In order to install Linux on Windows we are going to have to use a service that we can install within Microsoft’s own operating system to have a distribution sharing space.
For Linux lovers this is great news, since we will no longer have to make partitions to get Linux on our Windows computer, nor will we have to install virtual machines.
Now you must take advantage of the full compatibility that Windows provides with Linux through the Windows Subsystem for Windows or WSL. Let’s stop preambles and we are going to know and know how we can install it.
How to install Linux on a Windows PC, step by step:
What is WSL?
If we look at the Windows definition of the Subsystem for Windows we can understand very well what its intention is.
“Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) allows developers to install a Linux distribution (such as Ubuntu, OpenSUSE, Kali, Debian, Arch Linux, etc.) and use Linux applications, utilities, and Bash command-line tools directly on Windows, unmodified, without the overhead of a traditional virtual machine or dual-boot setup”.
These tools will allow us to change distros thanks to the Microsoft Store and thus be able to run common tools on the command line.
Requirements to have WSL
There will be no complications in this regard, since these requirements are only referring to the versions of the operating systems where we can have WSL.
We should be running Windows 10 version 2004 and higher (build 19041 and higher) or Windows 11 to use the commands below. If you have older versions, see the manual installation page.
Install WSL (install Linux on Windows)
It will be possible to install WSL with a single command, so the facility in this sense will be maximum.
We just have to follow these steps:
- we open PowerShell or the symbol of the system from Windows in administrator mode by right-clicking and selecting Run as administrator,
- Once inside you just have to put the command wsl –install
- Once it has loaded and installed all we need is to restart the computer for the changes to take effect.
- This command will enable the features needed to run WSL and install the distribution ubuntu linux. (This default layout can be changed.)
wsl configuration
The first time we start a freshly installed Linux distribution, a console window will open and we’ll be asked to wait for the files to be unzipped and stored on our machine. All future launches should take less than a second.
Also at the beginning it will ask us to configure a username along with a password to be able to start working with Ubuntu.
If we want to change the Linux distribution to another that is not Ubuntu, we will also be able to do it.
To see a list of Linux distributions available for download through the online store, type: wsl –list –online
We can install Linux on Windows with other distros such as:
- kali linux
- Debian GNU/Linux
- Fedora Remix for WSL
- pengwin
- Alpine WSL
- OpenSUSE LEap
To change the installed distribution, we just have to put: enter: wsl –install -d
We must not forget to replace
WSL version
Currently there are two versions of WSL, such as WSL 1 and WSL 2. The second is more current and faster, so it would be convenient to update it if we still have the first on our computer.
The first thing we need to know is the version of WSL we have on the computer. To verify it we must put the command: wsl -l -v in PowerShell or in the windows command prompt in version Administrator.
To change the version of WSL we must use the command wsl –set-version
A good example could be: wsl –set-version Ubuntu-20.04 2 which will configure the Ubuntu 20.04 distribution to use WSL 2.
This is the easiest way that there is right now to install Linux on Windows and have at our disposal everything that this operating system is from Microsoft.
