DockerAutoStartSubscriber.cs

// A crude Event subscriber that tries to start docker desktop automatically if it's not running.
// use it with `builder.Services.AddEventingSubscriber<DockerAutoStartSubscriber>();`

internal class DockerAutoStartSubscriber : IDistributedApplicationEventingSubscriber
{
   public Task SubscribeAsync(IDistributedApplicationEventing eventing, DistributedApplicationExecutionContext executionContext, CancellationToken cancellationToken)
   {
      eventing.Subscribe<BeforeStartEvent>((evt, ct) =>
      {
         if (evt.Model.Resources.Where(x => x.IsContainer()).Any())
         {
            _ = Task.Run(WatchForRuntimeUnavaialble, ct);
         }

         return Task.CompletedTask;

         async Task WatchForRuntimeUnavaialble()
         {
            var resourceNotificationService = evt.Services.GetRequiredService<ResourceNotificationService>();
            await foreach (var update in resourceNotificationService.WatchAsync(ct))
            {
               if (!update.Resource.IsContainer())
               {
                  continue;
               }

               if (update.Snapshot.State == KnownResourceStates.Running || KnownResourceStates.TerminalStates.Contains(update.Snapshot.State?.Text))
               {
                  // If a container reaches any of these states, the runtime is available
                  // Stop watching
                  return;
               }

               if (update.Snapshot.State == KnownResourceStates.RuntimeUnhealthy)
               {
                  var logger = evt.Services.GetRequiredService<ILogger<DockerAutoStartSubscriber>>();
                  logger.LogDebug("Trying to auto start docker");
                  _ = Task.Run(async () =>
                  {
                     try
                     {
                        using var process = Process.Start(new ProcessStartInfo
                        {
                           FileName = "docker",
                           ArgumentList = { "desktop", "start", "--detach" },
                           CreateNoWindow = true,
                           WindowStyle = ProcessWindowStyle.Hidden,
                           UseShellExecute = true
                        });

                        if (process == null)
                        {
                           return;
                        }

                        await process.WaitForExitAsync(ct);
                        if (process.ExitCode == 0)
                        {
                           logger.LogInformation("Starting docker...");
                        }
                        else
                        {
                           logger.LogWarning("Attempt to auto start docker failed with ExitCode {ExitCode}", process.ExitCode);
                        }
                     }
                     catch (Exception ex)
                     {
                        logger.LogWarning(ex, "Unable to start docker automatically. Please start it manually.");
                     }

                  }, ct);

                  return;
               }
            }
         }
      });
      return Task.CompletedTask;
   }
}