Windows Sub System

Installing WSL 2

2020-11-29. Category & Tags: WSL2, Windows Sub System, Docker

Tested on Windows 10.

Pre-requirements #

  • Windows 10 May 2020 (2004) // or older Windows 10 May 2019 (1903) / or Windows 10 November 2019 (1909)
  • A computer with Hyper-V Virtualization support

Steps Overview #

  • Enable WSL 2
  • Enable ‘Virtual Machine Platform’
  • Set WSL 2 as default
  • Install a Linux distro
  • Download the lateest kernel to update [ref]

Powershell CML for Windows 10 version 2004 and higher (Build 19041 and higher) or Windows 11 # 

wsl --install

Powershell CML for Win before Win-2004 (Build 19041) # 

dism.exe /online /enable-feature /featurename:Microsoft-Windows-Subsystem-Linux /all /norestart  # Enable WSL
dism.exe /online /enable-feature /featurename:VirtualMachinePlatform /all /norestart  # Enable ‘Virtual Machine Platform’
# Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName VirtualMachinePlatform -NoRestart  # for even older win10
wsl --list --verbose
# wsl --set-version <ubuntu-dist-NAME> 2    # for even older win10 # convert current if installed
wsl --set-default-version 2  # use WSL2 for future installations

Then install from Microsoft Store. Do NOT use VPN! Do NOT install the preview version, instead, install the version that matches “ubuntu-dist-NAME” given by wsl --list --verbose.

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