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other:win10wsl [2022/09/06 16:54] – [Base installation] Added a backup step jypeterother:win10wsl [2022/09/07 14:02] – [WSL security WARNING!] jypeter
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 ===== Advanced usage ===== ===== Advanced usage =====
  
 +==== WSL security WARNING! ====
  
 +<WRAP center round important 60%>
 +A regular Linux installation (on a Linux-only computer) is fairly secure,\\ but a Linux installation on WSL is not secure at all, **by design**
 +</WRAP>
 +
 +WSL+Linux is designed to allow you to easily use Linux on Windows, including **very easily using the Linux root account without knowing any password** of the Linux installation!
 +
 +<code>PS C:\Users\your_login> wsl
 +wsl_default_user@your_machine:/mnt/c/Users/your_login$ whoami
 +wsl_default_user
 +
 +PS C:\Users\your_login> wsl -u root
 +root@your_machine:/mnt/c/Users/your_login# whoami
 +root</code>
 +
 +This is **a feature and not a security issue**, because your installation is protected by your Windows account security
 +
 +You should be aware (and act accordingly) that:
 +  * Somebody gaining access to your Windows account will also have full access to the Linux installation
 +    * <wrap hi>Do not use an existing password for the WSL Linux account</wrap>\\ Somebody could easily extract your password information...
 +    * Storing data in the Linux part of your computer does not add any extra security
 +    * Always **make sure that only you can access your Windows account**
 +    * Your LSCE Windows laptop (not your desktop) is encrypted with [[https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security/information-protection/Bitlocker/bitlocker-overview|BitLocker]], which adds some extra security
 +
 +  * Somebody gaining access to a backup of your Linux installation will easily have access to the Linux installation itself
 +    * You can store your Linux installation backup to [[https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security/information-protection/bitlocker/bitlocker-to-go-faq|an external disk encrypted with BitLocker]]
 ==== Creating a backup ==== ==== Creating a backup ====
  
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 Note:  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     * 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: Detailed [[https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/basic-commands#import-a-new-distribution|--import]] example:
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   * We assume that we have an exported installation tar file available   * 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''     * 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   * 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     * <code>> wsl -l -v
   NAME      STATE           VERSION   NAME      STATE           VERSION
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     * Or from a PowerShell, using ''wsl --distribution Ubuntu_custom''     * 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'' !     * 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     * <code># cat /etc/wsl.conf
 cat: /etc/wsl.conf: No such file or directory cat: /etc/wsl.conf: No such file or directory
other/win10wsl.txt · Last modified: 2023/12/06 14:24 by jypeter
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