Get Started

We’ll use OrbStack since it’s the simplest of several options. OrbStack is not free for professional use, but several other options are open-source and free to use.

1/4Install OrbStack Docker Provider

Launch OrbStack, accept the license agreement.

Confirm that you now have a Docker provider:

→ docker version

2/4Install DDEV

Confirm that DDEV is installed: 🎉

→ ddev -v
ddev version v1.25.3

3/4Run mkcert -install

Running mkcert -install is a one-time operation. It allows your browser to trust the HTTPS/TLS certificates served by DDEV.

→ mkcert -install
Created a new local CA 💥
Sudo password:
The local CA is now installed in the system trust store! ⚡️
The local CA is now installed in the Firefox trust store (requires browser restart)! 🦊

4/4Create a Project

Navigate to a project you’d like to spin up with DDEV:

→ cd ~/dev/my-project

Initialize the project by running the ddev config command:

→ ddev config

Start the project for the first time. You’ll use the same command to start it later, too!

→ ddev start

If it’s a Composer project, you may also need to run ddev composer install.

Now run the launch command to open your project in a browser:

→ ddev launch

Explore & Enjoy!

Take a peek at your project’s new .ddev/ directory. You can add this to your repo to share your DDEV config, edit .ddev/config.yaml to change project options, or even go about your business and pretend this folder doesn’t exist.

Run ddev with no arguments to open the interactive dashboard, an overview of your projects and quick access to common actions:

→ ddev

Run the help command (or ddev -h) to see the actions you can take with the CLI:

→ ddev help

Use the describe command to see a project’s parts and database connection details:

→ ddev describe

If you’re done working on a project and want to shut it down without removing anything, use the stop command:

→ ddev stop

If you were just kicking the tires and you want to permanently delete the project and its resources without touching your code, run the delete command:

→ ddev delete

DDEV will remove everything it created for the project and have no memory of its existence.

To uninstall DDEV, first clean up its Docker bits and delete its files from your system:

→ ddev clean --all
→ ddev hostname --remove-inactive
→ rm -r ~/.ddev
→ rm -r ~/.ddev_mutagen_data_directory

Then remove the ddev binary however you installed it:

→ brew uninstall ddev

→ rm /usr/local/bin/ddev

We’ll use WSL2 with Docker-CE since it’s the fastest and most straightforward of several options.

1/3Install WSL2 with Ubuntu

Run the following in PowerShell terminal:

> wsl --install --no-distribution

You’ll probably need to reboot.

If you had previously installed WSL, update it:

> wsl --update

Then, install an Ubuntu distro named "DDEV":

> wsl --install Ubuntu-26.04 --name DDEV

Verify that you now have an Ubuntu distro set as default:

> wsl -l -v
  NAME                   STATE           VERSION
* DDEV                   Stopped         2

2/3 Run the Installer

• AMD64 (x86-64): Most traditional Windows PCs (Intel/AMD processors)
• ARM64: Windows on ARM devices like Microsoft Surface Pro X, Surface Pro 9 (5G), or other ARM-based Windows devices

Run the installer selecting the preferred "Docker CE" approach and selecting your "DDEV" distro. You can also find all releases at DDEV Releases.

In the “DDEV” terminal app or Windows Terminal "DDEV" profile, confirm that the ddev binary is installed: 🎉

$ ddev --version
ddev version v1.25.3

3/3Create a Project

Tip: Watch the video tutorial showing all of this.

Important: Work inside the WSL2 "DDEV" distro, not on your Windows C:\ drive. Open the "DDEV" app from your Start menu to access the Linux terminal.

To view files from Windows Explorer or your IDE: Explorer > Linux > DDEV > home > [your-username]

Create a directory for your project:

$ mkdir -p ~/dev/my-project && cd ~/dev/my-project

Initialize the project by running the ddev config command:

$ ddev config

Start the project for the first time. You'll use the same command to start it later, too!

$ ddev start

If it's a Composer project, you may also need to run ddev composer install.

Now run the launch command to open your project in a browser:

$ ddev launch

Explore & Enjoy!

Take a peek at your project's new .ddev/ directory. You can add this to your repo to share your DDEV config, edit .ddev/config.yaml to change project options, or even go about your business and pretend this folder doesn't exist.

Run ddev with no arguments to open the interactive dashboard, an overview of your projects and quick access to common actions:

$ ddev

Run the help command (or ddev -h) to see the actions you can take with the CLI:

$ ddev help

Use the describe command to see a project's parts and database connection details:

$ ddev describe

If you're done working on a project and want to shut it down without removing anything, use the stop command:

$ ddev stop

If you were just kicking the tires and you want to permanently delete the project and its resources without touching your code, run the delete command:

$ ddev delete

DDEV will remove everything it created for the project and have no memory of its existence.

To uninstall DDEV, first clean up its Docker bits and delete its files from your system:

$ ddev clean --all
$ ddev hostname --remove-inactive
$ rm -r ~/.ddev

Remove the ddev binary from the WSL2 distro:

$ sudo apt-get remove ddev ddev-wsl2

Lastly, remove DDEV from Windows by visiting Add or remove programs, finding “DDEV”, and choosing Uninstall. If you do not need the "DDEV" distro, you can also remove it by running wsl --unregister DDEV.

