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Ubuntu Installation on WSL

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Intro

Installing and managing Ubuntu distributions on Windows using WSL2 1

Install WSL

  • Open PowerShell or Windows Command Prompt in administrator mode
wsl --install
  • Check WSL distros via PowerShell
wsl --list --verbose
Windows Subsystem for Linux has no installed distributions.
You can resolve this by installing a distribution with the instructions below:

Use 'wsl.exe --list --online' to list available distributions
and 'wsl.exe --install <Distro>' to install.
  • Display the WSL version
wsl --version
WSL version: 2.7.10.0
Kernel version: 6.18.33.2-2
WSLg version: 1.0.73.2
MSRDC version: 1.2.6676
Direct3D version: 1.611.1-81528511
DXCore version: 10.0.26100.1-240331-1435.ge-release
Windows version: 10.0.22631.7079
  • List available distributions:
wsl --list --online
The following is a list of valid distributions that can be installed.
Install using 'wsl.exe --install <Distro>'.

NAME                            FRIENDLY NAME
Ubuntu                          Ubuntu
Ubuntu-26.04                    Ubuntu 26.04 LTS
Ubuntu-24.04                    Ubuntu 24.04 LTS
Ubuntu-22.04                    Ubuntu 22.04 LTS
...

Install a WSL Distribution

Install Ubuntu 22.04

Install Ubuntu 22.04 LTS

wsl --install -d Ubuntu-22.04

Install Ubuntu 24.04

  • Install Ubuntu 22.04
wsl --install -d Ubuntu-24.04

Verify Installation

  • List installed distributions:
wsl --list --verbose
NAME            FRIENDLY NAME
Ubuntu-24.04    Ubuntu 24.04 LTS
Ubuntu-22.04    Ubuntu 22.04 LTS
  • Set the default distribution:
wsl --set-default Ubuntu-24.04
  • Display the Ubuntu version
lsb_release -a
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description:    Ubuntu 24.04.4 LTS
Release:        24.04
Codename:       noble
  • Display the kernel version
uname -r
6.18.33.2-microsoft-standard-WSL2

Tip

Commands beginning with wsl are run from PowerShell or Command Prompt. Commands such as lsb_release and uname are run inside Ubuntu.

Useful Commands

  • Shut down WSL
wsl --shutdown
  • Unregister Ubuntu
wsl --unregister Ubuntu-24.04

Footnotes

  1. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/install ↩

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