Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL)

The Windows Subsystem for Linux lets developers run a GNU/Linux environment – including most command-line tools, utilities, and applications – directly on Windows, unmodified, without the overhead of a traditional virtual machine or dualboot setup.

Installation

Before installing any Linux distributions on Windows, you must enable the “Windows Subsystem for Linux” optional feature.

Open PowerShell as Administrator and run:

dism.exe /online /enable-feature /featurename:Microsoft-Windows-Subsystem-Linux /all /norestart

Alternatively you can go to “Turn Windows features on or off” and select “Windows Subsystem for Linux”, click OK, then reboot.

Commands

Command	Description
wsl -l	Lists installed WSL distributions, e.g. Ubuntu.
wsl	Launches the default Linux distribution.
wsl --help	View help documentation.
wsl -u root	Open PowerShell and enter the root of your default WSL distribution using this command.
passwd	Reset your Linux password once entered.
wsl --set-default-version 2	Set WSL 2 as the default version when installing a new Linux distribution.