How to Install Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL2) on Windows 10?

Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) is an awesome feature of Windows 10. No more VMware or Oracle VirtualBox is required to run Linux on Windows. WSL is faster and less resource consuming, zero or less configuration compared to any other traditional Virtual Machines (VM). Installation and setup of Linux Distribution is lightning-fast. Because of seamless integration between Windows Host OS and Linux Guest OS, no separate SSH client (e.g. Putty) or SCP client (e.g. WinSCP) is required. Docker can run directly inside of WSL2 (a full Linux Kernel built by Microsoft). What else do we, developers need!

Prerequisite

For WSL2, Windows 10 has to be on

Version 1903 or higher with Build 18362 or higher for x64 systems.
Version 2004 or higher with Build 19041 or higher for ARM64 systems.

In case, if you are wondering how to verify this,
Open Windows Run command (Windows logo key + R), type winver and click "OK" button".

or, open Windows command prompt and type ver

c:\>ver
Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.18363.1679]

Enable Windows Optional Feature

Next, we'll turn on following two windows feature

Windows Subsystem for Linux
Virtual Machine Platform

We can do it in two ways:
Option#1:

Open Windows Run command (Windows logo key + R)
Type optionalfeatures
Click "OK" button".
Select checkboxes for Windows Subsystem for Linux and Virtual Machine Platform features.
Click "OK" button to apply changes.
Once done, "Windows needs to reboot your PC to finish installing the requested changes". So, click "Restart now" button.

Option#2:

Open Windows PowerShell in "Run as Administrator".
Execute following command

PS C:\> Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName Microsoft-Windows-Subsystem-Linux, VirtualMachinePlatform
Do you want to restart the computer to complete this operation now?
[Y] Yes  [N] No  [?] Help (default is “Y”): Y

To apply this change, you need to restart the system. Therefore, enter "Y" when you will be asked to restart.

Reference: Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature

Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature
      -FeatureName <String[]>
      [-PackageName <String>]
      [-All]
      [-LimitAccess]
      [-Source <String[]>]
      [-NoRestart]
      [-Online]
      [-WindowsDirectory <String>]
      [-SystemDrive <String>]
      [-LogPath <String>]
      [-ScratchDirectory <String>]
      [-LogLevel <LogLevel>]
      [<CommonParameters>]
Description:

The Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature cmdlet enables or restores an optional feature in a Windows image.

Use the Online parameter to specify the running operating system on your local computer, or use the Path parameter to specify the location of a mounted Windows image.

The FeatureName parameter specifies the feature to add. You can specify more than one feature in the same package. Separate feature names with a comma.

Notes:
Get-WindowsOptionalFeature cmdlet gives all the features availble in the running operating system.

