Edit (2021) – This answer is for the old Docker Toolbox, not Docker Desktop.
When running docker ps and receiving:
An error occurred trying to connect: Get http://%2F%2F.%2Fpipe%2Fdocker_engine/v1.24/containers/json: open //./pipe/docker_engine: The system cannot find the file specified.
The following environment properties need to be set:
set DOCKER_CERT_PATH=%USERPROFILE%\.docker\machine\machines\default
set DOCKER_HOST=tcp://192.168.99.100:2376
set DOCKER_MACHINE_NAME=default
set DOCKER_TLS_VERIFY=1
This is assuming the %USERPROFILE%\.docker\machine\machines\default is default path where the cert.pem, key.pem, ca-key.pem, and ca.pem docker files are; the virtual machine name’s (created by docker-machine create) is default and Virtual Box DHCP Server’s lower bound (found under VirtualBox->File->Preferences->Network->Host-only Networks->hover mouse on VirtualBox Host-Only Ethernet Adapter) is 192.168.99.100 and no other VM is running in VirtualBox.