Installing Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) on Windows 11

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Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) is a compatibility layer that allows a full-fledged Linux kernel and userspace to run on Windows 10 and later versions. With WSL, you can run native Linux software on your Windows 11 computer without installing a separate virtual machine or using a dual-boot configuration. In this post, we’ll show how to install and configure WSL2 on Windows 11.

WSL1 vs WSL2: What’s the Difference?

Let’s take a closer look at difference between WSL1 and WSL2. Keep in mind that WSL2 uses a real Linux kernel running inside a lightweight virtualized environment, while WSL1 translates Linux system calls directly into Windows APIs.

If comparing WSL1 to WSL2, the second one provides:

• better filesystem compatibility;
• full Docker support;
• improved Linux app compatibility;
• faster Linux-side filesystem performance;
• support for modern development workloads.

Because of this, we recommend using WSL2 for most modern Linux and container workloads on Windows 11.

Prerequisites for WSL2 installation on Windows 11

• Computer with hardware virtualization support enabled in BIOS. Check if hardware virtualization is enabled in Task Manager on the Performance > CPU tab. If not, enable Virtualization Technology, VTx, Secure Virtual Machine (SVM), or similar options in the BIOS settings.
  
• Windows 11 Home or Pro editions (but not Windows 11 S).

Common WSL Installation Errors

In case the WSL installation fails, you should check the following common causes:

• Hardware virtualization disabled in BIOS/UEFI;
• Virtual Machine Platform feature is disabled;
• Hyper-V components are missing;
• Third-party virtualization software conflicts;
• Outdated Windows builds.

You can check virtualization support by navigating to Task Manager, then Performance, then CPU.

In many cases, enabling Intel VT-x, AMD-V, SVM, or Virtualization Technology in BIOS will help resolve WSL2 installation problems.

In order to check the Hyper-V Requirements section at the bottom of the output, run the command:

systeminfo

Installation of WSL 2 on Windows 11

Microsoft has made the installation of WSL 2 on Windows 11 incredibly easy. Just open an elevated Terminal (or PowerShell) console and run:

wsl --install

This command automatically performs the following steps:

1. Enables the Windows Virtualization Layer and WSL2 optional features.
2. Downloads and installs (updates) the latest version of the WSL kernel.
3. Sets WSL2 as the default environment.
4. Downloads and installs the default Linux distribution from the Microsoft Store (currently Ubuntu 24.04).

Restart the computer once the command is finished.

After the reboot, you will see an Ubuntu Linux terminal asking you to set the username and password.

Download and install the WSL manually

If you’re using the LTSC edition of Windows 11 that doesn’t support the Microsoft Store, or if your computer is in an isolated (offline) environment that blocks Internet access, you can download and install the WSL manually:

1. Install the Virtual Machine Platform and Windows Subsystem for Linux features from the Turn Windows features on or off GUI (optionalfeatures.exe). Or using the commands:
   

   dism.exe /online /enable-feature /featurename:Microsoft-Windows-Subsystem-Linux /all /norestart
   
   dism.exe /online /enable-feature /featurename:VirtualMachinePlatform /all /norestart

2. Download and install the latest WSL2 Linux Kernel Update MSI package.
   

   

3. Set WSL 2 as default for Linux distributions:
   

   wsl --set-default-version 2

4. Now verify WSL Installation. The following commands verify the installed WSL version, Linux kernel version, and default subsystem config:

   wsl --status
   wsl --version

5. Download your preferred Linux distro for WSL by clicking on one of the following link:
   Ubuntu
   Debian
   Kali Linux
   openSUSE
   Oracle Linux
   Arch Linux
   Fedora Remix
6. Use the following command to list all Linux distributions available for the WSL environment:
   

   wsl --list --online

7. This will download the Linux WSL distro in the Microsoft Store format (*.appxbundle). To install the WSL distro double click on the appxbundle to make it run or run the command:
   

   Add-AppxPackage .\Ubuntu2204-221101.AppxBundle

Using WSL

List installed Linux distros in WSL

wsl --list

Install the default Ubuntu 24.04 distro

wsl --install

Install a specific distro by name

wsl --install -d Debian

Set default distro for the WSL environment

wsl --setdefault <DistributionName>

Run the default Linux distro

wsl

Run a specific distro

wsl -d Debian

Update all packages in your Linux

$ sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade

Update WSL to the Latest Version

Note that Microsoft regularly updates the WSL kernel and virtualization components independently from Windows Update. When you run wsl –update command, it installs the latest WSL kernel and subsystem improvements:

wsl --update
wsl --shutdown

Host computer resources available to WSL2 by default

• 50% of RAM
• 25% of swap file
• 100% CPU

How to limit host resource usage

Edit your WSL environment configuration file to limit host resource usage:

1. Terminate the VmmemWSL process:

   wsl --shutdown

2. Create a file:

   notepad "$env:USERPROFILE/.wslconfig"

3. Paste the following configuration:

   [wsl2]
   
   memory=4GB # How much RAM to allocate to the WSL 2
   
   processors=4 # How many logical CPUs to assign to the WSL 2

   

4. Save the file and restart WSL:

   $ Get-Service LxssManager | Restart-Service

Now you can run any native Linux command from within the Windows CLI:

wsl <linux-command>

For example, list all files in a Windows folder:

wsl ls -la

Keep in mind that Linux filesystem operations are significantly faster inside the native Linux filesystem than inside mounted Windows drives (/mnt/c). For best performance, you should store development projects inside the WSL Linux filesystem (instead of the Windows filesystem).

Using Docker with WSL2

WSL2 is widely used as the backend for Docker Desktop on Windows 11. Docker uses the WSL2 virtualization layer to run Linux containers with improved performance and compatibility. Note that most modern containerized development environments on Windows rely on WSL2 integration.

WSL in Enterprise Environments

Keep in mind that in enterprise environments, WSL installation may be restricted by:

• Group Policy settings;
• Microsoft Intune policies;
• Hyper-V restrictions;
• virtualization-based security (VBS);
• corporate endpoint protection software.

In some organizations, WSL is disabled completely due to security/compliance requirements.

WSL root directory

In order to access your WSL root directory from within Windows, use the following UNC path:

\\wsl$\Ubuntu\

Wrapping up

WSL2 provides one of the easiest ways to run native Linux workloads on Windows 11. This allows you to run Linux workloads without configuring a separate VM or dual-boot environment. For most cases, the simplest installation method is to use the command:

wsl --install

In case you are an advanced user or enterprise admin, you may additionally customize resource usage, networking, Linux distributions, and integration with development tools (such as Docker).