Running the Linux kernel(Ubuntu) within Windows 10 (no VM)
Quick and straight forward steps for installing and running the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL).
What is WSL?
The Windows Subsystem for Linux is a feature or a Linux kernel compatibility layer for Windows 10 that allows you to run Linux programs (mainly the command line ones eg. CURL, GREP, FIND etc) natively on a Windows, it was developed by Microsoft teaming up with Canonical ( The creators of Linux ). The WSL also comes with a Linux program called APT which is a package management program for installing additional useful programs. In 2 months to come, we are expecting a full Linux kernel to come with the WSL 2.
Why would you use WSL?
If you are a developer, for example, a web developer like myself and you an open source and Linux fan but you also embrace Windows, instead of having a dual boot or a Linux VM( Which consumes more resources than the WSL ) on your Windows machine you can aid the fuss by installing the WSL in which you can run your Linux bash commands.
How to install it?
Open the Microsoft store app and on the search input, type in ubuntu and select the desired version of Ubuntu from the results drop-down, you will see the screen below after selecting the Ubuntu version you want, then click Get/Install (I forgot the exact button text 🤣)
It will download the WSL and when it is finished it will give you a terminal window which might show you something like the following message.
To resolve this open the Windows PoweShell by searching for “powershell” on your Windows machine and then open PowerShell (Open it as an Administrator), after that enter the command as I did on the below screen and press enter.
Wait until the operation is finished and then try to open the WSL again by searching for it in your Windows apps and open it. It will now install the WSL.
After it has finished, it will ask for a username (try using lowercases) for your WSL and a password, and then that’s it. 😜
The first command that came to my head was ls but there was nothing in my home directory so I did some mkdir and touch so I was good to go.
I have installed Node like so
And yeah that’s it cats, I hope this helped.
