Merge pull request #3521 from jessica-mitchell/windows_install

Add Windows docker instructions for installation

Author: jessica-mitchell

doc/htmldoc/installation/docker_windows.rst

@@ -0,0 +1,61 @@
+.. _windows_docker:
+
+Install NEST on Windows with Docker
+===================================
+
+
+The NEST simulator does not officially support Windows, but there are several workarounds to make NEST work on this platform,
+including using Linux subsystems or Docker, the latter shown here.
+
+This is a tried and tested solution with minimal preparation;
+the setup will take approximately 20 minutes and requires a system restart.
+
+1.  Download `Docker Desktop <https://www.docker.com/products/docker-desktop/>`_ for your Windows system and follow the instructions to install
+    it.
+
+    You will have to create a user account and restart your system after installation.
+
+2.  Open Docker Desktop and in the search bar at the top type "NEST Simulator". You will find the most recent NEST build.
+
+    Select it and click "pull".
+    (This will show up as nest/nest-simulator with a drop-down menu that should automatically show the most recent, stable build.)
+
+3.  You will have to run NEST Simulator with an internal server so you can use it with Python.
+
+    Open a Windows console (type "cmd" in the search bar and press enter), and copy and paste this command into the console:
+
+    ``docker run -it -p 8888:8888 --name nest-jupyter nest/nest-simulator:3.8 /bin/bash``
+
+    (This is the command for version 3.8; change the version ID if neccessary)
+
+    Press enter and wait until the process is completed. You now have NEST running with an internal server.
+    Keep the console open for the next step.
+
+
+4.  NEST includes Jupyter for easy Python programming. To access this service, enter this command in the console:
+
+    ``jupyter notebook --ip=0.0.0.0 --no-browser --allow-root"``  and press enter
+
+    You will receive a longer response that includes a line similar to this:
+    ::
+
+       (...)Or copy and paste one of these URLs:
+        http://127.0.0.1:8888/?token=abc123...456
+
+    Copy the URL and paste it to your browser.
+
+    This should open Jupyter with NEST Simulator enabled.
+
+5.  After this initial setup, you can start NEST Simulator and jupyter-nest by
+
+    - running docker,
+    - navigating to "containers"
+    - clicking run on both "nest/nest_simulator:3.8" and "nest-jupyter"
+
+    .. note::
+
+     If the above steps to run NEST does not work, you can access it through the console
+
+     Enter: "docker start nest-jupyter" press enter
+     Enter: "docker exec -it nest-jupyter bash" press enter, stay in this window and
+     Enter: "jupyter notebook --ip=0.0.0.0 --no-browser --allow-root" press enter