WSL Debian

This project automates the installation and provisioning of the official Debian app for the Windows Subsystem for Linux.

Automated tasks

The following tasks have been automated:

• Installation of the Windows Subsystem for Linux
• Installation of the official Debian app
• Distribution upgrade of Debian
• Installation of common packages
• Configuration of all Debian users

Installation

1. Clone this repository

Clone the wsl_debian repository to a specific place on your machine via:

git clone git@github.com:countzero/wsl_debian.git C:\wsl_debian

2. Install the Windows Subsystem for Linux and Debian

Execute the provisioning/install_wsl_debian.ps1 PowerShell script:

powershell.exe -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File "C:\wsl_debian\provisioning\install_wsl_debian.ps1"

3. Set up UNIX username and password

Define a UNIX username and password upon the first start of the debian process.

Note

The installation script has launched the debian process automatically for you.

4. Provision the Debian installation

Execute the provisioning/provision_wsl_debian.sh Bash script as the root user within the debian distribution:

wsl.exe --distribution debian --user root /mnt/c/wsl_debian/provisioning/provision_wsl_debian.sh

Important

Do not use sudo within Debian to become root because that will cause the distribution upgrade to fail: microsoft/WSL#4279 (comment)

Uninstall (optional)

Uninstall the Debian App

Execute the following in a PowerShell with elevated rights to remove the Debian App:

Get-AppxPackage *TheDebianProject.DebianGNULinux* | Remove-AppxPackage

Disable the Windows Subsystem for Linux

Execute the following in a PowerShell with elevated rights to disable the Windows Subsystem for Linux:

dism.exe /online `
         /disable-feature `
         /featurename:Microsoft-Windows-Subsystem-Linux `
         /norestart

Troubleshooting

WSL 2 is not working

Please read the following ressources for up to date hints on what is causing the issue.

• https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/troubleshooting
• microsoft/WSL#4930
• https://www.spacedesk.net/de/forums/topic/wsl2-not-starting-after-spacedesk-installation/

WSL 2 breaks VirtualBox

VirtualBox is still too slow to be usable with Hyper-V. Therefore currently you have to switch between WSL 2 or VirtualBox development.

• MicrosoftDocs/WSL#798

Enable/Disable Hyper-V

Execute the ./tools/enable_hyper_v.ps1 or ./tools/disable_hyper_v.ps1 PowerShell scripts to quickly toggle the availability of Hyper-V.

Warning

That scripts will automatically restart your machine.