kWSL.cmd - KDE Neon for WSL

• Net-install of KDE Neon on WSL1 using xRDP.
• Runs on Windows 10 AMD64 and Server 2019/2022 (including Hyper-V Core)
• xRDP Display Server; no additional Xserver download/configuration required
• High-quality RDP audio playback; video playback and YouTube work well and maintains audio sync.
• If you want to access kWSL remotely, Chrome Remote Desktop is pre-installed (Never expose RDP servers to the Internet.) Configuration steps are here.

IMPORTANT!

• Windows 11 requires 22H2 Update (Sun Valley 2, September 2022)
• Windows Server / Windows 10 require latest updates from Windows Update.

INSTALL INSTRUCTIONS

From an elevated CMD.EXE prompt change to your desired install directory and type/paste the following command:

PowerShell -executionpolicy bypass -command "wget https://github.com/thals1992/KDE-Neon-For-WSL/raw/master/kWSL.cmd -UseBasicParsing -OutFile kWSL.cmd ; .\kWSL.cmd"

It will ask you a number of questions. At this time you should go with the default. bionic and jammy have not been verified, but all the steps are implemented.

[kWSL Installer: Modified December 14th, 2022]
Script started at TIME DATE

Enter a unique name for your kWSL distro or hit Enter to use default.
Port number for xRDP traffic or hit Enter to use default [3399]: 13399
Port number for SSHd traffic or hit Enter to use default [3322]: 13322
Set a custom DPI scale, or hit Enter for Windows default [1.5]: 1.25
[Not recommended!] Type X to eXclude from Windows Defender: X
Please specify if you want this instance to run as WSL1 or WSL2 [1]: 1
Which LTE version of Ubuntu do you want to use? Options are bionic (18.04), focal (20.04), or jammy (22.04) [focal]: focal
Please provide a path to install this. By default it installs in the user folder. [%USERPROFILE%]: 
Set a name for this KDE Neon instance.  Hit Enter to use default. 
Keep this name simple, no space or underscore characters [NeonWSL-focal]:
This will take a few minutes, please wait...

Near the end of the script you will be prompted to create a non-root user. This user will be automatically added to sudo'ers.

Open Windows Firewall Ports for xRDP, SSH, mDNS...
Building RDP Connection file, Console link, Init system...
Building Scheduled Task...
SUCCESS: The scheduled task "Neon" has successfully been created.

      Start: Thu 07/01/2021 @  2:46
        End: Thu 07/01/2021 @  2:58
   Packages: 1360

  - xRDP Server listening on port 13399 and SSHd on port 13322.

  - Links for GUI and Console sessions have been placed on your desktop.

  - (Re)launch init from the Task Scheduler or by running the following command:
    schtasks /run /tn Neon

 Neon Installation Complete!  GUI will start in a few seconds...

When the script completes, Remote Desktop will be launched and it will automatically open your KDE Neon xRDP session!

Add configuration to Windows Terminal

• Open up the following file:
  • %localappdata%\Packages\Microsoft.WindowsTerminal_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalState\settings.json
• Add the following JSON code to add three new profiles:
  • Here, we're adding a profile for root, the placeholder "whoopsie" user, and the init profile.
    • The init profile is the same as the Windows Service created and can be ended by entering 0 and it will terminate that tab/window without needing to start/stop the service.

            {
                "guid": "{5f586e18-4020-5ce0-8544-13d847006eba}",
                "hidden": false,
                "name": "NeonWSL (root)",
                "source": "Windows.Terminal.Wsl"
            },
            {
                "colorScheme": "Campbell",
                "commandline": "C:\\WINDOWS\\system32\\WSL.exe ~ -u whoopsie -d NeonWSL",
                "guid": "{4228dd61-1063-4eb6-8366-424744fd0cd4}",
                "hidden": false,
                "icon": "ms-appx:///ProfileIcons/{9acb9455-ca41-5af7-950f-6bca1bc9722f}.png",
                "name": "NeonWSL",
                "startingDirectory": "~"
            },
            {
                "colorScheme": "Campbell",
                "commandline": "C:\\WINDOWS\\system32\\WSL.EXE ~ -u root -d NeonWSL -e initwsl 2",
                "guid": "{e70d6a43-997e-424c-abf0-5705c60a3b71}",
                "hidden": false,
                "icon": "ms-appx:///ProfileIcons/{9acb9455-ca41-5af7-950f-6bca1bc9722f}.png",
                "name": "NeonWSL Init",
                "startingDirectory": "~"
            }

Configure kWSL to start at boot (like a service, no console window)

• Right-click the task in Task Scheduler, click properties
• Click the checkbox for Run whether user is logged on or not and click OK
• Enter your Windows credentials when prompted

Reboot your PC when complete and kWSL will startup automatically.

Convert WSL Instance

Example of conversion to WSL2:

• Stop WSL instance (Using default instance name NeonWSL in this example): wslconfig /t NeonWSL
• Convert the instance to WSL2: wsl --set-version NeonWSL 2
• Restart KDE Neon Instance: schtasks /run /tn NeonWSL

Restart the instance when the conversion is complete: schtasks.exe /run /tn NeonWSL

Procedure is the same for switching back to WSL1: wsl --set-version NeonWSL 1

Make it your own

From a security standpoint, it would be best to fork this project so you (and only you) control the packages and files in the repository.

• Sign into GitHub and fork this project
• Edit kWSL.cmd. On line 2 you will see SET GITORG=thals1992 - Change thals1992 to the name of your own repository.
• Customize the script any way you like.
• Launch the script using your repository name: PowerShell -executionpolicy bypass -command "wget https://github.com/YOUR-REPO-NAME/kWSL/raw/master/kWSL.cmd -UseBasicParsing -OutFile kWSL.cmd ; .\kWSL.cmd"

Quirks / Limitations / Additional Info

• When you log out out of a KDE session the WSL instance is restarted. This is the equivalent to having a freshly-booted desktop environment at every login, but the 'reboot' process only takes about 5 seconds.
• kWSL should work fine with an X Server instead of xRDP but this has not been thoroughly tested. The file /etc/profile.d/kWSL.sh contains WSL-centric environment variables that may need adjustment such as LIBGL_ALWAYS_INDIRECT.
• Plasma-discover doesn't work in Server 2019 / Win 10 v.1809 -- The installer will remove it if you're running an affected OS.
• WSL1 Doesn't work with PolicyKit. Enabled kdesu for apps needing elevated rights (plasma-discover, ksystemlog, muon, root console.)
• KDE Lockscreen is disabled (due to policykit)
• Patched KDE Activity Manager to disable WAL in sqlite3.
• Mozilla Seamonkey is included as a stable/maintained browser.
• QtWebEngine (Chromium-based) browsers like Falkon and Konqueror now work. (July/21)
• Installed image consumes approximately 3 GB of disk space.
• Apt-fast added to improve download speed and reliability.
• Default installation uses the Breeze theme and Windows fonts (Segoe UI / Cascadia Code)
• Compositor replaced with Picom for better RDP performance and includes the Klassy window decoration / application style plugin
• This is a base installation of KDE to save bandwidth. If you want the full KDE Desktop environment (OVER 3GB ADDITIONAL SPACE NEEDED!) run sudo pkcon -y install neon-all