We’ll install Docker and DDEV with your package manager, as detailed in the Linux installation docs.

1/4Install Docker

2/4Install DDEV

$ sudo true
$ sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install -y curl
$ sudo install -m 0755 -d /etc/apt/keyrings
$ curl -fsSL https://pkg.ddev.com/apt/gpg.key | sudo tee /etc/apt/keyrings/ddev.asc > /dev/null
$ sudo chmod a+r /etc/apt/keyrings/ddev.asc
$ sudo rm -f /etc/apt/keyrings/ddev.gpg /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ddev.list
$ printf "Types: deb\nURIs: https://pkg.ddev.com/apt/\nSuites: *\nComponents: *\nSigned-By: /etc/apt/keyrings/ddev.asc\n" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ddev.sources >/dev/null
$ sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install -y ddev

$ sudo true
$ printf "[ddev]\nname=ddev\nbaseurl=https://pkg.ddev.com/yum/\ngpgcheck=0\nenabled=1\n" | sudo tee /etc/yum.repos.d/ddev.repo >/dev/null
$ sudo dnf install --refresh ddev

$ yay -S ddev-bin

$ curl -fsSL https://ddev.com/install.sh | bash

Confirm that you’ve now got DDEV installed: 🎉

$ ddev -v
ddev version v1.25.3

3/4Run mkcert -install

Running mkcert -install is a one-time operation. It allows your browser to trust the HTTPS/TLS certificates served by DDEV.

$ mkcert -install
Created a new local CA 💥
The local CA is now installed in the system trust store! ⚡️
The local CA is now installed in the Firefox and/or Chrome/Chromium trust store (requires browser restart)! 🦊

4/4Create a Project

Navigate to a project you’d like to spin up with DDEV:

$ cd ~/dev/my-project

Initialize the project by running the ddev config command:

$ ddev config

Start the project for the first time. You’ll use the same command to start it later, too!

$ ddev start

If it’s a Composer project, you may also need to run ddev composer install.

Now run the launch command to open your project in a browser:

$ ddev launch

Explore & Enjoy!

Take a peek at your project’s new .ddev/ directory. You can add this to your repo to share your DDEV config, edit .ddev/config.yaml to change project options, or even go about your business and pretend this folder doesn’t exist.

Run ddev with no arguments to open the interactive dashboard, an overview of your projects and quick access to common actions:

$ ddev

Run the help command (or ddev -h) to see the actions you can take with the CLI:

$ ddev help

Use the describe command to see a project’s parts and database connection details:

$ ddev describe

If you’re done working on a project and want to shut it down without removing anything, use the stop command:

$ ddev stop

If you were just kicking the tires and you want to permanently delete the project and its resources without touching your code, run the delete command:

$ ddev delete

DDEV will remove everything it created for the project and have no memory of its existence.

To uninstall DDEV, first clean up its Docker bits and delete its files from your system:

$ ddev clean --all
$ ddev hostname --remove-inactive
$ rm -r ~/.ddev

Then remove the ddev binary however you installed it:

$ sudo apt-get remove ddev

$ sudo dnf remove ddev

$ yay -R ddev-bin

$ sudo rm /usr/local/bin/ddev

1/2Launch a Provider & Install DDEV

1. Create a new codespace for your project or open an existing one.
2. Edit the project’s .devcontainer/devcontainer.json file:

   {
       "image": "mcr.microsoft.com/devcontainers/base:debian-12",
       "features": {
           "ghcr.io/devcontainers/features/docker-in-docker:2": {
               "version": "latest"
           },
           "ghcr.io/ddev/ddev/install-ddev:latest": {}
       }
   }

3. Save the file and rebuild the container by running VS Code’s “Codespaces: Rebuild Container” action. (⌘ + SHIFT + P on a Mac or CTRL + SHIFT + P on Windows, then search for “rebuild”.)

Confirm that you’ve now got DDEV installed: 🎉

→ ddev -v
ddev version v1.25.3

2/2Create a Project

Navigate to a project you’d like to spin up with DDEV:

→ cd ~/dev/my-project

Initialize the project by running the ddev config command:

→ ddev config

Start the project for the first time. You’ll use the same command to start it later, too!

→ ddev start

If it’s a Composer project, you may also need to run ddev composer install.

Now run the launch command to open your project in a browser:

→ ddev launch

Explore & Enjoy!

Take a peek at your project’s new .ddev/ directory. You can add this to your repo to share your DDEV config, edit .ddev/config.yaml to change project options, or even go about your business and pretend this folder doesn’t exist.

Run ddev with no arguments to open the interactive dashboard, an overview of your projects and quick access to common actions:

→ ddev

Run the help command (or ddev -h) to see the actions you can take with the CLI:

→ ddev help

Use the describe command to see a project’s parts and database connection details:

→ ddev describe

If you’re done working on a project and want to shut it down without removing anything, use the stop command:

→ ddev stop

If you were just kicking the tires and you want to permanently delete the project and its resources without touching your code, run the delete command:

→ ddev delete

DDEV will remove everything it created for the project and have no memory of its existence.