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--- other:win10wsl [2022/08/31 11:47]
jypeter [Creating a backup of a Linux installation] Improved
+++ other:win10wsl [2022/09/05 15:45]
jypeter [Other WSL resources and links] Added link to Tips and Tricks
@@ Line 983: / Line 983: @@
-==== Creating a backup of the Linux running in WSL ====
+===== Advanced usage =====
+==== Creating a backup ====
+=== Backup of a FULL Linux installation ===
+You can use ''wsl'' to [[https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/faq#how-can-i-back-up-my-wsl-distributions--or-move-them-from-one-drive-to-another-|save a full Linux installation]] to a //tar// file, that can be:
+  * used later for //restoring// the full installation
+  * used for //relocating// the full installation from ''C:\'' to another disk
+Detailed [[https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/basic-commands#export-a-distribution-to-a-tar-file|--export]] example:
+  * Determine the name of the current Linux installation(s) used in WSL
+    * <code>> wsl --list --verbose
+  NAME      STATE           VERSION
+* Ubuntu    Running         2</code>
+  * [[other:win10wsl#rebooting_wsl|Stop WSL+Linux]]
+      * <code>> wsl --shutdown
+> wsl -l -v
+  NAME      STATE           VERSION
+* Ubuntu    Stopped         2</code>
+  * Export the specified Linux installation to a //tar// file:
+    * You should export to a directory or external disk where you have //enough// space\\ e.g. The tar file for a [[other:win10wsl#base_installation|newly installed and updated]] //Ubuntu 20.04.5 LTS// is ~1.4 Gb
+    * You should use a detailed enough file name for the tar file\\ e.g. WSL_<Linux_Distribution>_<Distribution_Version>_<User>_<Date>.tar
+    * Example: ''%%wsl --export Ubuntu C:\Scratch\<your_login>\WSL\WSL_Ubuntu_20.04.5_LTS_stdu_22-08-29.tar%%''
+    * If you are not going to use the backup tar file right away, you can optionally compress it in order to save some space
+      * <code>$ ls -lh /mnt/c/Scratch/<your_login>/WSL/WSL_Ubuntu_20.04.5_LTS_stdu_22-08-29.tar
+.4G Aug 29 17:49 /mnt/c/Scratch/<your_login>/WSL/WSL_Ubuntu_20.04.5_LTS_stdu_22-08-29.tar
+$ gzip  /mnt/c/Scratch/<your_login>/WSL/WSL_Ubuntu_20.04.5_LTS_stdu_22-08-29.tar
+$ ls -lh /mnt/c/Scratch/<your_login>/WSL/WSL_Ubuntu_20.04.5_LTS_stdu_22-08-29.tar.gz
+M Aug 29 17:49 /mnt/c/Scratch/<your_login>/WSL/WSL_Ubuntu_20.04.5_LTS_stdu_22-08-29.tar.gz</code>
+=== Backup of specific directories ===
-There are several types of WSL related directories that you may want to back up:
+You can also just create backups of specific directories:
-  * <wrap hi>Your Linux //home// directory</wrap> (''/home/<your_login>''), or some specific sub-directories of the //Ubuntu// running in WSL (sub-directories of ''/''): all these files are located in a [[other:win10wsl#location_of_the_files|hidden sub-directory of you Windows directory]], and the best way to save them is probably to **create a tar file from Linux**, and put this tar file in a specific Windows //WSL backup folder// (we will use below the directory ''/mnt/c/Scratch/<your_login>'' or ''c:\Scratch\<your_login>'')
+  * Your Linux //home// directory (''/home/<your_login>/''), or some specific sub-directories of the //Ubuntu// running in WSL (sub-directories of ''/''): the best way to save them is probably to **create a //tar// file from Linux**, and put this //tar// file in a specific Windows //WSL backup folder// (we will use below the directory ''/mnt/c/Scratch/<your_login>'' or ''c:\Scratch\<your_login>'')
     * <code bash>$ cd /home
@@ Line 1003: / Line 1039: @@
 K Feb 24 12:09 /mnt/c/Scratch/<your_login>/<your_login>_home_210224_1209.tgz</code>
-  * <wrap hi>Regular Windows folders</wrap> where you store data used by WSL: you can use ''tar'' in a Linux terminal, as above, or use any usual way of backing up Windows files (drag and drop, some specific [[other:win10apps#backup_software|backup software]])
+  * Regular Windows folders where you store data used by WSL: you can use ''tar'' in a Linux terminal, as above, or use any usual way of backing up Windows files (drag and drop, some specific [[other:win10apps#backup_software|backup software]])
+    * WARNING: there should not be performance issues using ''tar'' (from Linux) to make a backup of Windows files with WSL 1, but **WSL 2 is significantly slower than WSL 1 to access Windows files** ([[https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/compare-versions#exceptions-for-using-wsl-1-rather-than-wsl-2|Exceptions for using WSL 1 rather than WSL 2]])
+==== Restoring or relocating a Linux installation ====
+When we have the tar file of a [[other:win10wsl#creating_a_backup|FULL backup]], we can use [[https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/basic-commands#import-a-new-distribution|--import]] to install or restore it to a specific location.
+Note:
+  * This is currently the only way of moving (relocating) a Linux installation to another disk than the default ''C:\'' location
+  * Importing will mostly put the ''ext4.vhdx'' file in the specified target location!
+    * You need [[other:win10wsl#disk_usage|enough disk space]] in the new disk location, knowing that the size of the ''vhdx'' file will start growing (as needed) as soon as you use your installation
+  * This is an indirect way of reclaiming the unused space of a Linux installation, i.e the size of the ''ext4.vhdx'' file after importing can be smaller than the size of the originally exported ''ext4.vhdx'' file.
