Differences

This shows you the differences between two versions of the page.

--- other:win10wsl [2022/08/24 09:50]
jypeter [Base installation] Cleaned and improved
+++ other:win10wsl [2022/08/26 15:49]
jypeter Added "Hyper-V requirements" in the prerequisites
@@ Line 31: / Line 31: @@
-==== Computer memory ====
+==== The basics before starting ====
-FIXME
+Once you have verified that your Windows is recent enough, you should also:
+  * Install the [[other:win10apps#windows_terminal|Windows terminal]], because it will be one of the ways to open ''Ubuntu'' terminals, once ''Ubuntu'' is installed
+  * Know how to use copy-paste in a Powershell FIXME
+  * It will be useful to be able to [[other:win10config#displaying_hidden_folders_and_files_and_the_files_extension|see hidden folders and files]]
+  * Have at least some basic knowledge of Linux...
+    * Get some [[other:newppl:starting#useful_documentation_for_beginners|basic Linux documentation]] if required
+==== Computer CPU and memory ====
-==== Disk space ====
+Contrary to other virtual machines, WSL is well integrated with the Windows operating system and the hardware drivers and has a **low default CPU and memory footprint**!
-FIXME
+  * You should be able to //play// with WSL even with 8 Gb of RAM, but 16 Gb is recommended
+  * Of course, depending on what you need to do on your computer, a better processor will always help
+  * WSL+Ubuntu will use more CPU and RAM if you use it for running CPU and/or memory intensive processes! As would be the case with any Windows application... :-)
+==== Disk usage ====
+=== Overview ===
+  * ''WSL'' is part of the Windows operating system and will be installed (and updated) on ''C:\''
+  * The Linux installation(s) will be installed (and updated) on ''C:\''
+    * They can only be relocated to other partitions afterwards
+  * => We should **start with at least 10 Gb of free space on ''C:\''** (but more space is always better and safer)
+    * The initial installation will not use much space (2-3 Gb), but we always need space on ''C:\'' for other applications and Windows maintenance (temporary files, updates, ...)
+<WRAP center round alert 60%>
+FIXME The rather technical //Disk usage// sections below should be moved somewhere else!
+</WRAP>
+=== How does it work? ===
+WSL+Linux seems to use a combination of actual Windows files/folders and ''ext4'' Linux partitions stored in ''.vhdx'' ([[https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/openspecs/windows_protocols/ms-vhdx/83f6b700-6216-40f0-aa99-9fcb421206e2|Dynamic Virtual Hard Disk]]) files. The Linux disk (of type ''ext4'') is stored in a single ''some_name.vhdx'' Windows file that will automatically grow until it reaches a predefined maximum size of 256 Gb (if there is enough space on the Windows disk...)
+  * Check [[https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/vhd-size|Expand the size of your WSL 2 Virtual Hard Disk]] if you need more than 256 Gb
+  * Check the following threads if you want to reduce the size of the ''vhdx'' file:
+    * [[https://superuser.com/questions/1606213/how-do-i-get-back-unused-disk-space-from-ubuntu-on-wsl2|How do I get back unused disk space from ubuntu on wsl2?]]
+    * [[https://github.com/microsoft/WSL/issues/4699#issuecomment-1136319012|WSL 2 should automatically release disk space back to the host OS]]
+      * [[https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/hyper-v/optimize-vhd?view=windowsserver2019-ps|Optimize-VHD]]
+=== Disks seen from Linux ===
+The disks and partitions usage, as seen from Linux, can be displayed with ''df -h''
+<code>stdu@sadira034:~$ df -h
+Filesystem      Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
+/dev/sdb        251G  1.5G  237G   1% /
+tmpfs           6.2G     0  6.2G   0% /mnt/wsl
+tools           472G  118G  355G  25% /init
+none            6.2G     0  6.2G   0% /dev
+none            6.2G  8.0K  6.2G   1% /run
+none            6.2G     0  6.2G   0% /run/lock
+none            6.2G     0  6.2G   0% /run/shm
+none            6.2G     0  6.2G   0% /run/user
+tmpfs           6.2G     0  6.2G   0% /sys/fs/cgroup
+drivers         472G  118G  355G  25% /usr/lib/wsl/drivers
+lib             472G  118G  355G  25% /usr/lib/wsl/lib
+C:\             472G  118G  355G  25% /mnt/c
+D:\             480G  2.6G  478G   1% /mnt/d</code>
+  * The ''251G'' //Size// of ''/'' depends on the [[https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/vhd-size|256G default size]] of the growing virtual disk where Linux is installed
+  * The ''/mnt/c'' and ''/mnt/d'' are the way to access the Windows ''C:'' and ''D:'' disks from Linux, and their //Size// is the actual size of the Windows disks
+  * Some //Filesystems// like ''drivers'' are actually Windows file systems!
