WSL installation
Install WSL on Windows 10 - Microsoft Docs
There are two options available for installing Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL):
Simplified install (preview release) : wsl
--install
The wsl
--install simplified install command requires that you join the Windows
Insiders Program and install a preview build of Windows 10 (OS build 20262 or higher), but eliminates the need to follow the
manual install steps. All you need to do is open a command window with administrator privileges and run wsl
--install, after a restart you will be ready to use WSL.
Manual install : Follow the six steps listed below.
The manual install steps for WSL are listed below and can be used to install Linux on any version of Windows 10.
Simplified Installation for Windows Insiders
The installation process for Windows Subsystem for Linux has been significantly improved in the latest Windows Insiders preview
builds of Windows 10, replacing the manual steps below with a single command.
In order to use the wsl
--install simplified install command, you must:
Join the Windows
Insiders Program
Install a preview build of Windows 10 (OS build 20262 or higher).
Open a command line windows with Administrator privileges
Once those requirements are met, to install WSL:
Enter this command in the command line you've opened in Admin mode: wsl.exe
--install
Restart your machine
The first time you launch a newly installed Linux distribution, a console window will open and you'll be asked to wait for files to
de-compress and be stored on your PC. All future launches should take less than a second.
You will then need to create
a user account and password for your new Linux distribution .
CONGRATULATIONS! You've successfully installed and set
up a Linux distribution that is completely integrated with your Windows operating system!
The --install command performs the following actions:
Enables the optional WSL and Virtual Machine Platform components
Downloads and installs the latest Linux kernel
Sets WSL 2 as the default
Downloads and installs a Linux distribution (reboot may be required)
By default, the installed Linux distribution will be Ubuntu. This can be changed using wsl
--install -d <Distribution Name>. (Replacing <Distribution
Name> with the name of your desired distribution.) Additional Linux distributions may be added to your machine after the
initial install using the wsl
--install -d <Distribution Name> command.
To see a list of available Linux distributions, enter wsl
--list --online.
Manual Installation Steps
If you are not on a Windows Insiders build, the features required for WSL will need to be enabled manually following the steps
below.
Step 1 - Enable the Windows Subsystem for Linux
You must first enable the "Windows Subsystem for Linux" optional feature before installing any Linux distributions on Windows.
Open PowerShell as Administrator and run:
PowerShell
Copy
dism.exe /online /enable-feature /featurename:Microsoft-Windows-Subsystem-Linux /all /norestart
We recommend now moving on to step #2, updating to WSL 2, but if you wish to only install WSL 1, you can now restart your
machine and move on to Step
6 - Install your Linux distribution of choice . To update to WSL 2, wait
to restart your machine and move on to the next step.
Step 2 - Check requirements for running WSL 2
To update to WSL 2, you must be running Windows 10.
For x64 systems: Version 1903 or higher,
with Build 18362 or higher.
For ARM64 systems: Version 2004 or higher,
with Build 19041 or higher.
Builds lower than 18362 do not support WSL 2. Use the Windows
Update Assistant to update your version of Windows.
To check your version and build number, select Windows
logo key + R , type winver , select OK . Update
to the latest Windows version in the Settings menu.
Note
If you are running Windows 10 version 1903 or 1909, open "Settings" from your Windows menu, navigate to "Update & Security" and
select "Check for Updates". Your Build number must be 18362.1049+ or 18363.1049+, with the minor build # over .1049. Read more: WSL
2 Support is coming to Windows 10 Versions 1903 and 1909 . See the troubleshooting
instructions .
Step 3 - Enable Virtual Machine feature
Before installing WSL 2, you must enable the Virtual
Machine Platform optional feature. Your machine will require virtualization
capabilities to use this feature.
Open PowerShell as Administrator and run:
PowerShell
Copy
dism.exe /online /enable-feature /featurename:VirtualMachinePlatform /all /norestart
Restart your machine to complete the WSL
install and update to WSL 2.
Step 4 - Download the Linux kernel update package
Download the latest package:
Note
If you're using an ARM64 machine, please download the ARM64
package instead. If you're not sure what kind of machine you have, open Command Prompt or PowerShell and enter: systeminfo
| find "System Type". Caveat: On
non-English Windows versions, you might have to modify the search text, for example, in German it would be systeminfo
| find "Systemtyp".
Run the update package downloaded in the previous step. (Double-click to run - you will be prompted for elevated permissions,
select 'yes' to approve this installation.)
Once the installation is complete, move on to the next step - setting WSL 2 as your default version when installing new Linux
distributions. (Skip this step if you want your new Linux installs to be set to WSL 1).
Note
For more information, read the article changes
to updating the WSL2 Linux kernel , available on the Windows
Command Line Blog .
Step 5 - Set WSL 2 as your default version
Open PowerShell and run this command to set WSL 2 as the default version when installing a new Linux distribution:
PowerShell
Copy
wsl --set-default-version 2
Step 6 - Install your Linux distribution of choice
Open the Microsoft
Store and select your favorite Linux distribution.
The following links will open the Microsoft store page for each distribution:
From the distribution's page, select "Get".
The first time you launch a newly installed Linux distribution, a console window will open and you'll be asked to wait for a minute
or two for files to de-compress and be stored on your PC. All future launches should take less than a second.
You will then need to create
a user account and password for your new Linux distribution .
CONGRATULATIONS! You've successfully installed and set
up a Linux distribution that is completely integrated with your Windows operating system!
