Installing WSL 2

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.

Other versions for advanced users: wsl --list --online； wsl --install -d <dist-NAME>, e.g. wsl.exe --install --d Ubuntu-22.04

ref: OMG Ubuntu.co.uk

Change Distro / Set Default Distro for `wsl` & `bash` #

First, install a new distro (parallel to any old ones), e.g. 2204: wsl --install --d Ubuntu-22.04 Note: This may take 1~2 hours to install while showing 0.0%

Later: wsl --set-default Ubuntu-22.04 which takes effect immediately.

Install GUI #

NOT recommended !!! NOT for advanced users! sudo apt update && sudo apt install x11-apps

Debug #

cannot resovle domains #

Solution: disable auto-generation of resolv.conf by editing /etc/wsl.conf inside the WSL sys:

[network]
generateResolvConf = false

then shutdown WSL to restart WSL so this config could take effect by wsl.exe --shutdown.
Later, the /etc/resolv.conf could be modified as needed.

no network #

::=============================================================================
::FIX WSL2 NETWORKING IN WINDOWS 10
::=============================================================================
cmd as admin:
wsl --shutdown
netsh winsock reset
netsh int ip reset all
netsh winhttp reset proxy
ipconfig /flushdns
:: and restart windows

If does not work, do the following inside WSL before the above commands in Windows.

# Fix network issues
# Delete auto-generated files
[root@PC-NAME user]# rm /etc/resolv.conf || true
[root@PC-NAME user]# rm /etc/wsl.conf || true

# Enable changing /etc/resolv.conf
# Enable extended attributes on Windows drives
[root@PC-NAME user]# cat <<EOF > /etc/wsl.conf
[network]
generateResolvConf = false

[automount]
enabled = true
options = "metadata"
mountFsTab = false
EOF

# Use cn & google nameservers for DNS resolution
[root@PC-NAME user]# cat <<EOF > /etc/resolv.conf
nameserver 114.114.114.114
nameserver 8.8.4.4
EOF

ref: github