+    * <code>stdu@sadira034:/usr/lib/wsl/drivers$ du -sh /usr/lib/wsl/drivers
+.1G    /usr/lib/wsl/drivers
+stdu@sadira034:/usr/lib/wsl/drivers$ du -sh /mnt/c/Windows/System32/DriverStore/
+.1G    /mnt/c/Windows/System32/DriverStore/</code>
+=== Some important disk locations ===
+  * Accessing **Windows files from Linux**: ''/mnt/''\\ e.g ''C:\'' is available in ''/mnt/c''
+  * Accessing **Linux files from the Windows Explorer**: ''\\wsl$''
+  * WSL+Ubuntu installation:
+    * Main directory: ''C:\Users\your_login\AppData\Local\Packages\CanonicalGroupLimited.UbuntuonWindows_79rhkp1fndgsc''
+    * //vhdx// file: ''C:\Users\jypeter\AppData\Local\Packages\CanonicalGroupLimited.UbuntuonWindows_79rhkp1fndgsc\LocalState\ext4.vhdx''
+      * <code>stdu@sadira034:~$ ls -lh /mnt/c/Users/jypeter/AppData/Local/Packages/CanonicalGroupLimited.UbuntuonWindows_79rhkp1fndgsc/LocalState/ext4.vhdx
+-rwxrwxrwx 1 root root 1.2G Aug 24 15:20 /mnt/c/Users/jypeter/AppData/Local/Packages/CanonicalGroupLimited.UbuntuonWindows_79rhkp1fndgsc/LocalState/ext4.vhdx</code>
+  * Linux //swap// (virtual memory) file:
+    * <code>stdu@sadira034:~$ ls -lh /mnt/c/Users/jypeter/AppData/Local/Temp/swap.vhdx
+-rwxrwxrwx 1 root root 63M Aug 24 14:52 /mnt/c/Users/jypeter/AppData/Local/Temp/swap.vhdx</code>
+=== Sample disk usage ===
+  * Disk size after the initial installation of //Ubuntu 20.04 LTS//\\ ''-rwxrwxrwx 1 root root 1.2G Aug 24 15:20 /mnt/c/Users/jypeter/AppData/Local/Packages/CanonicalGroupLimited.UbuntuonWindows_79rhkp1fndgsc/LocalState/ext4.vhdx''
+  * Disk size after upgrading to //Ubuntu 20.04.4 LTS// with ''sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade''\\ ''-rwxrwxrwx 1 root root 2.6G Aug 24 15:24 /mnt/c/Users/jypeter/AppData/Local/Packages/CanonicalGroupLimited.UbuntuonWindows_79rhkp1fndgsc/LocalState/ext4.vhdx''
+==== Hyper-V requirements ====
+WSL 2 needs the //Virtual Machine Platform// to be enabled on your computer. If you have never used WSL before, you can probably go directly to the [[other:win10wsl#base_installation|Base installation]] section and ''wsl'' should install everything correctly
+If you have problems, or if you are updating WSL 1 to WSL 2, use ''systeminfo'' to check the [[https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/virtualization/hyper-v-on-windows/reference/hyper-v-requirements?source=recommendations#verify-hardware-compatibility|Hyper-V requirements]]
-  * //Enough// space on ''C:\''. Microsoft instructions say //The Windows Subsystem for Linux only runs on your system drive (usually this is your C: drive)//
+If you get a ''No'' for one of the ''Hyper-V requirements'', check the //virtualization// settings in your [[other:bios#entering_the_bios|computer BIOS]]
-    * Exporting a //simple// Ubuntu configuration (after doing everything from //Base installation// to //Advanced configuration// below) with the [[other:win10wsl#creating_a_backup_of_the_linux_running_in_wsl|wsl --export]] command generated a 2.7 Gb tar file (uncompressed), so it's probably good to **start with at least 3 Gb of free space on ''C:\''** (and you always need to keep enough free space on ''C:\'' for regular Windows operation)
-    * The Linux ''/'' and ''/home'' partitions will always be on ''C:'', but the data files can be on any Windows disk/partition (or external drive) of the computer
-      * the Windows partitions will be available and accessible in ''/mnt/'', so you can store data on other partitions (e.g. the content of the Windows ''D:\'' partition will be available in ''/mnt/d'' in Linux)
-    * The files will be installed in **hidden partitions of the current user's directory on ''C:\''**: e.g. ''C:\Users\<your_login>''. Other users of the same Windows 10 computer would have to install Ubuntu again, in their own user directory
-      * Checking the properties of ''C:\Users\<your_login>'' will **not** report an accurate size and number of files, because lots of files and directories are hidden! On the test laptop, the reported size of the user backed up directory (with [[other:win10apps#syncbackfree|SyncBackFree]]) was ~20 Gb (user data, WSL+Ubuntu, custom install of the CDAT 8.1 python distribution)
-      * Be sure to monitor the remaining free space on ''C:''!