Install Windows Terminal (optional)
Windows Terminal enables multiple tabs (quickly switch between multiple Linux command lines, Windows Command Prompt, PowerShell,
Azure CLI, etc), create custom key bindings (shortcut keys for opening or closing tabs, copy+paste, etc.), use the search feature,
and custom themes (color schemes, font styles and sizes, background image/blur/transparency). Learn
more.
Install Windows Terminal .
Set your distribution version to WSL 1 or WSL 2
You can check the WSL version assigned to each of the Linux distributions you have installed by opening the PowerShell command line
and entering the command (only available in Windows
Build 18362 or higher ): wsl
-l -v
PowerShell
Copy
wsl --list --verbose
To set a distribution to be backed by either version of WSL please run:
PowerShell
Copy
wsl --set-version <distribution name> <versionNumber>
Make sure to replace <distribution
name> with the actual name of your distribution and <versionNumber> with
the number '1' or '2'. You can change back to WSL 1 at anytime by running the same command as above but replacing the '2' with a
'1'.
Note
The update from WSL 1 to WSL 2 may take several minutes to complete depending on the size of your targeted distribution. If you
are running an older (legacy) installation of WSL 1 from Windows 10 Anniversary Update or Creators Update, you may encounter an
update error. Follow these instructions to uninstall
and remove any legacy distributions .
If wsl
--set-default-version results as an invalid command, enter wsl
--help. If the --set-default-version is
not listed, it means that your OS doesn't support it and you need to update to version 1903, Build 18362 or higher. If you are on
Build 19041 for ARM64, this command may fail when using PowerShell in which case you can use a Command
Prompt instead to issue the wsl.exe command.
If you see this message after running the command: WSL
2 requires an update to its kernel component. For information please visit https://aka.ms/wsl2kernel. You still need to
install the MSI Linux kernel update package.
Additionally, if you want to make WSL 2 your default architecture you can do so with this command:
PowerShell
Copy
wsl --set-default-version 2
This will set the version of any new distribution installed to WSL 2.
Troubleshooting installation
Below are related errors and suggested fixes. Refer to the WSL
troubleshooting page for other common errors and their solutions.
Installation failed with error 0x80070003
The Windows Subsystem for Linux only runs on your system drive (usually this is your C: drive).
Make sure that distributions are stored on your system drive:
Open Settings -> **System --> Storage -> More
Storage Settings: Change where new content is saved
WslRegisterDistribution failed with error
0x8007019e
The Windows Subsystem for Linux optional component is not enabled:
Open Control Panel -> Programs
and Features -> Turn Windows Feature on
or off -> Check Windows Subsystem for
Linux or using the PowerShell cmdlet mentioned at the beginning of this article.
Installation failed with error 0x80070003 or error
0x80370102
Please make sure that virtualization is enabled inside of your computer's BIOS. The instructions on how to do this will vary
from computer to computer, and will most likely be under CPU related options.
WSL2 requires that your CPU supports the Second Level Address Translation (SLAT) feature, which was introduced in Intel
Nehalem processors (Intel Core 1st Generation) and AMD Opteron. Older CPUs (such as the Intel Core 2 Duo) will not be able to
run WSL2, even if the Virtual Machine Platform is successfully installed.
Error when trying to upgrade: Invalid
command line option: wsl --set-version Ubuntu 2
Enure that you have the Windows Subsystem for Linux enabled, and that you're using Windows Build version 18362 or higher. To
enable WSL run this command in a PowerShell prompt with admin privileges: Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature
-Online -FeatureName Microsoft-Windows-Subsystem-Linux.
The requested operation could not be completed due
to a virtual disk system limitation. Virtual hard disk files must be uncompressed and unencrypted and must not be sparse.
Deselect "Compress contents" (as well as "Encrypt contents" if that's checked) by opening the profile folder for your Linux
distribution. It should be located in a folder on your Windows file system, something like: USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Packages\CanonicalGroupLimited...
In this Linux distro profile, there should be a LocalState folder. Right-click this folder to display a menu of options.
Select Properties > Advanced and then ensure that the "Compress contents to save disk space" and "Encrypt contents to secure
data" checkboxes are unselected (not checked). If you are asked whether to apply this to just to the current folder or to all
subfolders and files, select "just this folder" because you are only clearing the compress flag. After this, the wsl
--set-version command should work.
Note
In my case, the LocalState folder for my Ubuntu 18.04 distribution was located at
C:\Users<my-user-name>\AppData\Local\Packages\CanonicalGroupLimited.Ubuntu18.04onWindows_79rhkp1fndgsc
Check WSL
Docs GitHub thread #4103 where this issue is being tracked for updated information.
The term 'wsl' is not recognized as the name of a
cmdlet, function, script file, or operable program.
Error: This update only applies to machines with
the Windows Subsystem for Linux.
To install the Linux kernel update MSI package, WSL is required and should be enabled first. If it fails, it you will see the
message: This
update only applies to machines with the Windows Subsystem for Linux.
There are three possible reason you see this message:
You are still in old version of Windows which doesn't support WSL 2. See step #2 for version requirements and links to update.
WSL is not enabled. You will need to return to step #1 and ensure that the optional WSL feature is enabled on your machine.
After you enabled WSL, a reboot is required for it to take effect, reboot your machine and try again.
Error: WSL 2 requires an update to its kernel
component. For information please visit https://aka.ms/wsl2kernel .
If the Linux kernel package is missing in the %SystemRoot%\system32\lxss\tools folder, you will encounter this error. Resolve
it by installing the Linux kernel update MSI package in step #4 of these installation instructions. You may need to uninstall
the MSI from 'Add
or Remove Programs' , and install it again.
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