Differences

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

--- other:win10wsl [2022/09/06 16:45] – [Base installation] jypeter
+++ other:win10wsl [2022/09/06 17:40] – [Restoring or relocating a Linux installation] Improved jypeter
@@ 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 1048: / Line 1051: @@
 Note:
-  * This is currently the only way of moving (relocating) a Linux installation to another disk than the default ''C:\'' location
+  * 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!
+  * //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.
+  * Creating a backup and restoring it is an indirect way of **reclaiming the unused space of a Linux installation**: 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:
@@ Line 1057: / Line 1060: @@
   * 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''
+    * ''import'' can directly use a ''.tar.gz'' file! ([[https://github.com/MicrosoftDocs/WSL/issues/1607|wsl --import should mention 'tar.gz' support !]])
   * 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''
+    * Hint: use an explicit directory path and name using the name of the distribution that will be restored, because the name of the restored file itself will always be the same (''ext4.vhdx'')\\ e.g. ''D:\WSL_Distributions\Ubuntu_custom''
-  * Import the distribution, giving it a name that does not appear in ''wsl -l -v''
+  * Import the distribution, giving it a unique name (that does not appear already in ''wsl -l -v'')
     * <code>> wsl -l -v
   NAME      STATE           VERSION
@@ Line 1075: / Line 1079: @@
     * 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
+      * 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
+      * You can easily open a ''root'' session with\\ ''%%wsl -d Ubuntu_custom -u root%%''
+  * 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'' in this example) 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