Skip to main content

WSL–Getting started experience

Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) lets developers run a Linux environment directly on Windows, without the overhead of a traditional virtual machine or dual-boot setup. It is a very convenient way for developers to access and use a Linux environment. But although it not that difficult to get started, it can still take some time before you really understand how to use it.

If you also had some trouble to get started with WSL2, or even never took a look at it before, I have some good news for you. Starting from WSL 2.4.4(Pre-release), you get a ‘Getting Started’ experience. Let me show…

Getting Started experience

  • First we need to make sure that we download and install the latest pre-release version. You can find the correct installer here.
  • Download the msi file and run the installer.


  • After the installation has completed, open the freshly installed WSL Settings app:

 


  • The WSL settings app gives you easy access to a lot of the options that can be configured when using WSL2. This alone makes it a great addition to the current WSL2 experience. But there is more…

 

  • Click on the Welcome at WSL button in the left bottom corner. This will open up a new window that gives you easy access to some of the most common scenario’s when using WSL2.

 

  • This includes
    • Working across file systems

 

    • GUI apps

 

    • GPU acceleration

 

    • Networking integration

 

    • Distro management

 

  • It also gives you easy access to the Docker Desktop integration:

 

  • And how to debug and run applications in WSL2 through VSCode:

 

This is a great addition to the WSL2 experience and really helpful to get started.

More information

What’s new in the Windows Subsystem for Linux in November 2024 - Windows Command Line

Windows Subsystem for Linux Documentation | Microsoft Learn

Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

.NET 8–Keyed/Named Services

A feature that a lot of IoC container libraries support but that was missing in the default DI container provided by Microsoft is the support for Keyed or Named Services. This feature allows you to register the same type multiple times using different names, allowing you to resolve a specific instance based on the circumstances. Although there is some controversy if supporting this feature is a good idea or not, it certainly can be handy. To support this feature a new interface IKeyedServiceProvider got introduced in .NET 8 providing 2 new methods on our ServiceProvider instance: object? GetKeyedService(Type serviceType, object? serviceKey); object GetRequiredKeyedService(Type serviceType, object? serviceKey); To use it, we need to register our service using one of the new extension methods: Resolving the service can be done either through the FromKeyedServices attribute: or by injecting the IKeyedServiceProvider interface and calling the GetRequiredKeyedServic...
Read more

Azure DevOps/ GitHub emoji

I’m really bad at remembering emoji’s. So here is cheat sheet with all emoji’s that can be used in tools that support the github emoji markdown markup: All credits go to rcaviers who created this list.
Read more

Kubernetes–Limit your environmental impact

Reducing the carbon footprint and CO2 emission of our (cloud) workloads, is a responsibility of all of us. If you are running a Kubernetes cluster, have a look at Kube-Green . kube-green is a simple Kubernetes operator that automatically shuts down (some of) your pods when you don't need them. A single pod produces about 11 Kg CO2eq per year( here the calculation). Reason enough to give it a try! Installing kube-green in your cluster The easiest way to install the operator in your cluster is through kubectl. We first need to install a cert-manager: kubectl apply -f https://github.com/cert-manager/cert-manager/releases/download/v1.14.5/cert-manager.yaml Remark: Wait a minute before you continue as it can take some time before the cert-manager is up & running inside your cluster. Now we can install the kube-green operator: kubectl apply -f https://github.com/kube-green/kube-green/releases/latest/download/kube-green.yaml Now in the namespace where we want t...
Read more