PS C:\> Get-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online FeatureName : Printing-PrintToPDFServices-Features State : Enabled FeatureName : Printing-XPSServices-Features State : Enabled FeatureName : TelnetClient State : Disabled FeatureName : TFTP State : Disabled FeatureName : LegacyComponents State : Disabled FeatureName : DirectPlay State : Disabled FeatureName : Printing-Foundation-Features State : Enabled FeatureName : Printing-Foundation-InternetPrinting-Client State : Enabled FeatureName : Printing-Foundation-LPDPrintService State : Disabled FeatureName : Printing-Foundation-LPRPortMonitor State : Disabled FeatureName : SimpleTCP State : Disabled FeatureName : Windows-Identity-Foundation State : Disabled FeatureName : NetFx3 State : DisabledWithPayloadRemoved FeatureName : WCF-HTTP-Activation State : Disabled FeatureName : WCF-NonHTTP-Activation State : Disabled FeatureName : IIS-WebServerRole State : Disabled FeatureName : IIS-WebServer State : Disabled FeatureName : IIS-CommonHttpFeatures State : Disabled FeatureName : IIS-HttpErrors State : Disabled FeatureName : IIS-HttpRedirect State : Disabled FeatureName : IIS-ApplicationDevelopment State : Disabled FeatureName : IIS-Security State : Disabled FeatureName : IIS-RequestFiltering State : Disabled FeatureName : IIS-NetFxExtensibility State : Disabled FeatureName : IIS-NetFxExtensibility45 State : Disabled FeatureName : IIS-HealthAndDiagnostics State : Disabled FeatureName : IIS-HttpLogging State : Disabled FeatureName : IIS-LoggingLibraries State : Disabled FeatureName : IIS-RequestMonitor State : Disabled FeatureName : IIS-HttpTracing State : Disabled FeatureName : IIS-URLAuthorization State : Disabled FeatureName : IIS-IPSecurity State : Disabled FeatureName : IIS-Performance State : Disabled FeatureName : IIS-HttpCompressionDynamic State : Disabled FeatureName : IIS-WebServerManagementTools State : Disabled FeatureName : IIS-ManagementScriptingTools State : Disabled FeatureName : IIS-IIS6ManagementCompatibility State : Disabled FeatureName : IIS-Metabase State : Disabled FeatureName : WAS-WindowsActivationService State : Disabled FeatureName : WAS-ProcessModel State : Disabled FeatureName : WAS-NetFxEnvironment State : Disabled FeatureName : WAS-ConfigurationAPI State : Disabled FeatureName : IIS-HostableWebCore State : Disabled FeatureName : WCF-Services45 State : Enabled FeatureName : WCF-HTTP-Activation45 State : Disabled FeatureName : WCF-TCP-Activation45 State : Disabled FeatureName : WCF-Pipe-Activation45 State : Disabled FeatureName : WCF-MSMQ-Activation45 State : Disabled FeatureName : WCF-TCP-PortSharing45 State : Enabled FeatureName : IIS-StaticContent State : Disabled FeatureName : IIS-DefaultDocument State : Disabled FeatureName : IIS-DirectoryBrowsing State : Disabled FeatureName : IIS-WebDAV State : Disabled FeatureName : IIS-WebSockets State : Disabled FeatureName : IIS-ApplicationInit State : Disabled FeatureName : IIS-ASPNET State : Disabled FeatureName : IIS-ASPNET45 State : Disabled FeatureName : IIS-ASP State : Disabled FeatureName : IIS-CGI State : Disabled FeatureName : IIS-ISAPIExtensions State : Disabled FeatureName : IIS-ISAPIFilter State : Disabled FeatureName : IIS-ServerSideIncludes State : Disabled FeatureName : IIS-CustomLogging State : Disabled FeatureName : IIS-BasicAuthentication State : Disabled FeatureName : IIS-HttpCompressionStatic State : Disabled FeatureName : IIS-ManagementConsole State : Disabled FeatureName : IIS-ManagementService State : Disabled FeatureName : IIS-WMICompatibility State : Disabled FeatureName : IIS-LegacyScripts State : Disabled FeatureName : IIS-LegacySnapIn State : Disabled FeatureName : IIS-FTPServer State : Disabled FeatureName : IIS-FTPSvc State : Disabled FeatureName : IIS-FTPExtensibility State : Disabled FeatureName : MSMQ-Container State : Disabled FeatureName : MSMQ-DCOMProxy State : Disabled FeatureName : MSMQ-Server State : Disabled FeatureName : MSMQ-ADIntegration State : Disabled FeatureName : MSMQ-HTTP State : Disabled FeatureName : MSMQ-Multicast State : Disabled FeatureName : MSMQ-Triggers State : Disabled FeatureName : IIS-CertProvider State : Disabled FeatureName : IIS-WindowsAuthentication State : Disabled FeatureName : IIS-DigestAuthentication State : Disabled FeatureName : IIS-ClientCertificateMappingAuthentication State : Disabled FeatureName : IIS-IISCertificateMappingAuthentication State : Disabled FeatureName : IIS-ODBCLogging State : Disabled FeatureName : MediaPlayback State : Enabled FeatureName : WindowsMediaPlayer State : Enabled FeatureName : DataCenterBridging State : Disabled FeatureName : SmbDirect State : Enabled FeatureName : HostGuardian State : Disabled FeatureName : SMB1Protocol-Deprecation State : Disabled FeatureName : MSRDC-Infrastructure State : Enabled FeatureName : TIFFIFilter State : Disabled FeatureName : NetFx4-AdvSrvs State : Enabled FeatureName : NetFx4Extended-ASPNET45 State : Disabled FeatureName : MultiPoint-Connector State : Disabled FeatureName : MultiPoint-Connector-Services State : Disabled FeatureName : MultiPoint-Tools State : Disabled FeatureName : Windows-Defender-Default-Definitions State : Disabled FeatureName : SearchEngine-Client-Package State : Enabled FeatureName : MicrosoftWindowsPowerShellV2Root State : Enabled FeatureName : MicrosoftWindowsPowerShellV2 State : Enabled FeatureName : Client-DeviceLockdown State : Disabled FeatureName : Client-EmbeddedShellLauncher State : Disabled FeatureName : Client-EmbeddedBootExp State : Disabled FeatureName : Client-EmbeddedLogon State : Disabled FeatureName : Client-KeyboardFilter State : Disabled FeatureName : Client-UnifiedWriteFilter State : Disabled FeatureName : AppServerClient State : Disabled FeatureName : WorkFolders-Client State : Enabled FeatureName : Client-ProjFS State : Disabled FeatureName : SMB1Protocol State : Disabled FeatureName : SMB1Protocol-Client State : Disabled FeatureName : SMB1Protocol-Server State : Disabled FeatureName : Internet-Explorer-Optional-amd64 State : Enabled FeatureName : Microsoft-Windows-Subsystem-Linux State : Disabled FeatureName : HypervisorPlatform State : Disabled FeatureName : VirtualMachinePlatform State : Disabled FeatureName : Containers-DisposableClientVM State : Enabled FeatureName : Microsoft-Hyper-V-All State : Disabled FeatureName : Microsoft-Hyper-V State : Disabled FeatureName : Microsoft-Hyper-V-Tools-All State : Disabled FeatureName : Microsoft-Hyper-V-Management-PowerShell State : Disabled FeatureName : Microsoft-Hyper-V-Hypervisor State : Disabled FeatureName : Microsoft-Hyper-V-Services State : Disabled FeatureName : Microsoft-Hyper-V-Management-Clients State : Disabled FeatureName : DirectoryServices-ADAM-Client State : Disabled FeatureName : Windows-Defender-ApplicationGuard State : Disabled FeatureName : ServicesForNFS-ClientOnly State : Disabled FeatureName : ClientForNFS-Infrastructure State : Disabled FeatureName : NFS-Administration State : Disabled