+Detailed [[https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/basic-commands#import-a-new-distribution|--import]] example:
+  * We assume that we have an exported installation tar file available
+    * In this example, we use the compressed backup file created in [[other:win10wsl#backup_of_a_full_linux_installation|Backup of a FULL Linux installation]]\\ ''C:\Scratch\<your_login>\WSL\WSL_Ubuntu_20.04.5_LTS_stdu_22-08-29.tar.gz''
+  * Create the directory where the Linux installation (mostly its ''ext4.vhdx'' file) will be restored
+    * Hint: use an explicit directory path and name using the name of the distribution that will be restored\\ e.g. ''D:\WSL_Distributions\Ubuntu_custom''
+  * Import the distribution, giving it a name that does not appear in ''wsl -l -v''
+    * <code>> wsl -l -v
+  NAME      STATE           VERSION
+* Ubuntu    Stopped         2
+> wsl --import Ubuntu_custom D:\WSL_Distributions\Ubuntu_custom C:\Scratch\<your_login>\WSL\WSL_Ubuntu_20.04.5_LTS_stdu_22-08-29.tar.gz
+> wsl -l -v
+  NAME             STATE           VERSION
+* Ubuntu           Stopped         2
+  Ubuntu_custom    Stopped         2</code>
+    * After importing, there should be a new ''ext4.vhdx'' file in the previously empty ''D:\WSL_Distributions\Ubuntu_custom'' directory
+  * Start the imported ''Ubuntu_custom'' distribution
+    * Directly from the Windows Terminal pull-down menu
+    * Or from a PowerShell, using ''wsl --distribution Ubuntu_custom''
+    * WARNING: even if the distribution we imported had an existing default ''stdu'' user, the //new// default user will be ''root'' !
+      * It is possible to explicitly specify the requested user each time we start a terminal, but it will be more convenient to specify a default user\\ wsl --distribution Ubuntu_custom --user stdu
+  * Specify a default user (note: [[https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/use-custom-distro#add-wsl-specific-components-like-a-default-user|Add WSL a default user]] also shows how to //create a new user//). We just have to use the root account to add a default user (user ''stdu'' here) to the [[https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/wsl-config#user-settings|/etc/wsl.conf]] file
+    * <code># cat /etc/wsl.conf
+cat: /etc/wsl.conf: No such file or directory
+# echo -e "[user]\ndefault=stdu" >> /etc/wsl.conf
-==== Restoring a WSL backup ====
+# cat /etc/wsl.conf
+[user]
+default=stdu</code>
+    * Restart the Linux installation to take the new settings into account
+      * ''%%wsl  --terminate Ubuntu_custom%%''
+    * If you need the ''root'' account later, you will need to use the ''sudo'' command from the new default account
+      * <code>$ whoami
+stdu
+stdu@sadira034:~$ sudo su -
+[sudo] password for stdu:
+root@sadira034:~# whoami
+root</code>
 FIXME Read [[https://www.howtogeek.com/426562/how-to-export-and-import-your-linux-systems-on-windows-10/|How to Export and Import Your Linux Systems on Windows 10]] and [[https://winaero.com/blog/export-import-wsl-linux-distro-windows-10/|Export and Import WSL Linux Distro in Windows 10]] and similar threads
@@ Line 1025: / Line 1111: @@
-===== Advanced usage =====
-==== Creating a backup ====
-=== Backup of a Full Linux installation ===
-You can use ''wsl'' to [[https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/faq#how-can-i-back-up-my-wsl-distributions--or-move-them-from-one-drive-to-another-|save a full Linux installation]] to a //tar// file, that can be:
-  * used later for //restoring// the full installation
-  * used for //relocating// the full installation from ''C:\'' to another disk
-Detailed steps:
-  * Determine the name of the current Linux installation used in WSL (and see if it is running, and using //WSL 1// or //WSL 2//)
-    * <code>> wsl --list --verbose
-  NAME      STATE           VERSION
-* Ubuntu    Running         2</code>
-  * [[other:win10wsl#rebooting_wsl|Stop WSL+Linux]]
-      * <code>> wsl --shutdown
-> wsl -l -v
-  NAME      STATE           VERSION
-* Ubuntu    Stopped         2</code>
-  * Export the specified Linux installation to a //tar// file:
-    * You should export to a directory or external disk where you have //enough// space\\ e.g. The tar file for a [[other:win10wsl#base_installation|newly installed and updated]] __Ubuntu 20.04.5 LTS__ is ~1.G Gb
-    * You should use a detailed enough file name for the tar file\\ e.g. WSL_<Linux_Distribution>_<Distribution_Version>_<User>_<Date>.tar
-    * Example: ''wsl --export Ubuntu C:\Scratch\<your_login>\WSL\WSL_Ubuntu_20.04.4_LTS_stdu_22-08-29.tar''
-    * If you are not going to use the backup tar file right away, you can optionally compress it in order to save some space
-      * <code>Add compression example here</code>
-=== Other types of backup ===
-==== Restoring or relocating a Linux installation ====
-When we have a backup in a tar file, we can restore it to the default location (Check ?? FIXME), or specify where we want to restore it. This is a way of moving (relocating) an installation to another disk or partition than the default location ''C:\''
 ==== Uninstalling WSL ====
@@ Line 1148: / Line 1198: @@
   * [[https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/release-notes|Release Notes for Windows Subsystem for Linux]]
+  * [[https://craigloewen-msft.github.io/WSLTipsAndTricks/|WSL Tips and Tricks]]
   * [[https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/faq|Frequently Asked Questions]]
   * [[https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/troubleshooting|Troubleshooting]]

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