Differences

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

--- other:win10wsl [2022/08/31 12:50]
jypeter [Creating a backup] Improved
+++ other:win10wsl [2022/09/06 14:54]
jypeter [Base installation] Added a backup step
@@ Line 174: / Line 174: @@
     * 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//
     * 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
@@ Line 206: / Line 206: @@
   * 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//
-    * 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...
 Please create a default UNIX user account. The username does not need to match your Windows username.
@@ Line 363: / Line 363: @@
 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>
+  * Create a [[other:win10wsl#backup_of_a_full_linux_installation|backup of the newly installed distribution]]
+    * This will allow you to easily [[other:win10wsl#restoring_or_relocating_a_linux_installation|restore or relocate your distribution later]]
 ===== After the base installation =====
@@ Line 981: / Line 984: @@
     * Stop //this instance// of Linux (e.g. if it is named //Ubuntu//): **''wsl %%--%%terminate Ubuntu''**
     * or Stop //all// the currently running Linux distributions: **''wsl %%--%%shutdown''**
-==== Restoring a WSL backup ====
-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 Check if [[https://wslhub.com/|WSL Manager]] is maintained and can be useful
-This assumes that you have followed the steps above to create a full backup of your Linux distribution in a ''ubuntu_<your_login>_<some_date>.tar'' file. This file can theoretically be restored with:
-  * ''wsl %%--%%import <DistributionName> <InstallLocation> ubuntu_<your_login>_<some_date>.tar''
-    * Note: found a page mentioning that you should be in a terminal with admin rights when using ''%%--%%import''
-    * Can we use the same ''<DistributionName>'' (e.g. ''Ubuntu'') as the one we are trying to restore without first removing it with ''unregister'' ([[https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/wsl-config#unregister-and-reinstall-a-distribution|Unregister and reinstall a distribution]])?
-    * If we use a new distribution name, it will probably not appear anymore in the Microsoft Store and will not be updated. Is this a problem?
-    * It seems we can use ''<InstallLocation>'' to install anywhere! What should we do if we want to restore to the default location (in the hidden directory)?
-      * Can we install out of the current user's Windows folder?
-      * Can we install out of ''C:\''?
-    * Can we restore (//clone//) a backed up Linux distribution on another Windows 10 computer for another user?
-      * if the default user (and its password) has to be changed, you probably have to follow the steps to [[https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/user-support#for-fall-creators-update-and-later|reset the Linux password]] and find a way to create a new account when the ''root'' password is activated
@@ Line 1012: / Line 997: @@
   * used for //relocating// the full installation from ''C:\'' to another disk
-Detailed steps:
+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
@@ Line 1029: / Line 1014: @@
     * 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>
+      * <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 ===
@@ Line 1057: / Line 1048: @@
 ==== 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:\''
+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 Check if [[https://wslhub.com/|WSL Manager]] is maintained and can be useful
+This assumes that you have followed the steps above to create a full backup of your Linux distribution in a ''ubuntu_<your_login>_<some_date>.tar'' file. This file can theoretically be restored with:
+  * ''wsl %%--%%import <DistributionName> <InstallLocation> ubuntu_<your_login>_<some_date>.tar''
+    * Note: found a page mentioning that you should be in a terminal with admin rights when using ''%%--%%import''
+    * Can we use the same ''<DistributionName>'' (e.g. ''Ubuntu'') as the one we are trying to restore without first removing it with ''unregister'' ([[https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/wsl-config#unregister-and-reinstall-a-distribution|Unregister and reinstall a distribution]])?
+    * If we use a new distribution name, it will probably not appear anymore in the Microsoft Store and will not be updated. Is this a problem?
+    * It seems we can use ''<InstallLocation>'' to install anywhere! What should we do if we want to restore to the default location (in the hidden directory)?
+      * Can we install out of the current user's Windows folder?
+      * Can we install out of ''C:\''?
+    * Can we restore (//clone//) a backed up Linux distribution on another Windows 10 computer for another user?
+      * if the default user (and its password) has to be changed, you probably have to follow the steps to [[https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/user-support#for-fall-creators-update-and-later|reset the Linux password]] and find a way to create a new account when the ''root'' password is activated
 ==== Uninstalling WSL ====
@@ Line 1145: / Line 1201: @@
   * [[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]]

PMIP3 wiki

User Tools

Site Tools

Differences

Page Tools