FeatureName : Containers State : Disabled

Download and Install Linux Kernel update package

Based on your System type download corresponding Linux Kernel update package.

Installation Steps:

Double click to run the downloaded Windows Installer Package.
In User Access Control Wizard, click "Yes" when it will ask "Do you want to allow this app to make changes to your device?"
Click "Finish" button to complete.

Set WSL default version to 2 (WSL2)

Run the below command in Windows Command Prompt or Windows PowerShell to change the default installation version for new Linux distribution.

C:\Users\Abhijit>wsl  --set-default-version 2
For information on key differences with WSL 2 please visit https://aka.ms/wsl2
The operation completed successfully.

Install Linux Distribution

Finally, we are good to install the preferred Linux distribution. We can do it in multiple ways.

Option#1:

Run the following command in Windows Command Prompt or Windows PowerShell to display a list of available distributions for installation with wsl --install

C:\Users\Abhijit>wsl --list --online The following is a list of valid distributions that can be installed. Install using 'wsl --install -d <Distro>'.

NAME FRIENDLY NAME Ubuntu Ubuntu Debian Debian GNU/Linux kali-linux Kali Linux Rolling openSUSE-42 openSUSE Leap 42 SLES-12 SUSE Linux Enterprise Server v12 Ubuntu-16.04 Ubuntu 16.04 LTS Ubuntu-18.04 Ubuntu 18.04 LTS Ubuntu-20.04 Ubuntu 20.04 LTS

Now, pass the desired distribution name while running wsl --install

C:\Users\Abhimun>wsl --install --distribution Ubuntu-20.04
Downloading: Ubuntu 20.04 LTS
Installing: Ubuntu 20.04 LTS
Ubuntu 20.04 LTS has been installed.
Launching Ubuntu 20.04 LTS...

Once installed, it will be Launched automatically.

Option#2:

Open Microsoft Store
Choose your preferred Linux Distributions (e.g. Ubuntu).
Click "Install" button to start.

Option#3:

In case if Microsoft Store app is retricted by your organization or not avilable, then you can download offline installer.

Downloading distributions:

Ubuntu 20.04

Ubuntu 20.04 ARM

Ubuntu 18.04

Ubuntu 18.04 ARM

Ubuntu 16.04

Debian GNU/Linux

Kali Linux

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP2

openSUSE Leap 15.2

Fedora Remix for WSL

This will cause the .appx packages to download to a folder of your choosing.

Double click the downloaded package.
Click "Install" to start.

Launch Linux Distribution

At the end of installation, you will get option to Launch the installed Linux Distribution. In my case, it is Ubuntu 20.04 and I am seeing the following in my screen.

Installing, this may take a few minutes... Please create a default UNIX user account. The username does not need to match your Windows username. For more information visit: https://aka.ms/wslusers Enter new UNIX username: abhijit New password: Retype new password: passwd: password updated successfully Installation successful! To run a command as administrator (user "root"), use "sudo <command>". See "man sudo_root" for details. Welcome to Ubuntu 20.04 LTS (GNU/Linux 5.10.16.3-microsoft-standard-WSL2 x86_64) Documentation: https://help.ubuntu.com Management: https://landscape.canonical.com Support: https://ubuntu.com/advantage System information as of Thu Aug 26 01:36:36 EDT 2021 System load: 0.0 Processes: 8 Usage of /: 0.4% of 250.98GB Users logged in: 0 Memory usage: 1% IPv4 address for eth0: 172.23.22.192 Swap usage: 0% 0 updates can be installed immediately. 0 of these updates are security updates. The list of available updates is more than a week old. To check for new updates run: sudo apt update

This message is shown once once a day. To disable it please create the /home/abhijit/.hushlogin file. abhijit@playground:~$

Bonus Section

If you're wondering how to change the hostname permanently on Ubuntu running on WSL2, then following video will help you.

If you prefer reading, then check the following article on How to change hostname on Ubuntu running on Windows WSL?

Summary

Because of "..seamless integration between Windows and Linux, fast boot times, a small resource footprint, and requires no VM configuration or management", lightning-fast installation & setup of Linux distribution, WSL2 is becoming the popular choice for local development.