Introduction

This is a guide on how to convert a UW CSE Linux Home VM into a WSL2 distro.

The user can expect:

• Fast bootup (WSL2 distros can boot in seconds)
• OS integration (File sharing between Windows & Linux, VS Code remote development, etc.)
• GUI appplication suport (e.g. VLC, Firefox, Eclipse, etc.)

Known to work with CSE 351, 391, 333, and 451.

---

NOTE: WSL2 is NOT supported by CSE.

It is strongly recommended that you test your assignments/programs on a CSE Linux VM or server before submitting them. While the setup worked for me, your milage may vary.

---

⚠️ Proceed at your own risk

Compatibility

No issues found

• Emacs
• Vim
• gdb
• gcc
• objdump
• Git
• Java
• Python
• Bash shell & CLI tools (grep, xargs, sed, etc.)

Works, but needs activation every time

• Licensed software that checks MAC address: MATLAB

Known issues

• USB device support (The workarounds didn't work for me)
• GUI programs might not work consistently & scaling might be incorrect when using multiple monitors with different scaling factors.

Steps

(Skip step 1 & 2 if you already have a tar archive of the VM)

1. Download VM image & follow the instruction until the step where you log in as "A. Happy User"

   CSE Linux Home VM

2. Backup the Linux VM to a tar file

   Open a new terminal window in your Linux VM, then type in the following commands

   cd /
   

   (might need to run as super user here ⬇️)

   tar -cvpzf ~/VM_backup.tar.gz --exclude=~/VM_backup.tar.gz --one-file-system /
   

   Wait for the process to finish. You should see a tar file called VM_backup.tar.gz under your user directory. Move that file to Windows.

   Shutdown the CSE Linux VM.

3. Set up WSL2

   • Run PowerShell as Administrator then use the following commands

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

     dism.exe /online /enable-feature /featurename:VirtualMachinePlatform /all /norestart
     

     Restart your computer before the next step.

   • Download and install the WSL2 update package here

   • Set WSL2 as default by running the following command in PowerShell

     wsl --set-default-version 2
     

   • Search for "Turn Windows features on or off" on your computer, then make sure "Windows Subsystem for Linux" is checked

   • Install Windows Terminal from the MS Store (Recommended)

   Refer to MS Docs if you're stuck.

4. Import tar backup to WSL

   Create a new directory (aka. folder) so you can store your WSL2 distro there.

   Use the following command in PowerShell. Replace "RockyLinux" with the name of your Linux distro, replace C:\Users\Alex\RockyLinuxWSL with the folder you just created, and finally replace C:VM_backup.tar.gz with the path to your tar file.

   wsl --import "RockyLinux" C:\Users\Alex\RockyLinuxWSL C:\VM_backup.tar.gz
   

5. Configure distro for use in WSL To run the WSL2 distro, use the command (Replace RockyLinux with the name of your Linux distro in all upcoming commands in this guide):

   wsl -d "RockyLinux"
   

   If this is your default/only WSL distro, then you can run wsl command without specifying a specific distro.

   You should be logged in as the root use now.

   For distros using yum (e.g. Rocky Linux), run the following command to update your distro

   yum update -y && yum install passwd sudo -y
   

   Use the supplied script to set up root account password & create a regular account for yourself (use NetID as username if possible, follow instruction on CSE website). The script will try to restart the system & fails, that's okay.

   /root/setup.new
   

   Then set default user, replace Alex with the user you just created (probably your NetID).

   echo -e "[user]\ndefault=Alex\n" >> /etc/wsl.conf
   

   Then disable some functionalities to enable systemd & resolve possible errors.

   echo -e "[interop]\nappendWindowsPath = false\n" >> /etc/wsl.conf
   echo -e "[automount]\nmountFsTab = false\n" >> /etc/wsl.conf
   echo -e "[boot]\nsystemd=true\n" >> /etc/wsl.conf
   

   Now we can restart the distro. Open a new PowerShell tab, then run

   wsl --terminate RockyLinux
   

   Wait for a few seconds, then relaunch the WSL VM using either

   wsl -d RockyLinux or wsl

   You should log in as the new user. Try to switch to your home directory with

   cd ~
   

   If that doesn't work, then manually make a home directory using (replace Alex with your username)

   sudo mkdir /home/Alex
   sudo chown -R Alex /home/Alex
   

   Switching to home directory should no longer error out.

6. Cleanup

   Once everything is set up, you can delete the tar file in the original Linux VM/Windows. Remove the original Linux Home VM and the image you downloaded from CSE website if you don't plan on using them.

Usage

In general, avoid storing files in Windows if you're going to work on them in Linux.

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/filesystems

Starting up

In PowerShell, type

• wsl if this is the only distro on your computer
• wsl -d RockyLinux if there are multiple distros

You might be able to find a shortcut to it in the start menu too. YOu can also created a profile for your distro in Windows Terminal/VS code.

Shutting down

WSL2 distros should automatically shutdown after you have closed all Linux terminal/GUI applications (this might not happen immediately).

To manually shutdown the distro, use the command wsl --shutdown in PowerShell.

Compacting your distro

A WSL2 distro stores its files in a virtual hard disk, you can compact it.

Accessing Files in Windows/Linux

In Linux, your Windows C drive is mapped to /mnt/c/.

In Windows, your WSL drive should show up on the left side of File Explorer (or you can type in \\$wsl\ in the address bar). You can find your Linux home directory under home.

End

This is a guide for myself in case I need to set up the system again in the future. Please excuse my poor grammar in this guide. Writing in pretty hard when you're only half awake :(