docker cp on wslc
docker cp is renamed on wslc 2.9.4.0: it moved to wslc container cp under wslc's noun-then-verb naming. wslc cp still runs too on this build -- see the note below for whether that overlap is guaranteed or just how the preview currently parses it.
| Docker command | docker cp |
|---|---|
| Status on wslc 2.9.4.0 | Renamed |
| wslc command | wslc container cp |
| Verified against | wslc 2.9.4.0, windows-2025 runner |
Measured detail. There is no top-level wslc cp. The noun form is required. Host paths use Windows syntax.
The wslc equivalent
# Docker
docker cp
# wslc
wslc container cpwslc container cp [OPTIONS] SOURCE DEST
Straight from wslc container cp --help on wslc 2.9.4.0 .
| Argument | Meaning |
|---|---|
source | Source: local path, CONTAINER:PATH, or '-' for stdin |
target | Destination: local path or CONTAINER:PATH |
| Flag | Meaning |
|---|---|
-a,--archive | Archive mode (accepted for Docker CLI compatibility) |
How we know
Confirmed by reading wslc --help output and, where the behaviour depends on execution rather than argument parsing, by running the command against wslc 2.9.4.0 on a Windows Server 2025 GitHub Actions runner. Unrecognized flags and subcommands fail loudly on wslc -- the parser answers Argument name was not recognized for the current command and exits non-zero -- so a typo is unlikely to be misread as support. The risk runs the other way: a Docker habit that happens to parse (like wslc ps still working) can mask a difference in what the flags underneath it do.
Claims on this site are re-checked by a scheduled workflow that runs the commands again on
a fresh Windows Server 2025 runner and fails when a documented behaviour stops matching
reality. wslc ships roughly every two weeks during the preview, so treat any page that
disagrees with your own machine as the page being stale, and check the version you are on
with wslc version.
Where this fits
This is one row of the full Docker to wslc cheat sheet,
which covers every command and every flag on a single page. If the workload you are
porting uses Docker Compose rather than bare docker invocations, start from
Compose key support instead -- docker cp rarely appears verbatim in a compose.yaml, and the key-level page maps YAML fields
directly to the flags shown above. For a whole script at once, paste it into the
command converter and get every line classified in the same pass.