This blog post is a summary of my own experience for Sitecore Experience Platform 10.1 Update 2 (e.g Sitecore 10.1.2) installation on my machine with the following install guide:

• Installation Guide for Developer Workstation with Containers (Thanks Sitecore team!)

Prerequisites

• Windows 10 version 1809 or higher
• >= 16 Gb of memory
• Sitecore 10 license file
• the latest Docker Desktop

Step-by-step Guide

1. ensure to set up your docker environment by following https://containers.doc.sitecore.com/docs/environment-setup
2. try to bypass some common network issues by setting DNS servers in the Docker engine configuration:
   • open Docker Desktop and then select Settings => Docker Engine
   • ensure the value of the "dns" key is set to ["8.8.8.8"] if any
   • click Apply & Restart button
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3. to avoid any conflicts, we should ensure the following ports are not being used by another process: 443, 8079, 8984, and 14330 (Page 6 in Installation Guide for Developer Workstation with Containers)
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   • stop IIS
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   • stop windows services if any
   • quit Skype for sure
4. create a new folder D:\sc1012_install
5. download and unzip Container Deployment Package
6. correct the Sitecore version 10.1.2-ltsc2019 in D:\sc1012_install\SitecoreContainerDeployment.10.1.2.006578.651\compose\ltsc2019\xp0\.evn
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7. create all certificates and initialize the environment file of Windows Server Core version ltsc2019 and XP Single topology (xp0)
   • download init.ps1 and then put it into D:\sc1012_install\SitecoreContainerDeployment.10.1.2.006578.651\compose\ltsc2019\xp0
     • Note: the original file is of Sitecore Docker Examples
   • edit “HostName” parameter and be able to change other default values as well
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   • ensure that this file C:\license\license.xml is available, otherwise will see this error message later License file is not found. or “License not found at ‘C:\license\license.xml’”
   • open Windows PowerShell (run as administrator)
   • change directory to D:\sc1012_install\SitecoreContainerDeployment.10.1.2.006578.651\compose\ltsc2019\xp0
   • execute .\init.ps1 -LicenseXmlPath C:\license\license.xml
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8. pull Sitecore docker images
   • open Windows PowerShell (run as administrator)
   • change directory to D:\sc1012_install\SitecoreContainerDeployment.10.1.2.006578.651\compose\ltsc2019\xp0
   • execute docker-compose pull
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9. spin up the container-based Sitecore instances
   • open Windows PowerShell (run as administrator)
   • change directory to D:\sc1012_install\SitecoreContainerDeployment.10.1.2.006578.651\compose\ltsc2019\xp0
   • execute docker-compose up --d
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10. open a browser, navigate to https://cm.sc1012localhost/, we would see the default Sitecore page and a valid SSL certificate
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11. open a browser, navigate to https://cm.sc1012.localhost/sitecore, we should be able to login with the admin user and b password by default
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12. DON’T FORGET to perform the following thing as well (Page 12 in Installation Guide for Developer Workstation with Containers)
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Notes

1. for stopping the Sitecore instances without losing the changes
   • open Windows PowerShell (run as administrator)
   • change directory to D:\sc1012_install\SitecoreContainerDeployment.10.1.2.006578.651\compose\ltsc2019\xp0
   • execute  docker-compose stop
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   • start the Sitecore instances again by executing  docker-compose start
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2. for data cleanup
   • download clean.ps1 and then put it into D:\sc1012_install\SitecoreContainerDeployment.10.1.2.006578.651\compose\ltsc2019\xp0
     • Note: the original file is of Sitecore Docker Examples 
   • open Windows PowerShell (run as administrator)
   • change directory to D:\sc1012_install\SitecoreContainerDeployment.10.1.2.006578.651\compose\ltsc2019\xp0
   • execute  docker-compose down
   • execute  .\clean
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Happy Sitecore 10.1 Update 2 Installation!