Install Wsl
How to install Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL)
This guide shows you how to install Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL).
This is required when using podman with OpenShift Local.
For additional details refer to the What is the Windows Subsysten for Linux article.
To install WSL you can visit the Microsoft store and search for WSL. Select the Linux distribution you want and follow the instructions.
Alternatively, open a command windows and enter
wsl --list --online
C:\Users\sean>wsl --list --online
The following is a list of valid distributions that can be installed.
The default distribution is denoted by '*'.
Install using 'wsl --install -d <Distro>'.
NAME FRIENDLY NAME
* Ubuntu Ubuntu
Debian Debian GNU/Linux
kali-linux Kali Linux Rolling
Ubuntu-18.04 Ubuntu 18.04 LTS
Ubuntu-20.04 Ubuntu 20.04 LTS
Ubuntu-22.04 Ubuntu 22.04 LTS
Ubuntu-24.04 Ubuntu 24.04 LTS
OracleLinux_7_9 Oracle Linux 7.9
OracleLinux_8_7 Oracle Linux 8.7
OracleLinux_9_1 Oracle Linux 9.1
openSUSE-Leap-15.6 openSUSE Leap 15.6
SUSE-Linux-Enterprise-15-SP5 SUSE Linux Enterprise 15 SP5
SUSE-Linux-Enterprise-15-SP6 SUSE Linux Enterprise 15 SP6
openSUSE-Tumbleweed openSUSE Tumbleweed
Refer to Basic commands for WSL for more details on the WSL options.
Install a specific Linux distribution
I have chosen to install Ubuntu. This happens to be the default so I have not specified any additional options.
Open a command window as Administrator and enter:
wsl --install
Follow the prompts.
The command output is as follows.
C:\Windows\System32>wsl --install
Installing: Windows Subsystem for Linux
Windows Subsystem for Linux has been installed.
Installing: Ubuntu
Ubuntu has been installed.
The requested operation is successful. Changes will not be effective until the system is rebooted.
Reboot your PC.
Check the version installed distribution including the WSL version. In my case I have installed Ubuntu using WSL 2.
wsl --list --verbose
C:\Users\sean>wsl --list --verbose
NAME STATE VERSION
* Ubuntu Stopped 2
Enter the following command to start WSL
wsl
Open a second command window and enter the following to see Ubuntu is runnning.
wsl -l -v
You will see Ubuntu running.
C:\Users\sean>wsl -l -v
NAME STATE VERSION
* Ubuntu Running 2
Exit from WSL.
Re-install Ubuntu to to reset my user
As I missed entering a non-root user and password, I unregistered Ubuntu.
I’m sure there are other more efficient ways of doing this, I chose this one.
wsl --unregister Ubuntu
C:\Users\sean>wsl --unregister Ubuntu
Unregistering.
The operation completed successfully.
Install Ubuntu again. When prompted, enter your non-root user and password.
wsl --install Ubuntu
C:\Users\sean>wsl --install Ubuntu
Ubuntu is already installed.
Launching Ubuntu...
Installing, this may take a few minutes...
Please create a default UNIX user account. The username does not need to match your Windows username.
For more information visit: https://aka.ms/wslusers
Enter new UNIX username: sean
New password:
Retype new password:
passwd: password updated successfully
The operation completed successfully.
Installation successful!
To run a command as administrator (user "root"), use "sudo <command>".
See "man sudo_root" for details.
Welcome to Ubuntu 22.04.3 LTS (GNU/Linux 5.15.153.1-microsoft-standard-WSL2 x86_64)
* Documentation: https://help.ubuntu.com
* Management: https://landscape.canonical.com
* Support: https://ubuntu.com/advantage
This message is shown once a day. To disable it please create the
/home/sean/.hushlogin file.
sean@MyLaptop:~$