docker image load does not support `xz` specifically in Windows Containers mode

[sparrowt]

Description

I was pleasantly surprised to discover recently that docker image load supports compressed tar input including xz
https://docs.docker.com/reference/cli/docker/image/load/

Load an image or repository from a tar archive (even if compressed with gzip, bzip2, xz or zstd) from a file or STDIN. It restores both images and tags.

This works well when in "linux containers" mode, to load an image (previously saved with docker save & then xz'd).

Unfortunately it does not work in "windows containers" mode, I just see this:

> docker image load -i myimage.tar.xz

exec: "xz": executable file not found in %PATH%

Reproduce

1. switch to windows containers mode
2. run docker image load -i myimage.tar.xz

Expected behavior

I expect to see Loaded image: myimage:mytag but instead it says exec: "xz": executable file not found in %PATH%

docker version

Client:
 Version:           29.2.0
 API version:       1.53
 Go version:        go1.25.6
 Git commit:        0b9d198
 Built:             Mon Jan 26 19:28:56 2026
 OS/Arch:           windows/amd64
 Context:           desktop-windows

Server: Docker Desktop 4.59.0 (217644)
 Engine:
  Version:          29.2.0
  API version:      1.53 (minimum version 1.44)
  Go version:       go1.25.6
  Git commit:       9c623849
  Built:            Mon Jan 26 19:25:53 2026
  OS/Arch:          windows/amd64
  Experimental:     false

docker info

Client:
 Version:    29.2.0
 Context:    desktop-windows
 Debug Mode: false
 Plugins:
  ai: Docker AI Agent - Ask Gordon (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v1.17.2
    Path:     C:\Program Files\Docker\cli-plugins\docker-ai.exe
  buildx: Docker Buildx (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v0.31.1-desktop.1
    Path:     C:\Program Files\Docker\cli-plugins\docker-buildx.exe
  compose: Docker Compose (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v5.0.2
    Path:     C:\Program Files\Docker\cli-plugins\docker-compose.exe
  debug: Get a shell into any image or container (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  0.0.47
    Path:     C:\Program Files\Docker\cli-plugins\docker-debug.exe
  desktop: Docker Desktop commands (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v0.2.0
    Path:     C:\Program Files\Docker\cli-plugins\docker-desktop.exe
  extension: Manages Docker extensions (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v0.2.31
    Path:     C:\Program Files\Docker\cli-plugins\docker-extension.exe
  init: Creates Docker-related starter files for your project (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v1.4.0
    Path:     C:\Program Files\Docker\cli-plugins\docker-init.exe
  mcp: Docker MCP Plugin (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v0.37.0
    Path:     C:\Program Files\Docker\cli-plugins\docker-mcp.exe
  model: Docker Model Runner (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v1.0.8
    Path:     C:\Program Files\Docker\cli-plugins\docker-model.exe
  offload: Docker Offload (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v0.5.41
    Path:     C:\Program Files\Docker\cli-plugins\docker-offload.exe
  pass: Docker Pass Secrets Manager Plugin (beta) (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v0.0.24
    Path:     C:\Program Files\Docker\cli-plugins\docker-pass.exe
  sandbox: Docker Sandbox (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v0.10.1
    Path:     C:\Program Files\Docker\cli-plugins\docker-sandbox.exe
  sbom: View the packaged-based Software Bill Of Materials (SBOM) for an image (Anchore Inc.)
    Version:  0.6.0
    Path:     C:\Program Files\Docker\cli-plugins\docker-sbom.exe
  scout: Docker Scout (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v1.19.0
    Path:     C:\Program Files\Docker\cli-plugins\docker-scout.exe

Server:
 Containers: 0
  Running: 0
  Paused: 0
  Stopped: 0
 Images: 39
 Server Version: 29.2.0
 Storage Driver: windowsfilter
  Windows:
 Logging Driver: json-file
 Plugins:
  Volume: local
  Network: ics internal l2bridge l2tunnel nat null overlay private transparent
  Log: awslogs etwlogs fluentd gcplogs gelf json-file local splunk syslog
 CDI spec directories:
  /etc/cdi
  /var/run/cdi
 Swarm: inactive
 Default Isolation: hyperv
 Kernel Version: 10.0 26200 (26100.1.amd64fre.ge_release.240331-1435)
 Operating System: Microsoft Windows Version 25H2 (OS Build 26200.7628)
 OSType: windows
 Architecture: x86_64
 CPUs: 20
 Total Memory: 95.43GiB
 Name: my-hostname
 ID: e501fa71-f5b0-4c9d-84dd-f462b89820e9
 Docker Root Dir: C:\ProgramData\Docker
 Debug Mode: false
 Labels:
  com.docker.desktop.address=npipe://\\.\pipe\docker_cli
 Experimental: false
 Insecure Registries:
  ::1/128
  127.0.0.0/8
 Live Restore Enabled: false
 Product License: Community Engine

Diagnostics ID

6189F7DB-7300-4002-852C-EB7E4BC00871/20260205110924

Additional Info

May be irrelevant but I'm on a recent enough windows (25H2) that has native xz support in the built-in windows tar.exe so for example this command works tar -xJf myimage.tar.xz

[sparrowt]

In the meantime this is a workaround if you can find an xz binary (e.g. one comes with Git for Windows)

& "C:\Program Files\Git\mingw64\bin\xz.exe" -dc myimage.tar.xz | docker load

(piping tar -xJf myimage.tar.xz | docker load doesn't work: docker load expects the uncompressed tar not its extracted contents)

[newTam]

Application Error
We've reported this to our error tracker.

Cannot read properties of undefined (reading 'x')