that boots workstations and forwards the Docker socket.

5. Complete first-run onboarding

The first time it runs, the app shows a short onboarding wizard with four opt-in actions: sign in to Ringleader Cloud, create the local container runtime, set up ssh for workstations, and launch at login. Pick the ones you want, or skip and do them later from Settings.

See Onboarding for a full walkthrough of signing in and bringing up your first workstation.

6. Find the app in the system tray

Ringleader lives in the system tray. Look for the Ringleader mark there. Click it for the status of your workstations at a glance, with per-row controls.

The Settings window

Right-click the tray icon and choose Settings to configure Ringleader. The window groups options into several panes (General, Local Container Workstation, Account & Local, Tools, and Troubleshoot) plus an About pane that shows the installed app and daemon versions.

Optional: reach workstations with plain ssh

rl shell is a convenience, not a requirement. The daemon continuously writes a real OpenSSH configuration for your workstations under %USERPROFILE%\.ringleader\ssh\, and keeps it current as workstations come and go. Wire it into your own SSH config once, from PowerShell:

$ssh = "$env:USERPROFILE\.ssh"
$cfg = "$ssh\config"
New-Item -ItemType Directory -Force -Path $ssh | Out-Null
$existing = if (Test-Path $cfg) { Get-Content -Raw $cfg } else { "" }

# Add the Include as the FIRST line (see the warning below).
Set-Content -Path $cfg -Value ("Include ~/.ringleader/ssh/config`r`n`r`n" + $existing)

From then on ssh my-box, scp, git clone my-box:repo.git, and VS Code / Cursor Remote-SSH all reach your workstations by name, with the host key pinned.

Three things differ from macOS:

• No connection multiplexing. Win32-OpenSSH does not support ControlMaster, so Ringleader omits it and every ssh invocation performs a full handshake.
• Several ssh.exe may be on your PATH: the Windows OpenSSH optional feature, the one bundled with Git for Windows, and any installed by Scoop or Chocolatey. They read different configuration files. Check which one wins with Get-Command ssh.
• WSL has its own SSH config. The Include above applies to the Windows host. An ssh run inside a WSL distribution reads that distribution’s ~/.ssh/config.

If your OpenSSH build does not expand ~ in an Include, use the full path instead: Include C:\Users\<you>\.ringleader\ssh\config.

See Using ssh directly in the CLI reference for the host aliases, what each generated block contains, and the caveats.

Uninstalling

Delete your hcs workstations first, with rl workstation delete <name>. The uninstaller removes the Ringleader VM Service. It does not remove %ProgramData%\RingleaderVM, the folder where the service keeps those workstations’ disks, and it does not stop a workstation that is still running.

Then remove Ringleader like any other Windows application: Settings → Apps → Installed apps → Ringleader → Uninstall. Your data directory (%USERPROFILE%\.ringleader) is left in place; remove it too if you want a completely clean slate.