setupWSL

GitHub last commit (by committer) Super-Linter

What is WSL? :thinking:

The Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) is a feature of Windows that allows you to run native Linux command-line tools directly on Windows. It provides a Linux-compatible kernel interface developed by Microsoft, which allows you to use Linux applications on Windows.

This means that you can use Linux tools and utilities at the same level of performance as if they were running on a native Linux system, which is way better than using a virtual machine.

learn more here. :book:

Installation :computer:

  1. Open PowerShell as Administrator and run:

    • Default distribution is Ubuntu if you want another one use : wsl --install -d <Distribution name>
    • To see all available distribution use : wsl --list --online 
    wsl --install

    ℹ️ Later you can update wsl in Microsoft store or by using wsl --update in powershell/cmd.

  2. Restart your computer.

  3. Search the distribution you have chosen in the Start menu and run it.

  4. When installed, you will be prompted to create a new user account and password. This will be the user account you will use to log in to your Linux distribution.

Configuration :wrench:

Windows Terminal

  1. Open Microsoft Store and install Windows Terminal.

    This terminal is a modern, fast, efficient, powerful, and productive terminal application for users of command-line tools and shells like Command Prompt, PowerShell, and WSL.

  2. Open Windows Terminal and click on the settings icon in the top right corner.

  3. In the settings, click on the dropdown menu under "Default profile" and select your desired Linux distribution.

  4. Don't forget to set Windows Terminal as your default terminal and you're good to go!

Better terminal with Zsh

  1. Install Zsh & cURL.

    # Zsh is a shell designed for interactive use, you can have plugins, themes, etc.
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y
sudo apt install zsh curl -y

  2. Install Oh My Zsh.

    # Oh My Zsh is an open source, community-driven framework for managing your Zsh configuration.
sh -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.github.com/ohmyzsh/ohmyzsh/master/tools/install.sh)"

  3. Install Zsh plugins, you can find more plugins here.

    git clone https://github.com/zsh-users/zsh-autosuggestions ${ZSH_CUSTOM:-~/.oh-my-zsh/custom}/plugins/zsh-autosuggestions
git clone https://github.com/zsh-users/zsh-syntax-highlighting.git ${ZSH_CUSTOM:-~/.oh-my-zsh/custom}/plugins/zsh-syntax-highlighting

    Then add the following line to your ~/.zshrc file :

    plugins=(git sudo docker npm vscode zsh-autosuggestions zsh-syntax-highlighting)

  4. (optional) Install Powerlevel10k, if you want to use another theme, you can find more themes here.

    ⚠️ This theme require specific fonts, you can check here how to install them.

    git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/romkatv/powerlevel10k.git ~/powerlevel10k
echo 'source ~/powerlevel10k/powerlevel10k.zsh-theme' >>~/.zshrc

    • Set ZSH_THEME="powerlevel10k/powerlevel10k" in ~/.zshrc.

    • Restart Zsh with exec zsh

    • Type p10k configure if the configuration wizard doesn't start automatically.

  5. Nano configuration.

    Configuring Nano is optional, you can use another editor like Vim, Emacs, if you prefer.

    nano ~/.nanorc

# Add this in the file :
set atblanks
set mouse
set cutfromcursor
set softwrap
set tabsize 4
set tabstospaces
include "/usr/share/nano/*.nanorc"
set speller "aspell -x -c"
set constantshow
set linenumbers
set casesensitive
set historylog
set positionlog
set smarthome
set zap
set autoindent
bind ^C copy main # CTRC+C - Copy
bind ^V paste all # CTRL+V - Past
bind ^S savefile main # CTRL+S - Save

Configuration

  1. Install build essential. (gcc, g++, make, must have for development)

    sudo apt install build-essential -y

  2. Install Git.

    sudo apt install git -y
git config --global user.email 'your email'
git config --global user.name 'your name'

  3. Install Docker Desktop

    Docker Desktop uses the dynamic memory allocation feature in WSL 2 to optimize resource consumption.
    For more information, refer to the Working with Docker & WSL documentation.

  4. Tool versioning.

    Managing version of tools is usefull for development, my favorite tool for this is proto.

    If you only need to manage Node.js version, you can use fnm.

    # Requirements
sudo apt install unzip gzip xz-utils -y

curl -fsSL https://moonrepo.dev/install/proto.sh | bash

proto setup

# Install what you need :
proto install node lts
proto install python

    You can find more information about proto here.

  5. Update, upgrade and clean package list.

    sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y && sudo apt autoremove

Useful Tools and Informations

[!NOTE] There are numerous useful tools you can install to enhance your experience on Linux and WSL link.
Microsoft has also created a guide to help you maximize the benefits of WSL if you use VS Code link.

When working with WSL, always clone or create your projects inside the Linux file system,
otherwise performance may significantly decrease, and certain features might not work properly (e.g: hot reloading).
For more information, refer to the Docker best practices documentation.

Thank you for reading! :sparkles:

^ back to top ^

You are now ready to start developing on WSL! :tada:

Made with :heart: by @Jayllyz