6. Post-installation tasks

Create the administrator, verify sandboxed compiles and persistence, and keep Ayakaleaf Pro running on Windows.

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Create the administrator and a first project

Open http://localhost:8080/launchpad in your Windows browser, create the first administrator account and log in. Then follow 6. Post-installation tasks of the Linux guide, using port 8080 in its example URLs.

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Verify compilation

A working login page does not prove that the separate compiler containers can access the WSL data directory. Create a blank project and compile this main.tex with pdfLaTeX:

\documentclass{article}
\begin{document}
Ayakaleaf Pro on Windows WSL 2.
\end{document}

The PDF preview should show the text. For the basic image, select TeX Live 2026 Basic in project settings if needed.

Select XeLaTeX and test:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{fontspec}
\begin{document}
Ayakaleaf WSL XeLaTeX sandbox.
\end{document}

Both examples work with basic. For Chinese documents, use an image containing ctex and the required fonts, such as full, before testing the following with XeLaTeX. Basic does not include them:

\documentclass{ctexart}
\begin{document}
你好，Ayakaleaf Pro。
\end{document}

To confirm sandbox use, run in Ubuntu while compiling:

docker ps -a --filter ancestor=ghcr.io/ayaka-notes/texlive-basic:2026.1
bin/logs -f clsi

Use your chosen image name in the filter. Short compiles may finish before docker ps runs; -a also shows stopped containers until cleanup. A compiler container should use that image and a /compile bind mount from the Toolkit’s WSL data directory. Application logs alone are not a substitute for checking the PDF.

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Verify persistence

In Ubuntu, from the Toolkit directory:

bin/stop
bin/start

Wait for the application, reopen the project from Windows and compile again. Your account, source and project files should still be there. The default live data is in ~/ayakaleaf-toolkit/data/ inside Ubuntu. Keep both config/ and data/; uninstalling or unregistering the Ubuntu distribution can delete them.

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Keep the instance available

There are three parts to keeping the instance running: Windows stays awake, Docker Desktop runs, and the containers restart with the engine.

In Docker Desktop Settings → General, turn on Start Docker Desktop when you sign in to your computer, see Docker Desktop settings. This starts Docker after login, not before login. After a Windows restart, sign in, wait for Docker Desktop to finish starting, open Ubuntu and check docker ps and the site.

Docker Desktop’s Resource Saver is separate from Windows sleep. It normally activates only when no containers are running; the running application, MongoDB and Redis prevent that idle condition. On WSL 2 it pauses the Docker engine rather than shutting down the shared WSL VM. Do not manually Pause Docker Desktop while serving users. You do not need to disable Resource Saver merely to keep this stack running; see Docker’s Resource Saver documentation.

The Toolkit services use restart: always. Verify the actual setting in Ubuntu:

docker inspect sharelatex mongo redis --format '{{.Name}} restart={{.HostConfig.RestartPolicy.Name}}'

Each service should report always. Once Docker runs, it can restart those existing containers without a new bin/up. A manually stopped container stays stopped until you start it or restart the engine; with always, an engine restart can start it again. See Docker’s restart policy behavior.

Action	Effect on Ayakaleaf
Close the Ubuntu terminal after bin/up -d	Containers run detached; the terminal is not their supervisor. Keep Docker Desktop and the WSL environment available
Close the Docker Dashboard window	The window can close while Docker Desktop continues in the system tray
Choose Quit Docker Desktop	Stops the engine and makes the site unavailable; open Docker Desktop again to recover
Run wsl --shutdown	Stops all WSL distributions and interrupts the Docker WSL backend; restart Docker Desktop and reopen Ubuntu
Sleep, hibernate or shut down Windows	The service is unavailable; keeping only the screen on or off does not change this
Run bin/stop	Stops the instance while retaining its data; use bin/start to resume

For long-running use on AC power, open Windows 11 Settings → System → Power & battery → Screen, sleep & hibernate timeouts (some versions show Power or Screen and sleep). Set the plugged-in sleep timeout to Never and disable automatic hibernation if configured. The display can still turn off. A laptop’s lid action is a separate setting; closing the lid can put it to sleep even with an idle sleep timeout of Never. See Windows power settings.

Do not run wsl --shutdown as routine cleanup while the site is in use. If a WSL settings change needs it, stop the instance first and plan an interruption. Windows can run the instance continuously with these settings. For a shared service that must survive logouts and unattended reboots, we recommend the Linux guide.

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Check recovery after restarting Docker Desktop

After saving work and allowing active compiles to finish, choose Restart Docker Desktop from Docker Desktop’s troubleshooting menu. Wait for the engine, then check in Ubuntu:

docker ps
curl -I http://localhost:8080/launchpad

Open the existing project in Windows and compile it again. Confirm the account and source still exist.

If you intentionally stopped the instance with bin/stop, use bin/start. If Docker is up but a service fails, read its logs rather than recreating the configuration. Windows Update, Docker updates and power loss can still interrupt a 24-hour installation; keep backups and check recovery after planned maintenance.

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Daily use

Start Docker Desktop in Windows. Open Ubuntu:

cd "$HOME/ayakaleaf-toolkit"

Task	Command
Start existing containers	bin/start
Stop containers and keep data	bin/stop
Apply configuration changes	bin/up -d
Check status	bin/docker-compose ps
Read startup logs	bin/docker-compose logs --tail=100 sharelatex
Read MongoDB logs	bin/docker-compose logs --tail=100 mongo
Read compiler logs	bin/logs -f clsi

bin/start does not apply configuration edits: use bin/up -d after changing config/. Follow Data and backups before upgrading, moving or removing the WSL distribution. Copying live MongoDB files while the database is writing is not a consistent backup.

Keep 127.0.0.1 for local use. Serving other computers also requires an intentional listen address, site URL, Windows firewall/network configuration and HTTPS; changing OVERLEAF_SITE_URL alone does not publish a port.

If something does not work, see Troubleshooting.