-  * Note: it seems that [[other:win10wsl#restoring_a_wsl_backup|wsl --import]] can restore a backed-up Linux to a user specified location. Maybe this can be used for moving Ubuntu...
-    * Check [[https://github.com/MicrosoftDocs/WSL/issues/412|how to move the vhdx of wsl2 to other disk]] and [[https://github.com/microsoft/WSL/issues/4320|[WSL 2] move VHD File]] for relocating a WSL (1 or 2) installation if you don't have enough space on ''C:''
 ===== Base installation =====
-  * [[https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4027538/windows-create-a-system-restore-point|Create a system restore point]] ([[https://support.microsoft.com/fr-fr/help/4027538/windows-create-a-system-restore-point|Créer un point de restauration système]]), and give it a meaningful name (e.g. //Before installing WSL//), in the unlikely case you have to restore it later (i.e. go back to a state where //WSL// was not activated)
+  * [[https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4027538/windows-create-a-system-restore-point|Create a system restore point]] ([[https://support.microsoft.com/fr-fr/help/4027538/windows-create-a-system-restore-point|Créer un point de restauration système]]), and give it a meaningful name (e.g. //Before installing WSL//), in the very unlikely case you have to restore it later (i.e. go back to a state where //WSL// was not activated)
   * The steps below (based on [[https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/install|Install Linux on Windows with WSL]]) will work if you have //Windows 10 version 2004 and higher (Build 19041 and higher) or Windows 11//
-    * If you have an older Windows version, follow the [[https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/install-manual|Manual installation steps for older versions of WSL]]
+    * If you have an older Windows version (at least //Version 1903, Build 18362//), follow the [[https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/install-manual|Manual installation steps for older versions of WSL]]
-  * Open an ''Powershell'' in //administrator// mode
+  * Open a ''Powershell'' in //administrator// mode
-    * ''Start''=>''W''=>''Windows PowerShell'' then right-clik on ''Windows PowerShell'' and select //Run as Administrator//
+    * ''Start''=>''W''=>''Windows PowerShell'' then right-click on ''Windows PowerShell'' and select //Run as Administrator//
-    * Use a [[https://wiki.lsce.ipsl.fr/pmip3/doku.php/other:win10apps#windows_terminal|Windows Terminal]], if you have already installed it and use ''CTRL''+<left click> on ''Windows Powershell'' in the pull-down menu to get a ''Powershell'' in //administrator// mode
+    * Use a [[https://wiki.lsce.ipsl.fr/pmip3/doku.php/other:win10apps#windows_terminal|Windows Terminal]], if you have already installed it. Use ''CTRL''+<left click> on ''Windows Powershell'' in the pull-down menu to get a ''Powershell'' in //administrator// mode
-  * Determine which Linux distributions are available for installation.\\ We will use the default ''Ubuntu'' distribution
+  * Determine which Linux distributions are (directly) available for installation.\\ We will use the default ''Ubuntu'' distribution
-    * ''Ubuntu'' will always automatically upgrade to the latest ''LTS'' version available (contrary to ''Ubuntu-<even_number>.04'' that will stick to the ''<even-number>'' release
+    * ''Ubuntu'' will always automatically upgrade to the latest ''LTS'' release available (contrary to ''Ubuntu-<even_number>.04'' that will stick to the specified ''<even-number>'' release)
-    * We could use a specific Linux version (or even [[https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/use-custom-distro|import any Linux distribution]]!)
+    * We could specify a specific Linux version (or even [[https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/use-custom-distro|import any Linux distribution]], or [[https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/build-custom-distro|create a custom Linux distribution]]!)
