<p>I can't seem to figure out why a pod as simple as</p>

<pre><code>apiVersion: v1
kind: Pod
metadata:
  name: win-test
spec:
  containers:
    - name: shell
      image: "mcr.microsoft.com/windows/servercore:1809"
      command:
        - powershell
      args:
        - "Start-Sleep"
        - "999999"
      imagePullPolicy: IfNotPresent
  nodeSelector:
    kubernetes.io/os: windows
</code></pre>

<p>fails to start due to </p>

<p><code>
failed to start container "4f4e02205101779ffef6e6bad6f7bc8d94da1dafa4173de5b87bb3a98508c776": Error response from daemon: CreateComputeSystem 4f4e02205101779ffef6e6bad6f7bc8d94da1dafa4173de5b87bb3a98508c776: The system cannot find the file specified. (extra info: {"SystemType":"Container","Name":"4f4e02205101779ffef6e6bad6f7bc8d94da1dafa4173de5b87bb3a98508c776","Owner":"docker","VolumePath":"\\\\?\\Volume{852ddcc4-3819-442f-8748-ab95850656ee}","IgnoreFlushesDuringBoot":true,"LayerFolderPath":"C:\\ProgramData\\docker\\windowsfilter\\4f4e02205101779ffef6e6bad6f7bc8d94da1dafa4173de5b87bb3a98508c776","Layers":[{"ID":"f19b83e5-b168-56b9-aadd-5aa5ded15656","Path":"C:\\ProgramData\\docker\\windowsfilter\\a2c514d945fb21b87e5188e8df2ac52d95d727e2c9081a526719b1a0cc504403"},{"ID":"e3aef991-6354-522e-8f9e-f68a75bbf653","Path":"C:\\ProgramData\\docker\\windowsfilter\\8a82b1f3ce35668195c9f27a15736f0b1c20cd3fcb1f99341ec56db5ce7775f1"}],"ProcessorWeight":5000,"HostName":"win-test","MappedDirectories":[{"HostPath":"c:\\var\\lib\\kubelet\\pods\\87884b53-b09b-4ec3-87e6-6cec2e1c9d43\\volumes\\kubernetes.io~secret\\default-token-nk777","ContainerPath":"c:\\var\\run\\secrets\\kubernetes.io\\serviceaccount","ReadOnly":true,"BandwidthMaximum":0,"IOPSMaximum":0,"CreateInUtilityVM":false}],"HvPartition":false,"NetworkSharedContainerName":"b84c2337fa12b3d9f7228bba3c7d0c0a321270df6c693da0bb4b08e35366b6ea"}): RunContainerError
</code></p>

<p>I'm expecting the container in the pod to start a powershell which then lives for 999999 seconds before the container succeeds.</p>

<p>I'm using a GKE Beta Cluster 1.16.4-gke.22.</p>

<p><strong>TL;DR</strong></p>

<p>just switch the container image version to newer one, 1903:</p>

<pre><code>"mcr.microsoft.com/windows/servercore:1903"
</code></pre>

<p><strong>Longer story:</strong></p>

<p>Your container image version must match with container host version, which is not in your  case (please read the principales that describe it on MS sites, <a href="https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/virtualization/windowscontainers/deploy-containers/version-compatibility?tabs=windows-server-1909%2Cwindows-10-1909#matching-container-host-version-with-container-image-versions" rel="nofollow noreferrer">here</a>, including practical examples)</p>

<p>Currently you are trying to run container image with OS Version: <code>10.0.17763.*</code> on top of container host with OS Version: <code>10.0.18363.*</code> - I assume your Windows worker nodes are based on windows-server-1909 VM image. </p>

<p>Please check <a href="https://learn.microsoft.com/pl-pl/windows-server/get-started/windows-server-release-info#windows-server-current-versions-by-servicing-option" rel="nofollow noreferrer">here</a> for general OS Version/OS Build mapping of current Windows Server versions. </p>

<p>If you really need to run this specific container image version (1809) of MS Server Core, spin up another worker nodes basing on older (matching) VM image version.</p>
