Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL)

Setup

Open an elevated terminal / command prompt

Enable WSL Feature

Enable WSL:

DISM: dism.exe /online /enable-feature /featurename:Microsoft-Windows-Subsystem-Linux /all /norestart PowerShell: Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -NoRestart -All -FeatureName Microsoft-Windows-Subsystem-Linux

You can query if the state of the optional WSL feature is enabled or disabled: DISM: dism.exe /online /get-featureinfo /featurename:Microsoft-Windows-Subsystem-Linux /all /norestart PowerShell: Get-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName Microsoft-Windows-Subsystem-Linux

Enable Virtual Machine Platform

PowerShell: Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -NoRestart -All -FeatureName VirtualMachinePlatform DISM: dism.exe /online /enable-feature /featurename:VirtualMachinePlatform /all /norestart

PowerShell: Get-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName VirtualMachinePlatform

Restart

If you saw restart was needed when you ran either of the previous commands, restart the machine, or do so now to be safe.

Update WSL2

❯ wsl --update
Checking for updates...
Downloading updates...
Installing updates...
This change will take effect on the next full restart of WSL. To force a restart, please run 'wsl --shutdown'.
Kernel version: 5.10.60.1
❯ wsl --shutdown

wsl –set-default-version 2

Install Ubuntu

Install Ubuntu from the Microsoft Store

Launch Ubuntu to finish installing, and create your username and password.

Verify

❯ wsl --list --verbose
  NAME      STATE           VERSION
* Ubuntu    Stopped         2

Converting from WSL1 to WSL2

If you installed Ubuntu before WSL2 was installed or set as the default subsystem, then you will need to convert your distribution to WSL2.

❯ wsl --set-default-version 2 
❯ wsl --set-version Ubuntu 2 

Conversion in progress, this may take a few minutes... 

For information on key differences with WSL 2 please visit https://aka.ms/wsl2 

Conversion complete.

Configure WSL RAM & CPU

It's a good idea to set global limits on WSL memory usage and CPU usage

code ~/.wslconfig

[wsl2]

# Limits VM memory to 4 GB
memory=4GB

# Sets the VM to use two virtual processors
processors=2

# Limits swap file disk usage to 8GB
swap=8GB

Save and exit.