     * <code>PS C:\> wsl --list --online
@@ Line 88: / Line 174: @@
   * Reboot the computer and be patient
-    * This step will take some time (make sure you have 15-30 mn available). Windows will install what it needs, reboot, install some more stuff
+    * This step will take some time (make sure you have 15-30 mn available). Windows will install and configure what it needs for running //WSL+Ubuntu//, reboot, and install some more //stuff//
     * The final installation step will take place when you open your Windows session. A terminal opens, displaying the final installation of Ubuntu, and asking you for a username and password, and giving you access to a ''bash'' prompt
     * <code>Installing, this may take a few minutes...
@@ Line 117: / Line 203: @@
 /bin/bash</code>
-  * Get some basic information about your ''Ubuntu'' installation
+  * Get some basic information about your new ''Ubuntu'' installation
     * <code>stdu@sadira034:~$ lsb_release -a
 No LSB modules are available.
@@ Line 147: / Line 233: @@
 D:\             480G  2.6G  478G   1% /mnt/d</code>
-  * Get some basic information about your WSL installation
+  * Get some disk usage information about your ''WSL'' installation
-    * From Windows, the installation is in\\ ''C:\Users\jypeter\AppData\Local\Packages\CanonicalGroupLimited.UbuntuonWindows_79rhkp1fndgsc''
+    * From Windows, the installed files are located in\\ ''C:\Users\jypeter\AppData\Local\Packages\CanonicalGroupLimited.UbuntuonWindows_79rhkp1fndgsc''
-    * From WSL, the installation is in\\ ''/mnt/c/Users/jypeter/AppData/Local/Packages/CanonicalGroupLimited.UbuntuonWindows_79rhkp1fndgsc/''
+    * From (inside) WSL, the installed files are in\\ ''/mnt/c/Users/jypeter/AppData/Local/Packages/CanonicalGroupLimited.UbuntuonWindows_79rhkp1fndgsc/''
     * <code>stdu@sadira034:/mnt/c/Users/jypeter/AppData/Local/Packages$ find /mnt/c/Users/jypeter/AppData/Local/Packages/CanonicalGroupLimited.UbuntuonWindows_79rhkp1fndgsc/ -type f -print
 /mnt/c/Users/jypeter/AppData/Local/Packages/CanonicalGroupLimited.UbuntuonWindows_79rhkp1fndgsc/LocalState/ext4.vhdx
@@ Line 163: / Line 249: @@
 stdu@sadira034:/mnt/c/Users/jypeter/AppData/Local/Packages$ ls -lh /mnt/c/Users/jypeter/AppData/Local/Packages/CanonicalGroupLimited.UbuntuonWindows_79rhkp1fndgsc/LocalState/ext4.vhdx
 -rwxrwxrwx 1 root root 1.2G Aug 24 11:37 /mnt/c/Users/jypeter/AppData/Local/Packages/CanonicalGroupLimited.UbuntuonWindows_79rhkp1fndgsc/LocalState/ext4.vhdx</code>
+    * Note: location of the //vhdx swap file//:
+      * From windows: ''C:\Users\jypeter\AppData\Local\Temp\swap.vhdx''
+      * From WSL:\\ <code>stdu@sadira034:~$ ls -lh /mnt/c/Users/jypeter/AppData/Local/Temp/swap.vhdx
+-rwxrwxrwx 1 root root 63M Aug 24 14:52 /mnt/c/Users/jypeter/AppData/Local/Temp/swap.vhdx</code>
-  * Update your Ubuntu Linux with:
+  * Update //Ubuntu// with: ''sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade''
-        * ''sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade''
+    * <code>stdu@sadira034:~$ lsb_release -a
-        * Use the Left arrow to select ''<Yes>''+''Enter'' when some services have to be restarted
+No LSB modules are available.
-        * [[other:win10wsl#updating_wsl_and_ubuntu|More details about updating WSL and/or Ubuntu]] (you can safely skip this for now)
+Distributor ID: Ubuntu
+Description:    Ubuntu 20.04 LTS
+Release:        20.04
+Codename:       focal
+stdu@sadira034:~$ sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade
+[sudo] password for stdu:
+Get:1 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-security InRelease [114 kB]
+Get:2 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal InRelease [265 kB]
+[...]
+upgraded, 32 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
+Need to get 174 MB of archives.
+After this operation, 305 MB of additional disk space will be used.
+Do you want to continue? [Y/n] Y
+[...]
+stdu@sadira034:~$ lsb_release -a
+No LSB modules are available.
