Howto wsl windows

installation

open powershell as administrator:

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

commands

list of available wsl distros to install:

wsl --list -o

install specific distro:

wsl --install -d kali-linux

update the wsl kernel:

wsl --update

set windows subsystem for linux 2 your default architecture for new distros:

wsl --set-default-version 2

convert the distro from wsl to wsl 2:

wsl --set-version kali-linux 2

list distro name and version:

wsl -l -v

restart wsl:

wsl --shutdown

create a backup of the wsl distro:

wsl --export kali-linux kali-linux-backup.tar

restore from backup:

wsl --import kali-linux C:\Users\USERNAME\Distros C:\kali-linux-backup.tar

if you want to uninstall linux distro:

wsl --unregister kali-linux

launch installed the distro:

wsl --distribution kali-linux

terminate or stop a wsl instance:

wsl --terminate kali-linux

to check wsl status:

wsl --status

view the linux files in windows file explorer:

explorer.exe .