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other:win10wsl [2022/08/31 11:47] jypeter [Creating a backup of a Linux installation] Improved |
other:win10wsl [2022/09/06 14:45] jypeter [Base installation] |
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* 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]] | * 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 a ''Powershell'' in //administrator// mode | + | * Open a ''PowerShell'' in //administrator// mode |
* ''Start''=>''W''=>''Windows PowerShell'' then right-click 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. 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 | ||
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* Reboot the computer and be patient | * Reboot the computer and be patient | ||
* 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// | * 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 | + | * 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\\ <wrap hi>Do not use an existing password!</wrap> The security of the Linux running in WSL is weak by design, and somebody could easily extract your password information from a backup of your distribution |
* <code>Installing, this may take a few minutes... | * <code>Installing, this may take a few minutes... | ||
Please create a default UNIX user account. The username does not need to match your Windows username. | Please create a default UNIX user account. The username does not need to match your Windows username. | ||
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- | ==== 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 | ||
+ | 1.4G 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 | ||
+ | 549M 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 | * <code bash>$ cd /home | ||
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95K Feb 24 12:09 /mnt/c/Scratch/<your_login>/<your_login>_home_210224_1209.tgz</code> | 95K 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 ==== | ||
- | ==== Restoring a WSL backup ==== | + | 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 | ||
+ | |||
+ | # 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 | 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 | ||
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- | ===== 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 ==== | ==== Uninstalling WSL ==== | ||
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* [[https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/release-notes|Release Notes for Windows Subsystem for Linux]] | * [[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/faq|Frequently Asked Questions]] | ||
* [[https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/troubleshooting|Troubleshooting]] | * [[https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/troubleshooting|Troubleshooting]] |