Windows Subsystem for Linux Documentation

Skip to main content

  • Article
  • 06/26/2022

In this article

  1. Learn more
  2. Get started
  3. Try WSL preview features by joining the Windows Insiders Program
  4. Team blogs
  5. Provide feedback
  6. Related videos

Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) lets developers run a GNU/Linux environment -- including most command-line tools, utilities, and applications -- directly on Windows, unmodified, without the overhead of a traditional virtual machine or dual-boot setup.## Learn more

To try the most recent features or updates to WSL, join the Windows Insiders Program. Once you have joined Windows Insiders, you can choose the channel you would like to receive preview builds from inside the Windows settings menu. You can choose from:

WSL BASICS

  1. What is the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL)? | One Dev Question (0:40)
  2. I'm a Windows developer. Why should I use WSL? | One Dev Question (0:58)
  3. I'm a Linux developer. Why should I use WSL? | One Dev Question (1:04)
  4. What is Linux? | One Dev Question (1:31)
  5. What is a Linux distro? | One Dev Question (1:04)
  6. How is WSL different than a virtual machine or dual booting? | One Dev Question
  7. Why was the Windows Subsystem for Linux created? | One Dev Question (1:14)
  8. How do I access files on my computer in WSL? | One Dev Question (1:41)
  9. How is WSL integrated with Windows? | One Dev Question (1:34)
  10. How do I configure a WSL distro to launch in the home directory in Terminal? | One Dev Question (0:47)
  11. Can I use WSL for scripting? | One Dev Question (1:04)
  12. Why would I want to use Linux tools on Windows? | One Dev Question (1:20)
  13. In WSL, can I use distros other than the ones in the Microsoft Store? | One Dev Question (1:03)

WSL DEMOS

  1. WSL2: Code faster on the Windows Subsystem for Linux! | Tabs vs Spaces (13:42)
  2. WSL: Run Linux GUI Apps | Tabs vs Spaces (17:16)
  3. WSL 2: Connect USB devices | Tabs vs Spaces (10:08)
  4. GPU Accelerated Machine Learning with WSL 2 | Tabs vs Spaces (16:28)
  5. Visual Studio Code: Remote Dev with SSH, VMs, and WSL | Tabs vs Spaces (29:33)
  6. Windows Dev Tool Updates: WSL, Terminal, Package Manager, and more | Tabs vs Spaces (20:46)
  7. Build Node.JS apps with WSL | Highlight (3:15)
  8. New memory reclaim feature in WSL 2 | Demo (6:01)
  9. Web development on Windows (in 2019) | Demo (10:39)

WSL DEEP DIVES

  1. WSL on Windows 11 - Demos with Craig Loewen and Scott Hanselman| Windows Wednesday (35:48)
  2. WSL and Linux Distributions – Hayden Barnes and Kayla Cinnamon | Windows Wednesday (37:00)
  3. Customize your terminal with Oh My Posh and WSL Linux distros | Windows Wednesday (33:14)
  4. Web dev Sarah Tamsin and Craig Loewen chat about web development, content creation, and WSL | Dev Perspectives (12:22)
  5. How WSL accesses Linux files from Windows | Deep dive (24:59)
  6. Windows subsystem for Linux architecture: a deep dive | Build 2019 (58:10)

Collaborate with us on GitHub

The source for this content can be found on GitHub, where you can also create and review issues and pull requests. For more information, see our contributor guide.

Additional resources

Training

Module

Developing in the Windows Subsystem for Linux with Visual Studio Code - Training

In this module, you learn how to use the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) with Visual Studio Code (VS Code). We explore the installation process and the basics of using WSL. Additionally, we install and utilize the Visual Studio Code WSL extension. Finally, we demonstrate how to debug and run Python code in VS Code within our WSL environment.

Documentation

Learn about the Windows Subsystem for Linux, including the different versions and ways you can use them. Microsoft Loves Linux.

WSL 2 provides the benefits of WSL 1, but uses an actual Linux kernel, rather than a translation layer like WSL 1, resulting in faster performance.

Reference for the basic commands included with Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL).

Set up a WSL development environment using best practices from this set-by-step guide. Learn how to run Ubuntu, Visual Studio Code or Visual Studio, Git, Windows Credential Manager, MongoDB, MySQL, Docker remote containers and more.

Install Windows Subsystem for Linux with the command, wsl --install. Use a Bash terminal on your Windows machine run by your preferred Linux distribution - Ubuntu, Debian, SUSE, Kali, Fedora, Pengwin, Alpine, and more are available.

Learn all about WSL2, the new version of the Windows Subsystem for Linux, and what changes have been made to improve performance. Craig Loewen will show you how to get things installed and set up a Linux development workflow that is integrated with Windows and VS Code. Check out the faster IO performance and system call compatibility, then watch Craig run an app from inside a container using Docker Desktop for Windows and debug it using VS Code. Chapters 00:00 - Introduction 00:29 - So, what is WSL? 03:10

Find answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs) about the Windows Subsystem for Linux, such as 'What can I do with WSL?'.

Read release notes for the Windows Subsystem for Linux. These release notes include fixed issues and are updated weekly.

In this article

Interactive Graph
Table Of Contents
Windows Subsystem for Linux Documentation
In this article
Additional resources
In this article