WSL

Details on setting up WSL
Author

Benedict Thekkel

Change Settings in Turn Windows features on or off

Turn on: - Virtual Machine Platform - Windows Hypervisor Platform - Windows Subsystem for Linux

Download WSL - Windows Subsystem for Linux

  • goto powershell
wsl --install

If there is error with wsl

Invoke-WebRequest -UseBasicParsing "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/microsoft/WSL/master/triage/install-latest-wsl.ps1" -OutFile install-latest-wsl.ps1
Set-ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Scope Process -Force
.\install-latest-wsl.ps1
  • o see a list of available Linux distributions available for download through the online store
wsl -l -o
  • to download a Linux distribution
wsl --install -d <Distribution Name>
  • to remove a distribution
wsl --unregister <Distribution Name>

WSL Config Files

.wslconfig

.wslconfig to configure global settings across all installed distributions running on WSL 2.

 # Settings apply across all Linux distros running on WSL 2
[wsl2]

# Limits VM memory to use no more than 4 GB, this can be set as whole numbers using GB or MB
memory=30GB 
swap=32GB

# Sets the VM to use two virtual processors
processors=12


networkingMode = mirrored
# dnsProxy = false
firewall = false


[experimental]
autoMemoryReclaim = dropcache

wsl.conf

wsl.conf to configure local settings per-distribution for each Linux distribution running on WSL 1 or WSL 2.

Location: /etc/wsl.conf

The wsl.conf file supports four sections: automount, network, interop, and user.

!cat /etc/wsl.conf

[boot]
systemd=true

[network]
# hostname = DemoHost
generateHosts = true
generateResolvConf = true

# [user]
# default = DemoUser

Settings for port forwarding into virtual network

rule: allow all traffic from port 8888 to pass through

netsh interface portproxy add v4tov4 listenport=8888 listenaddress=0.0.0.0 connectport=8888 connectaddress=172.22.253.143

delete rule:

netsh interface portproxy delete v4tov4 listenport=8888 listenaddress=0.0.0.0

view rules:

netsh interface portproxy show all

sudo apt install firefox

WSL to Windows port forwarding

In powershell as administrator

netsh interface portproxy add v4tov4 listenport=80 listenaddress=0.0.0.0 connectport=80 connectaddress=$($(wsl hostname -I).Trim());
New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName "WSL2 Port Bridge" -Direction Inbound -Action Allow -Protocol TCP -LocalPort 80
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