+Distributor ID: Ubuntu
+Description:    Ubuntu 20.04.4 LTS
+Release:        20.04
+Codename:       focal
+stdu@sadira034:/usr/lib/wsl/drivers$ cat /etc/*release*
+DISTRIB_ID=Ubuntu
+DISTRIB_RELEASE=20.04
+DISTRIB_CODENAME=focal
+DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION="Ubuntu 20.04.4 LTS"
+NAME="Ubuntu"
+VERSION="20.04.4 LTS (Focal Fossa)"
+ID=ubuntu
+ID_LIKE=debian
+PRETTY_NAME="Ubuntu 20.04.4 LTS"
+VERSION_ID="20.04"
+HOME_URL="https://www.ubuntu.com/"
+SUPPORT_URL="https://help.ubuntu.com/"
+BUG_REPORT_URL="https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/"
+PRIVACY_POLICY_URL="https://www.ubuntu.com/legal/terms-and-policies/privacy-policy"
+VERSION_CODENAME=focal
+UBUNTU_CODENAME=focal</code>
+    * [[other:win10wsl#updating_wsl_and_ubuntu|More details about updating WSL and/or Ubuntu]] (you can safely skip this for now)
+  * Update the //Linux kernel// used by WSL, after stopping the running WSL instances
+    * <code>PS C:\> wsl --status
+Distribution par défaut : Ubuntu
+Version par défaut : 2
+La dernière mise à jour effectuée du Sous-système Windows pour Linux date du 23/08/2022
+Les mises à jour WSL automatiques sont activées.
+Version du noyau : 5.10.16
+PS C:\> wsl -l -v
+  NAME      STATE           VERSION
+* Ubuntu    Running         2
+PS C:\> wsl --terminate Ubuntu
+PS C:\> wsl -l -v
+  NAME      STATE           VERSION
+* Ubuntu    Stopped         2
+PS C:\> wsl --update
+Recherche de mises à jour en cours... Veuillez patienter
+Téléchargement de mises à jour en cours... Veuillez patienter.
+Installation en cours des mises à jour... Veuillez patienter
+Cette modification sera effective au prochain redémarrage complet de WSL. Pour forcer un redémarrage, exécutez « wsl --shutdown ».
+Version du noyau : 5.10.102.1
+PS C:\> wsl --status
+[...]
+Version du noyau : 5.10.102.1
+PS C:\> wsl cat /proc/version
+Linux version 5.10.102.1-microsoft-standard-WSL2 (oe-user@oe-host) (x86_64-msft-linux-gcc (GCC) 9.3.0, GNU ld (GNU Binutils) 2.34.0.20200220) #1 SMP Wed Mar 2 00:30:59 UTC 2022</code>
 ===== After the base installation =====
@@ Line 872: / Line 1035: @@
 ===== Miscellaneous =====
+==== Updating WSL 1 to WSL 2 ====
+=== Am I using WSL 1 or WSL 2 ? ===
+If you have never used WSL on this computer (and for **this user**), WSL 2 will be installed directly when you follow the [[other:win10wsl#base_installation|Base installation]] steps
+If you are not sure if you are currently using WSL 1 or WSL 2, you can check [[https://github.com/MicrosoftDocs/WSL/issues/1599|Is there an easy (PowerShell?) way to get more information about WSL?]] has been answered, or make the following checks
+  * ''wsl --update'' will give the same output (i.e. the installed Linux kernel version) for both WSL 1 and WSL 2
+    * <code>PS C:\Users\jypeter> wsl --update
+Recherche de mises à jour en cours... Veuillez patienter
+Aucune mise à jour n’est disponible.
+Version du noyau : 5.10.102.1</code>
+  * ''wsl --status'' will display again the kernel version if you already have WSL 2, but will display a link to the WSL installation page if you are running WSL 1: https://aka.ms/wsl2-install
+    * <code>PS C:\Users\jypeter> wsl --status
+Distribution par défaut : Ubuntu
+Version par défaut : 2
+Activez la fonctionnalité Windows de plateforme de machine virtuelle et assurez-vous que la virtualisation est activée dans le BIOS.
+Pour plus d’informations, rendez-vous sur https://aka.ms/wsl2-install</code>
+=== Prerequisites ===
+  * If WSL 1 is already running, you should have no problem with the [[other:win10wsl#prerequisites|disk and memory requirements]]
+  * For WSL 2, you also need to meet the Hyper-V requirements
+==== Potentially useful stuff ====
   * Determining from **inside** the running Linux if you are using WSL (or another type of virtual machine)\\ <code>$ systemd-detect-virt

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