Windows Subsystem for Linux Installation Guide for Windows 10

• 05/12/2020
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Install the Windows Subsystem for Linux

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

To only install WSL 1, you should now restart your machine and move on to Install your Linux distribution of choice, otherwise wait to restart and move on to update to WSL 2. Read more about Comparing WSL 2 and WSL 1.

Update to WSL 2

To update to WSL 2, you must meet the following criteria:

• Running Windows 10, updated to version 1903 or higher, Build 18362 or higher.

• Check your Windows version by selecting the Windows logo key + R, type winver, select OK. (Or enter the ver command in Windows Command Prompt). Please update to the latest Windows version if your build is lower than 18361. Get Windows Update Assistant.

Enable the 'Virtual Machine Platform' optional component

Before installing WSL 2, you must enable the "Virtual Machine Platform" optional feature.

Open PowerShell as Administrator and run:

dism.exe /online /enable-feature /featurename:VirtualMachinePlatform /all /norestart

Restart your machine to complete the WSL install and update to WSL 2.

Set WSL 2 as your default version

Open PowerShell as Administrator and run this command to set WSL 2 as the default version when installing a new Linux distribution:

wsl --set-default-version 2

You might see this message after running that command: WSL 2 requires an update to its kernel component. For information please visit https://aka.ms/wsl2kernel. Please follow the link (https://aka.ms/wsl2kernel) and install the MSI from that page on our documentation to install a Linux kernel on your machine for WSL 2 to use. Once you have the kernel installed, please run the command again and it should complete successfully without showing the message.

Install your Linux distribution of choice

1. Open the Microsoft Store and select your favorite Linux distribution.

   

   The following links will open the Microsoft store page for each distribution:

   • Ubuntu 16.04 LTS
   • Ubuntu 18.04 LTS
   • Ubuntu 20.04 LTS
   • openSUSE Leap 15.1
   • SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP5
   • SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP1
   • Kali Linux
   • Debian GNU/Linux
   • Fedora Remix for WSL
   • Pengwin
   • Pengwin Enterprise
   • Alpine WSL

2. From the distribution's page, select "Get".

   

Set up a new distribution

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.

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 19041 or higher): wsl -l -v

wsl --list --verbose

To set a distribution to be backed by either version of WSL please run:

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'.

Additionally, if you want to make WSL 2 your default architecture you can do so with this command:

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 -> 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.

• 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 19041 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.

• The term 'wsl' is not recognized as the name of a cmdlet, function, script file, or operable program.
  • Ensure that the Windows Subsystem for Linux Optional Component is installed. Additionally, if you are using an ARM64 device and running this command from PowerShell, you will receive this error. Instead run wsl.exe from PowerShell Core, or Command Prompt.