It's Now Even Easier Setting Up Windows Subsystem For Linux On Windows 10

Written by Michael Larabel in Microsoft on 29 October 2020 at 08:31 PM EDT. 43 Comments
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When Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) initially debuted there were a few different steps that needed to be carried out for setting up this Linux binary compatibility layer atop Windows. But now with the latest Windows 10 Insider Preview builds it's becoming increasingly trivial to get going with WSL.

As of Windows 10 Insiders Preview Build 20246, there is automatic distribution install support added to work with the wsl --install command.

The wsl --install command by itself will install Ubuntu but Debian, Kali, openSUSE, SLES, and others can all be easily installed as well when also adding the -d argument and the relevant distribution name for carrying out the automated install.

More details for those interested in this WSL installation improvement via the Microsoft Command Line Blog.

Separately, I'll be running some fresh Windows 10 October 2020 vs. Linux benchmarks including WSL in the coming days on Phoronix.
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About The Author
Michael Larabel

Michael Larabel is the principal author of Phoronix.com and founded the site in 2004 with a focus on enriching the Linux hardware experience. Michael has written more than 20,000 articles covering the state of Linux hardware support, Linux performance, graphics drivers, and other topics. Michael is also the lead developer of the Phoronix Test Suite, Phoromatic, and OpenBenchmarking.org automated benchmarking software. He can be followed via Twitter, LinkedIn, or contacted via MichaelLarabel.com.

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